A description of the schools visits to Twickenham Apiary that I am involved in. Because of the vital part of honeybees in ecosystems, I think that educating children about honeybees should be a greater priority than recruiting future beekeepers. Most of them wont become beekeepers, and don't need to become beekeepers. The children are urban and there are already more hives in Greater London than in the rest of the country, and there are now numerous problems with urban beekeeping. But they do need to know about honeybees, and do want to know about them.
My agenda was to highlight the connection with, and the difference between us and bees, because this was an effective way to get children interested. Also, to get the children to appreciate their dependence on bees.
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| In the hide, Twickenham Apiary |
Are we educating future beekeepers during these school visits? Of the 700+ children that came to the Apiary last summer, how many are likely to become beekeepers? The general consensus was, not many.
This begs the question of why we teach them things that would be relevant if they were to become beekeepers, but are of no relevance if they are not, such as
- bee anatomy
- brood cycle
- hive types
- trying on veils
- looking at smokers
- hive products for us, not bees
- stings
These aspects are covered byThe BBKA Bees in the Curriculum Schools Pack, which also includes word searches and pictures to colour in, none of which really educates children about the importance of bees. As the content of our school visits reflects the content of the Schools pack, a lot of valuable time gets spent on disseminating this irrelevant information. It would be great if it could be less focussed on beekeeping and honey, and more focussed on the sections about :
- plants and bees
- pollination
- waggle dance - not the waggle dance game, but the meaning and purpose of communication
- inside a beehive - castes and their roles
It would be even better if it could also include sections on
- social characteristics - co-operation, communication etc
- the problems for bees and the wider ecosystem
- propolis
The questions asked, not only by the children but by teachers and parents, refer not to beekeeping, but to their concerns about the problems with bees, and bees as food pollinators.
The time we spend with the children is only an hour, and is a precious opportunity to share information that has a direct relevance to their lives, and to connect them with the natural environment. Urban children are very disconnected from the natural world.
As beekeepers our role should be to share our valuable knowledge and give the children an insight into one part of the natural world, one that most will be unlikely to ever see again.
Like most people, children will only remember about three things from their visit, and this is borne out by their feedback forms. I try and emphasise these aspects:
- social characteristics ('the queen is not the boss', cooperation e.g. building comb)
- importance of communication for humans and bees - bee dance = symbolic communication unique to humans and bees
- female and male characteristics (roles of workers/girls and drones/boys)
- flowers and bees, symbiosis
- pollination of our food (= variety in pollen/bees' diet/human diet)
- honey - content, amount made by a bee, value to bees.
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| From Eva Crane |
- propolis - content, origin, protection value to bees, antibiotic anti-fungal properties useful for us.
- problems for bees - us, varroa, lack of diversity, lack of forage and habitat, pesticides
- helping bees - planting trees, increasing habitat
REPORT re
Education for Schools 2013
We were lucky with
the weather this year and were not interrupted on any visits. One Home Education Group, one Holiday Club,
two Nursery Schools, five Primary Schools, five Preparatory Schools, two Scout
Packs, one Guide Group and one Brownie Pack came to visit. We also visited 2 Nursery Classes. The pupils ranged from Reception Year (5 year
olds) through to Year 6 (11 year olds).
The Scout and guide groups were slightly older and the Nursery Schools
younger..
Year groups can
comprise up to 4 classes of 30 pupils.
Each Class saw a video about honey bees, had a question & answer
session about bees, went into the hide in The Apiary where a hive was opened
and the different parts of and occupants of the hive were explained and visited
the Discovery Centre where they saw the boards, honeycomb, veils, smoker
etc. Each class visited the Apiary for a
minimum of one hour.
Feedback from schools
and other groups was very positive.
Our target audience
will continue to be Primary School pupils, but as you can see we will welcome
visits from other groups.
Donations totalling
£842.50 were received from our visitors and a visit from some Swedish
Beekeepers in April hosted by various Committee Members produced another £50.
The Education Team
this season comprised Simon & Gill Silvester, Sally Pemberton, Avis
Marshall, Candy Williamson, Karen Mann and Pamela Baxter-Hughes, Melanie
Maclaine and myself. Special thanks to
Simon & Gill who appeared at every visit.
However I would be
really pleased if others could offer their services. Those taking part enjoy the visits. You don’t need to be an expert, you will
almost certainly know more than our visitors!!
Anyone who is able to help whether during school hours in the Summer
Term or in evenings during late May, June and July would be most welcome. Please contact me on lamplough@blueyonder.co.uk
Finally the hide has
come to the end of its useful life and we aim to replace it before the
beginning of the Schools Summer Term 2014.
Shaun Lamplough
21.01.2014
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