The perfect dummy boards...

Being in a school environment certainly has its advantages. Recently, when I had to make some dummy boards, I knew I could count on the head of DT (design & technology) to give me a hand. And he did. If I would have had to have made the dummy boards myself, I would have been sawing and sandpapering wonky bits of wood. They would have been ok, but not quite the perfect product.
Anyway, Will, the head of DT, introduced me to the beast, or behemoth. This is one scary circular saw that will have your fingers for breakfast and not even notice. We used it to cut the pieces to size as well as make grooves in the top parts to put the plywood in. All the while I was very conscious of where my fingers were.

After a few short minutes cutting wood down to size, we had all we needed.We then cut the plywood to size, stuck it in the groove - and presto! the perfect dummy boards.

They look so perfect....

Or so I thought.
Putting them in the brood chamber, I realised I had not taken the width of the sidebars into account. So will have to saw more ply to size and then stick it onto what we've got. Hmmm. But as Will said: DT is all about getting it wrong and then realising what you need to do to get it right next time.

Financing

Having decided I wanted to keep bees in school, I approached the headmaster and the bursar - the two most powerful people in any school, usually. Luckily, they were both very much for the proposal. So, the next step was to put together a financial proposal. This was basically the cost of setting up one and two hives - as alternatives. As much as the bursar was in favour of the project, he said the school would not be able to pay for anything, but he suggested I try the parents' organisation.

So, I sent my proposal to them and tried to stir up enthusiasm for the idea. Now, I wasn't there at the meeting, but it seems that all were for it and then suddenly, from one moment to the next, decided against it.
Another avenue closed.

This was when a beekeeping teacher approached me and said I should try a subscription system. Basically, the idea here is that you sell jars of honey in advance. For example, if someone pays you £20 they will get one pound of honey for the next four years. All weather and honey flow permitting. I was going to draw up t&cs for this - who gets what in which order of preference (which might have turned into quite a complex semi-legal document) - when I was lucky enough to have two parents become interested in the project. Both donated money to the school, enabling us to buy two hives and beesuits for the children.

Thus, the financial side turned out to be much easier than anticipated.

Gloves

Ok, this is not a question that's specific to schools - but what kind of gloves should you wear?

Nitrile gloves - the best option

Marigolds - good middle ground

I bought a pair of leather gloves when I first bought my suit a year or so ago, but intend not to use them. Why? They are too chunky and clumsy and impossible to wash. As I have passed the bee-sting test, I am not afraid of getting stung and therefore do not need that thick protective skin. On the contrary, you need all fingers sensitive if you want to pick up the queen, or similar. So, either go for marigold washing-up gloves (if you like a bit more protection) or nitrile throwaway gloves (with a longer cuff, though). In terms of hygiene these are much the best, if not necessarily for the environment. Change the gloves each time and you won't be carrying around pheromones of past stings or past happenings in the hive that might upset the bees. You will also not be carrying around any germs.

Classic leather beekeeping gloves

However, for the children, we will get leather gloves as here protection is more important and they will not be doing sensitive manipulations with the bees. Currently, we are checking what the cheapest way is of obtaining leather gloves (and checking suppliers of fencing gear, too). 
Over these the pupils will wear nitrile gloves, too, for reasons of hygiene.
 

Levelling

Spent the better part of half an hour today making sure the hive stands were all level. This is important if you want the comb to be drawn out straight, but is not easy to achieve. The stands rest on concrete blocks which are on a woodchip base. Shovelled woodchips endlessly in pursuit of that bubble floating perfectly free in that elusive centre area.
No doubt as soon as it rains and the blocks sink in, all will change again. Have kept the spirit level by the hives...

ETA for the bees!

Talked to the beekeeper who is supplying our bees. They will be brought to the school on the 6th June. Am very excited!

Am hoping to turn their arrival into a bit of a happening - once again to raise awareness and involve the pupils. As we have three children's beesuits, I would like to have three pupils present in close proximity to the hives. Additionally, my two co-beekeepers (we are a team of three), will also be resplendent in their new white suits. Haven't thought of what else we could do, except for photos and a few words from the headmaster (a champagne bottle against the hives sounds decidedly unwise and playing 'The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba' sounds just a tadge tacky).

Any ideas?

An assembly about bees

Yesterday the headmaster asked me if I'd like to take an assembly on the bees. I naturally said yes, only to find out he meant that I should do the assembly today. So I downloaded a few photos from the internet for a powerpoint and held a 15 minute talk to the whole school.

