Devon school trains 'mini beekeepers'

Ernesettle Community School has been running its own apiary for about three years

A primary school is training its pupils to be "mini beekeepers" and learn about honey production and pollination.

Ernesettle Community School, in Plymouth, has about 50,000 bees in its apiary - where beehives of honey bees are kept.

The school said children found the bees "therapeutic".

Alasdair Williams, key stage one leader, said the beekeeping club contributed to curriculum subjects which included science and geography.

Alasdair Williams said children from the age of four to 11 took part in the project

Mr Williams said: "I am very passionate about beekeeping myself and it's quite nice because the children have started to call themselves mini beekeepers.

"We have been able to spread that passion across the school.

"The fascination is enormous. We get the whole school involved.

"It teaches the children so much about pollination, about how important that is for our local area and about how beekeeping can create a social buzz."

He said the club visited the hive once a week to check on the colony, the health of the queen bee and the production of honey, which was what the children got "most excited" about.

Every week the club checks all of the different components of their beehive

Mr Williams said the honey was used in the school canteen for breakfast and after school clubs so the children "reap the benefits".

"When we have our annual honey crop, we take that around the school for the children to try."

Mr Williams said the school produced 20 jars of honey in 2023, and this year the group attended the Devon County Show and made bars of soap from it.

"They became mini entrepreneurs to raise funds to put back into the school beekeeping project [so] we can offer it to other children at the school and other schools around the city too."

Alasdair Williams said the beekeeping project creates a "social buzz" around the school

He said: "The children are quick to say it is quite therapeutic.

"We go into the apiary calm ourselves, and when they hear the gentle buzz of the bees, it creates a nice atmosphere for the children after a busy day at school."

Mr Williams, who has a membership with the British Beekeepers Association on behalf of the school, said the children had a fear of being "stung", but "they soon realise if they are calm and collected you are not going to get stung".

"Touch wood, no-one has been stung this year which shows bees are our friends."

Terry and Valerie McAuliffe praised the school for its brilliant work running an apiary

Local beekeepers Terry and Valerie McAuliffe, from Holly Park Apiaries in Plymouth, said they first attended the school to talk about bees with an observation hive in 2018.

Mr McAuliffe said the children "loved it" and they thought the school had a good "ethos for the environment".

He said: "I wrote to the head teacher and asked them about how they would feel about a long-term project to become a beekeeping school and they jumped at it."

Terry and Valerie McAuliffe said they helped the school for the first year

He said: "There are no other schools in the south of England to do this. There maybe schools that keep beehives on site where beekeepers come in and look after the bees but this school looks after its own bees.

"They have produced their own honey, which is amazing, they have done brilliantly," Mrs McAuliffe added.