Northland Pines Middle School 8th grade students spend time all year working on many components of the Hive Alive! Sweet Science honeybee project. Students get to build beehives in their Technology Education classes with the help of a local beekeeper. Then, student-generated designs were then painted onto the hives by students in their Art classes.
Students learn about honeybees in the classroom through curriculum implemented by the school district’s Farm to School program. They learn about the dynamics of a working honeybee hive and the important role honeybees play as pollinators. They also learn about Colony Collapse Disorder and how it has impacted honeybee populations around the world. Students also sample several different types of honey and learned the benefits of eating local raw honey and the importance of honey to the colony.
Students tend to every need of the hive which included feedings and assessing the egg laying pattern of the queen, pollen collection, honey production, disease and pests. In the fall, students assess honey stores and prepared the hive for winter.
A component to this project is the Adopt-a-Bee program. The Adopt-a-Bee program partners students with hundreds of bee sponsors from many states and Puerto Rico. Students write several letters throughout the year to bee sponsors informing them on the progress of the project. Any honey the bees produce is collected and bottled by students. Labels for these honey bottles are designed by students in their Art classes. The honey is distributed to Adopt-a-Bee sponsors. Any remaining honey is used as a sugar substitute in Family and Consumer Education and The Science of Food classes.
This project allows students to actively participate in experiences that will be practical and long-lasting. Students learn the intricacies of life in the hive and understand the dynamic connection between events that occur in a local ecosystem and the impact these have on the colony. Ultimately, students are stewards of a working, living hive, while at the same time, completely immersed in a scientific field-study of global importance.
To adopt a bee, please contact Todd Wilfer at twillfer@npsd.k12.wi.us or stop by the Northland Pines Middle School office to pick up a form. The cost is $20 per year.
