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The MV Bees Academy is a self-sustaining apiary program: Offering local honey, queen bees, and crafts made by RSU10 students to the Mountain Valley community, as well as beekeeping experiences.
The MV Bees Academy is a self-sustaining apiary program: Offering local honey, queen bees, and crafts made by RSU10 students to the Mountain Valley community, as well as beekeeping experiences.
Here's what we are currently buzzing about!
Here's what we are currently buzzing about!
Lainey Bell, American Honey Princess came to visit us!
Lainey Bell, American Honey Princess came to visit us!
Lainey came to both Meroby and Rumford Elementary to talk to the 4th graders about bees and beekeeping. She was a hit!
This event made the paper! Click here to read the article!
We made the news!
We made the news!
Click here to see our apiary in action!
NOVEMBER: It was a prepping for winter kind of day!
NOVEMBER: It was a prepping for winter kind of day!
Some kids came to visit the bees and enjoyed holding their first bee, even though the wind was chilly. We fed the hives their winter sugar and prepped them for winter. We wrapped our wooden hives so they will be insulated. We don't need to wrap the Lyson hives or the Apimaye hives because they are already insulated.
OCTOBER: Oh the mites!
OCTOBER: Oh the mites!
We checked for mites in all of our hives. We have been treating for mites, and they have proven to be quite a challenge for us to diminish. Lots of testing, treating, and monitoring happening here!
SEPTEMBER: Folks came to learn more about beekeeping and visit the bees!
SEPTEMBER: Folks came to learn more about beekeeping and visit the bees!
We had a fun time talking about bees, beekeeping, and sharing our amazing apiary with the community!
AUGUST: We installed our BROODMINDER scales and sensors under our 6 large hives
AUGUST: We installed our BROODMINDER scales and sensors under our 6 large hives
The sensors read the humidity and temperatures in the hives. The scales can show the weight fluctuation inside the hives as productivity increases during nectar flows. Coming soon: link to see the BROODMINDER data from the MVBees Apiary
The sensors read the humidity and temperatures in the hives. The scales can show the weight fluctuation inside the hives as productivity increases during nectar flows. Coming soon: link to see the BROODMINDER data from the MVBees Apiary
JULY: We sold our first queen bee!
JULY: We sold our first queen bee!
Selling queens to local beekeepers is one way the MVBees Apiary can help support the beekeeping community. Each queen sells for $40 unmarked and $45 marked.
JUNE: We had a TREMENDOUS turnout for our Open Apiary Day!!
JUNE: We had a TREMENDOUS turnout for our Open Apiary Day!!
It was humbling and mind blowing to experience the excitement of community members wanting to learn more about bees and beekeeping! We had close to 30 people come visit our apiary! The kids got to hold bees and the adults got to learn about queen rearing.
Rob Hull, creator of Bee-ing Apis, visited MES 3rd and 4th Graders!!!
Rob Hull, creator of Bee-ing Apis, visited MES 3rd and 4th Graders!!!
Rob Hull taught the students about his experience creating bee-related comics and how he got them published into his books. He created pollinator comics with the 3rd and 4th Graders. The kids loved it! It was fun to learn from a Maine celebrity!
Click here to learn more about Rob Hull's Bee-ing Apis comics.
World Bee Day was a SUCCESS!!
World Bee Day was a SUCCESS!!
Students and staff from Meroby Elementary celebrated World Bee Day on May 20, 2024. Everyone had the opportunity to visit the apiary, learn about the unique body parts of a bee, taste different types of honey, play a pollination game, and see honey bees up close in observation hives. It was a tremendously successful day! The RREV team from Maine Department of Education came to observe and were just as excited about the bees as the kids were.
Marianne Hutchinson, from The Sun Journal, wrote an amazing article about the experience. Be sure to check out the pictures!!! Click here to check out the article.
MAY: We had a fantastic turn out for our first Open Apiary Day with bees! We opened up the hives, took off the winter feed, cleaned out the bottom boards, and learned how to carefully hold bees. Adults and kids alike were buzzing with excitement, learning about beekeeping.
A giant THANK YOU to Al Borzelli and Linwood Swett for moving the bees from Mrs. Corlett's backyard into our apiary!
That was some HEAVY lifting!! We discovered that we will need to add some wind breaks for the bees because they weren't super excited about coming out of their hives and into the cold wind. Check back soon for more pictures and updates from our apiary adventures this week!
APRIL: We finished up the bee-viewing window and the queen-rearing observation hives. We are ALL READY for the bees to come! We just need the weather to cooperate so we can get trucks over the soft ground. We also were invited to JB Farms' Maple Sunday event to talk to their visitors about our apiary!
MARCH: We put in a viewing window and autopsied a hive.
A window was put in so that students can watch what is happening with the hives and beekeepers from inside! We are excited about opening up the apiary for different levels of interaction with the bees. The MVBeekeepers also hunted through a hive that died this winter, trying to figure out why they died. We discovered that the hive had gone queenless earlier in the fall. Beekeepers are always learning!
FEBRUARY: We stamped suits, hung racks, and organized gloves!
It's so exciting to see our apiary dream come true! Check out the MVBeekeepers' work this month!
JANUARY 2024: We officially moved into the apiary!! Thank you to Al Borzelli, Cheryl Hartford, Dee and Rich Jones, and Jessica McMichael for all of your hard work!
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