Hive at school? Am I mad?

[malawi2854]

Hello all,
I work at a private school in Kent, so not nearly the quota of juvenile delinquants as you might expect, but even so, they are teenagers... !

Anyway - I had been banging on about my bees and how wonderful they were over lunch for some time, when the Biology department took interest, and have got themselves rather excited about the idea of having a hive or two on-site.

I've gone along with the idea thus far, and I would certainly love to manage it for them - I've no room to expand at home, and so the ability to do it at work would be fantastic - never mind how nice it would be taking a wander down to the bees over a sunny lunchtime!

ANYWAY - does anyone have any experience of similar set ups? Am I completely mad?

The site I don't think could be a lot better for bees - we've plenty of secluded areas that are well off the beaten track. The site is a little over 100acres, and it backs onto a National Trust property, with a 1000acre park surrounding it.


So - what do you think? And do you think there is any chance at all of convincing one of the beekeeping suppliers to offer us a hive or two on an amazing wonder deal, with the promise of advertising to many budding young rich kids, who could become rich older beekeepers?!?!

 

[broandy]

PM kazmcc she got a hive at a skool lol

 

[hedgerow pete]

100 acres to play with, now thats my sort of school playing feild

 

[steve1958]

I would try contacting the Co-op for such a project, as they may be interested.
They are currently showing an inerest in promoting Beekeeping,
and I am sure they would love the Free advertising that they would receive from such a project.

 

[tberni]

Hope you have more luck than me. I put 2 hives on my school roof which was walled and everything. Someone kept climbing up the drain pipes on the weekend and kicking them over. After 5 times, I finally took them off.

 

[MrB]

My very first encounters with bee's was at my secondary school (many moons ago) we had a teacher who was a bee keeper and we had around 6 or 10 hives on the school grounds, he won prizes for his honey and we used to go along after school to help with the hives. all in all a very positive experience.

 

[nelletap]

Princes Risborough School have had a hive for some years. It is a secondary school (and in Bucks we still have Grammars remember). They won a prize at last year's honey show. HWBKA has had a history of trying to tackle education aspects (through Sylvia Chamberlin) and they had a teacher at the school who was enthusiastic so there was strong support. it was Sylvia who created the 'Bees in the Curriculum' pack which is still available through the BBKA. Whilst it is aimed mainly at the phase of mini beasts etc tackled in primary school, it is a good resource with worksheets for children and information to support teachers - the worksheets could be used with older children. The young do tend to be concerned about the environment so don't let a few bad incidents let you assume it will never work.
Tricia

 

[greatbritishhoney]

No, you're not mad - it's a great idea. It's really important that the next generation of beekeepers start learning early.
However, I would make sure you ticked all the Health & Safety boxes - I.E - done your risk assessment, ensured that you've got all the necessary control measures in place (if there's a swarm who deals with it? How do they get in touch with you? etc). It would also be wise just to check if any of the kids at the school have a confirmed allergy to beestings.

 

[Dishmop]

Surely it would make it all the more worthwhile if the school made their own hives......... practical hands-on education and all that....

 

[MuswellMetro]

Broomfield secondary school in Enfield have a hive maintained by Enfield BKA, contact them for more information

I attended a village school in Bedfordshire with three beehives owned by the school caretaker and maintained by under 12year olds (and me from 7yrs to 14yrs during the summer Holidays as i was the Headmistresses son and lived in the school house )

 

[Otleybee]

It looks to be covered in terms of preparation of risk assessments etc on the BBKA website. I dont know if your school subscribes to the service mentioned.

Here is the link
http://************************/news/current_news/beekeeping-in-schools.shtml

 

[Otleybee]

Admin. Can you accept this website please as it is not selling anything and should be useful to forum member discussing this topic.

Thanks
Alan

 

[victor meldrew]

Admin. Can you accept this website please as it is not selling anything and should be useful to forum member discussing this topic.

Thanks
Alan

Shall I? Er! no! I'll leave it to Admin

John Wilkinson

 

[adrian wilford]

go for it

 

[Otleybee]

Oops Just read the rules again and came across this.

Please do not posts links to websites that are affiliated to the BBKA

Apologies wont do it again.

 

[malawi2854]

Thanks for all your replies so far everyone! Much appreciated! All very supportive!

I have made enquiries with our health and safety person today - but also learned that a previous headteacher had 6 hives in the grounds a few years ago - so it's not unheard of!

I found a site today too - at the end of an allotment (yes, the school has an allotment!). The area is only visited by a couple of the groundskeepers, and they are quite keen on the idea of having the bees there - so it should be OK!

I will let you know if/when I am successful!


Thanks again.

 

[Vergilius]

At my school the monks keep bees.


Ben P

 

[Dishmop]

At my school the monks keep bees.


Ben P

Its getting to be a popular habit..

 

[yantabulla]

I caught the beekeeping bug at high school. The agriculture department had two hives & I started out with a nucleus from those hives.

That was in the '80's when health & safety hadn't reached the peaks that it has now. We were stung by bees & we survived.

We should be doing everything we can to get beekeeping back into schools.

 

[Tom Bick]

A friend of mine now in his 70’s often talks about the beekeeping he did at school