I think it is vital that all pupils know what is going on and feel involved. So an assembly is a great way of spreading the word. Rather than just talk about the bees, I wanted to demonstrate, too, so I donned my beesuit and, smoker in hand (not lit, obviously - didn't want to set off the fire alarm), told the children what I thought they should know. As part of the talk I asked a pupil to put on a beesuit, so the pupils could all see what they would look like if they came on a manipulation with me.


So, what did I say?

1. Bees are wild creatures and when we disturb them they are likely to react negatively
2. Treated correctly they are great
3. They are vital for our agriculture and by keeping them, we are helping them
4. Why we look into the hives and what we look for
5. I told them where the hives are sited and impressed upon them to avoid the direct vicinity unless under adult supervision
6. I hoped that many would volunteer to accompany me on hive inspections , as we have three children's beesuits

There's much more I could have said, but as a first introduction, I felt that covered most bases.

The boys really liked the idea that drones get to sit around the hive all day eating honey, but weren't quite so happy when I told then the males all get thrown out come winter. That part the girls liked. The pupils laughed when I told them that when smoked the bees put their heads into honey and so you can pull out frames of bee-bums (children like all things to do with bottoms). 

As with all talks to pupils, the most important thing is to have time at the end for questions. Pupils will always come up with the weirdest questions, but they show interest and enthusiasm. 

How do I know if it's the thing for me?

Not sure whether beekeeping is for you? Apart from going on a course to find out what it's all about (local beekeeping associations will usually advertise these - check www.bbka.org.uk), for me there were two key elements that I had to know before finally deciding on whether to start beekeeping:

1. Will I freak out when I open a hive and see thousands of insects crawling around there?
2. How badly does a beesting hurt? If I live in constant fear of getting stung, I figured, I would not be a good beekeeper.

Well, the answer to 1 I found out easily by joining an experienced beekeeper while he was doing a manipulation. The answer is no. Quite on the contrary: love the creatures.

The answer to 2 I found out by joining a novice beekeeping friend on a blustery day, whose ankle-biters gave me a short and sharp introduction to the topic. Luckily, beestings don't seem to affect me much; mainly, I pity the bees.

Photo taken from isciencemag.co.uk

Can any school (any one) do it?

Generally, I'd say the answer is yes. Bees are great at finding their forage and fly up to three miles to find food. So, no matter if you are in town or country, your school should be able to keep bees.

There are a few limitations that I would suggest:
1. Make sure your neighbours will not be disturbed by the bees
2. Make sure you site the hives where children will not disturb or be disturbed by them

If those requisites can be fulfilled nothing should stop you from beekeeping.

Rooftop beekeeping is increasingly popular (photo from guardian.co.uk)

About me

I am the Head of English at the school and a full-time teacher of English. Apart from teaching and duties, I have a number of extra-curricular responsibilities. This means that on any given day I do not have a lot of free time. In fact, I barely know, within a school day, what that word means.
And yet I want to keep bees at school and am confident that I will find time to look after them.

I have never kept bees before.

Having been on a course two years ago, because I was interested in beekeeping, I decided this is definitely something I want to do. Rather than keep bees at home, I thought it would be much more fun and educational to keep bees at school. Thus this project was born.
In the meantime I have attended two further beekeeping courses in a panic that I will mess things up with the school's bees and am now waiting for the bees to teach me everything else I need to know.

So, bear in mind when you read this blog that I am only just starting out. But perhaps the trials and tribulations of someone who has never done this before are of more help than the learned words of the more wise.

The School

The school I work in is a private co-educational prep school in the beautiful Weald of Kent (South-East England). It has extensive grounds, mainly used for games. However, apart from a large woodland area, a pond and an orchard, there is also a garden used by the pupils for their gardening club. Tucked away from the main hubbub of games and recreational breaks, this, we thought, was the perfect location for the hives.

Welcome

Having just set up two hives on the school grounds and with just the bees to go before this adventure becomes earnest, I thought I'd share my experiences for all those many teachers and schools who may want to try this, but are either scared or not sure.
I've been working at this intermittently for two years now, so will first of all post some information about the school, how we got the whole project rolling and also about me. After that I will post updates whenever I do something in connection with the beekeeping.
My hope is that you find this blog fun and helpful. If it persuades you to start beekeeping, either as an individual or as a school, then I couldn't ask for more.

The hives in situ. Yay!