Let's keep our MFS Pollinators, and our passion for them, alive

Beekeeping at MFS, 2021

Vivian Messina, Aidan Short, Daniel Sorokin, Sam DeJoseph

A Student-Led Journey

The beekeeping program at MFS has been ran through a student club, and later a student committee. Historically these groups have met once a week for 30-45 minutes. In addition, this small amount of time must be split between many activities, making adequate apicultural education hard to achieve. This means currently, our MFS apiary is unsustainable. There is no way to ensure all future classes are able to keep our pollinators alive. This beekeeping elective does just that. It divulges into everything necessary to keep our honey bee colony healthy for years to come.

This is a pass/fail class. Similar to our Model United Nations class, this elective would be taught by students selected by the former leaders and advisor. A textbook, Google Slides Presentations, and a number of projects are provided to keep everything on track. Some video resources are also available, such as installing a package of bees and creating sugar solution. During at least the first year, all lessons taught outside at the school apiary will be recorded and edited for future use.

Course Description

At MFS, we are fortunate to have a student body committed to upholding the testimony of

Environmental Stewardship through the maintenance and upkeep of a honey bee colony.

These campus pollinators have the capacity to survive for decades, so long as our collective

passion for them is sustained. In this course, we will delve into the basics of beekeeping,

from starting a colony to pest control to extracting honey. With a combination of traditional

classroom and hands-on learning experiences, students will gain experience with

beekeeping and develop independence and confidence to become the caretakers of our

hives for years to come. The book "Beekeeping: A Practical Guide" by Richard E. Bonney

will outline our curriculum, and students will engage in group discussions and creative

projects in every unit. Students will be provided with readings to follow along with at home,

which will be encouraged as part of their growth. This class will be pass/fail, with no tests.

Teacher- Newman

Category- Science and Engineering

Block- A2

Open to 9th-12th grade students

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