Schoolchildren buzzing with launch of beehives

Rouge Bouillon and St Michael's school pupils have worked on the hives with their teachers for eight weeks

Students from two Jersey primary schools have built four beehives.

Pupils from Rouge Bouillon and St Michael's have worked together for eight weeks to design and create the hives now in a field of wildflowers at St Michael's.

St Michael's head teacher Henry Marshall said the project had been a real journey for the students, who undertook the project to celebrate World Bee Day.

"Both sets of children were a little bit cold towards each other at the start, but it's been brilliant to see them form relationships," he said.

For eight weeks, the students and their teachers met up after school at St Michael's engineering facilities where they put together and painted the hives.

Mr Marshall said there would be a colony of bees living in the hives from June and students from both schools would be able to visit them.

Students Eira, Joao, Harry and Esme will help care for a colony of bees inside their hand-painted hives

Ten-year-old Eira, from Rouge Bouillon, said designing the hives had been "really fun".

She said all the students put forward a design and the winning submissions were announced in assembly.

Eleven-year-old Harry from St Michael's said the hives were "really fantastic".

He said he was definitely going to help look after the bees and was excited about making new friends from Rouge Bouillon.

Teachers Andy Saunders and Andre Le Rossignol became friends while working on the beehive project

The head of engineering at St Michael's, Andy Saunders, and science lead at Rouge Bouillon Andre Le Rossignol have worked on the project since November.

Mr Saunders said it has been "fabulous" to see the connections between students.

He said: "To start with, they were quite cautious of each other. And then we sort of got them mixed up a bit and they were hammering in nails together, and it was great to see that development."

Mr Le Rossignol said Rouge Bouillon was in quite a built-up location, so the school has prioritised helping children have a connection with nature.

He said the school would organise regular trips to see the hives so that students could learn more about bees and pollinations.

"And that's something we would really struggle to do on a school site, so it will enrich the curriculum for all of our pupils and their families," he added.

The two teachers have also been on a weekly beekeeping course, where they have become friends.

They have also been supported by the Jersey Beekeepers' Association.