Honey Bees

Late last winter we conducted a professional development session with the Riverstone International School middle school teachers. We discussed ideas for how they could get support in their classrooms with sustainable objectives and projects, and created a dream list of sustainability projects and ideas for the school. Amber Tookey, the MYP art and design teacher, offered to donate bee keeping equipment to the school if we could figure out someone to care for them, a place to keep the boxes, and get approval with the school. This week all of our efforts have come to fruition! Amber decided to be our designated campus bee-keeper after all and we got bees from the Treasure Valley Bee Keepers Club during their spring bee “packaged bees” event.

We ended up setting the hive up twice. We chose a spot and set up the boxes and an enclosure on Saturday, but on Sunday once the bee experts and mentors arrived to help with the delivery, they suggested an even better (warmer) location and some changes to the enclosure. Now we have our best possible bee location and set up, the bees are next to their box in a nuc transfer box learning their new range and I personally could not bee more excited for the school orchard and the honey in the fall!