I've got a teacher wanting to purchase a Bee Hive, with no prior experience but willing to learn! My automatic response is no, with not only teachers and students being alergic to Bees and little reference to syslabus apart from pollination.
What is your view? Do you have one? What restrictions do you have on it?
Yeah, Animals in Schools requirements is only for vertebrates, so can't play that card. I think I would be asking "why?". It is not relevant to the curriculum, so why would you. Also a lack of skilled/properly trained to staff to manage to WHS risks is a real problem. Not only will you have students or staff on site who are allergic to bees, but what of the others who don't know?
There is also the agricultural biosecurity issue of varroa mites getting into hives. If you're not skilled, how will you know you have a problem. This mite is a serious threat to honey production in Australia.
Maybe suggest the teacher join one of the bee keeping clubs around where they can get their fix!
Just outside one of our Labs , some Native Bees made a hive underground .
Native Bees can't harm you .
One of our teachers is into native Bees so he built a hive Box to encourage the bees out of their underground Hive .
The kids are quite fascinated by them . every so often he opens it to see inside and the kids can have a look if they are interested .
Behive.jpg
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Native Bees.jpg
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Oh wow - are these honey producing native bees? I believe you need a warmer climate than Tahmoor to keep those types.
Regardless, seems like a good answer to the problem.
I'm pretty sure they are Merilyn.
The teacher looking after them is passionate about building up the numbers of bees again as so many were destroyed in the recent Bush-fires .
He has been feeding them a sugar supplement over winter and it seems to have paid off .
I haven't taken notice of our resident bee population. I guess because there has been little for them to eat, they're not around. Of course, a lot would have been wiped out, certainly at my place, there was not much saved. Big planting projects around the house should see an improvement by next year.