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.