Beekeepers in Ontario are facing a serious problem – the number of honey bees are declining drastically – and that is a serious challenge for farmers who grow your fruits and vegetables. But local high school students have partnered with the GreenUp program to help tackle the problem.
Twelve students from The Holy Cross Bee Club at Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School in Peterborough were responsible for three hives.
A group of 12 students – led by their teacher Mike Halloran – have been busy:
- suiting up in protective bee suits
- conducting hive checks
- treating the hives for mites
- learning about the honey bee life cycle.
The students are learning important lessons, considering there has been a high loss of the bee population. In fact, Global News recently reported, “In Ontario, which has the largest number of beekeepers in Canada, the situation is being described as serious. A survey of almost 900 Ontario beekeepers indicated that 70 per cent suffered unsustainable losses.”
Programs such as The Holy Cross Bee Club are important to help young people appreciate the importance of the project they undertook. Students were fully involved including going right into the hive in the spring, seeing exactly how the bees interact and studying the actual bee comb.
And the program was a success from a production standpoint. The students, with the help of GreenUp Community Beekeepers harvested 86 jars of honey from three hives in Peterborough. And considering it takes 12 bees their entire lives to make only one teaspoon of honey, harvesting 86 jars is a huge accomplishment!
For more information visit on the Beekeeping Program visit GreenUp’s website at https://www.greenup.on.ca/program/greenup-community-bee-keeping-program.
Bethany Ontario 