By Randy Gonzales
FHSU University Relations and Marketing

The population of the Fort Hays State University campus is going to get a lot bigger this summer.

Somewhere between 12,000 and 15,000 honey bees were recently settled in a hive on the outskirts of the FHSU campus. By this summer, that number could swell to as many as 60,000 bees, said Ryan Engel, a Hays junior who is the vice president and treasurer of the new FHSU Bee Club.

FHSU provides an exciting opportunity with this club, said Engel, a conservation biology major.

“It’s completely awesome,” he said. “It’s definitely something very unique. We’re very lucky at this university to have the opportunity to do this.”

The bee club, which organized in spring 2016, has about 20 members. FHSU sustainability coordinator Andree Brisson is the sponsor. Club president Elissa Jensen, Hays freshman, said part of the organization’s mission is to educate about bees.

“Bees are very important,” said Jensen, whose family manages bee hives at their farm north of Hays. “They pollinate a third of our crops. Every third bite, a bee has something to do with.”

Jensen wants to educate the public about Colony Collapse Disorder, which has plagued honey bees since 2006. With CCD, there are no worker bees in the colony, which still has the queen bee and immature bees present. Jensen believes pesticides are part of the problem.

“A lot of people spray their crops with pesticides,” Jensen said. “That actually is killing the bees. I’m trying to get that word out.”

With the FHSU colony, the hope is to eventually produce honey, which can then be sold. The queen bee can lay as many as 2,000 eggs per day. Those new worker bees eventually join the others in foraging for nectar, producing honey.

“My family and Andree wanted to pollinate the plants in the garden that’s part of Fort Hays State,” Jensen said. “We needed bees to do that. We thought we could start a bee club, and so far, it’s going really good.”

The bees will need to be checked on periodically this summer. To avoid getting stung when they check the hive, members will wear beekeeper suits such as the ones worn to establish the colony. Jensen’s family manages about 40 hives, and her mom and dad will help check on the bees initially.

“Hopefully, some of the members will want to suit up with me, and I won’t need my mom and dad here to check the hive,” Jensen said.

Engel said he will help check on the bees this summer. He and Jensen have yet to be stung.

“It’s how people handle them,” Engel said. “I learned firsthand working with them the more relaxed you are around bees the more relaxed they are around you.”

Those interested in joining the bee club or in seeking more information can contact Jensen at [email protected].

Thomas J. Drees, Ellis County Attorney, announced Thursday he has filed by petition to run for re-election. Drees has served five terms as Ellis County Attorney, beginning in 1997.

Drees has served as a prosecutor in Ellis County for 27 years, having served as an Assistant Ellis County Attorney from 1989 through 1996. Drees also served as Trego County Attorney from 1997 through 2000.

He currently serves as an appointed Special Assistant Attorney General on the Prosecutor Review Committee of the Kansas Sexual Violent Predator Commitment Act, having been appointed by Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt in January 2011. Drees served four years (2007 to 2011) as the appointed prosecutor on the Kansas Sentencing Commission.

“With the consent of the Ellis County voters, I will continue to devote my full time, energy and attention to the duties of County Attorney,” Drees said.

Drees lives in Hays with his wife, Patricia, and children, Anne and John. Drees is a graduate of Thomas More-Prep Marian High School, Fort Hays State University and Kansas University School of Law.

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

The second of four candidates for the Hays USD 489 superintendent position spent the day Wednesday meeting with staff and community members before a formal interview with the Board of Education.

Brad Rahe, currently serves as the superintendent at Mulvane USD 463. He has been in that position since 2009.

During his time at Mulvane, the district passed a bond issue, and said he felt facilities throughout the Hays district was one of its biggest challenges.

“The facilities are old, and any time you have facilities like this, they get a little tired,” Rahe said.

But during his tour of the district, he said he was impressed with what was going on inside the building academically.

“A lot of folks, they never see the inside of a school building. They see the outside,” he said. “When you go on the outsides of these buildings and look at them, they’re gorgeous.”

But he warned there is more to a school than what you see when you drive by.

“Trying to do a bond issue and that’s all people are seeing, so their first comment is, ‘Well, we don’t need all this, because look at it.’ ”

Proper maintenance and cleaning, he said, also plays a big part of the perception of why the district building might be seen as in better shape than they really are.

“When you go around these buildings though, they’re so clean and the staff at times probably do too good a job,” Rahe said. “You walk in these buildings, they’re clean, they’re not dirty, the floors are waxed.”

He said his experience with passing a bond issue would be beneficial to Hays, after working with the Mulvane community to establish a relationship built on trust that ultimately led to a successful bond issue.

After the first failed bond, Rahe said the district sought input on what the community would be supportive of and found success in proceeding with community input.

“We have a lot of trust, and we have worked hard to build that trust,” he said.

However, trust seemed to be a concern for some after an incident involving Rahe’s son in Mulvane, after the district remained quiet during an investigation of Kenneth Riley Rahe, who pleaded guilty to animal cruelty in Sedgwick County District Court last year.

It was reported at the time that dozens of parents were concerned about a perceived lack of cooperation from the district, and Mulvane Police Chief Dave Williams told media at the time he felt part of the reason for a lack of cooperation by the district during the investigation was the relationship of the student to school administration.

Rahe said the district since has worked to improve information delivery to the community.

“One of our goals that we are working within Mulvane is communication,” he said, noting utilization of social media, weekly newsletters to teachers and frequent visits with community members.

“It’s been one of the things we have been addressing,” he said.

Overall, Rahe said he has desired to return to Hays over the years, having graduated from Fort Hays State University with a Master’s Degree in Education Administration and Supervision in 1987.

“That’s one of the reasons I am wanting to come here. I always had great experiences with Hays,” Rahe said.

“I always said if you’re going to do a postcard and you wanted the picture of what a town in Kansas, small rural town in America should look like, it’s Hays.”

And at least for now, he said he would not change a thing at USD 489.

“You don’t come in and change everything, but you come in and you listen, you talk to people, you see the strengths, you see the weaknesses, then you start,” Rahe said.

“I don’t like to talk, but I really love to listen. That’s how you impact change.”

The next candidate for the superintendent position will interview Monday, with a public meet and greet again scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in the Rockwell Administration Center, 323 W. 12th.