We just had to include this picture of Mr Hicks our Head Teacher and his amazing 'bee shirt' made by Mrs Hicks and his daughter! absolutely 'bee-eautiful' ladies, (hopefully they will be taking orders soon!)
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Well, even I am lost for words on where to start with this one! THE most wonderful day of bees ever! Over 400 children, teachers, governors, parents and even babies, dressed as bees! All to raise awareness of bees and other vital pollinators. The day started with a 'bee-themed' assembly, with two of our advanced children devising and hosting a 'bee quiz' for the children...next up, a whole school photo (in the shape of a bee of course!) Then our annual sponsored walk around our super grounds, taking in the apiary and bee shed... dressed as bees...It was a sight to see! Money raised will go to supporting our apiary in school and donating to the wonderful Bumble Bee Conservation Trust, who do so much for pollinators & education. Well done to everyone, it was a 'beeerilliant' day!  As you know, we are super proud of our beekeeping children in school! Their knowledge, confidence and resilience continues to grow every week in all the 3 bee clubs we run at school. Today I was very lucky to go to Crosscrake CofE school to see one of our Junior Certificate children go along to teach other children about bees and share her knowledge on why they are so important to us. She is planning on using this plan to form her project for her BBKA exam in 3 weeks time. So many amazing activities were on display, all really well thought out and so relevant to the children. There was even a dressing up session, where the Crosscrake youngsters could try on bee suits! I have to say, I loved the 'bee themed' play dough session the most!! Will be bringing lots of these ideas to our younger children in school... well done! so proud! 
Sunday the 12th May saw members of the bee team at Heron Hill primary school in Kendal host the first of the summer outdoor training meetings for Kendal bee keepers. The sun shone brightly as the children from the advanced team presented the golden rules of beekeeping to over 20 experienced bee keepers from the local area. The key message from the six children aged 9 -11 was 'love your bees' and this was most evident as the children carefully, confidently and skillfully carried out full inspections on 3 of the 5 hives currently in the school apiary. Peter Wright, committee member of Kendal bee keepers, said 'what a wonderful day with so many knowledgeable young children. I for one was very impressed'. We were so proud of our beekeeping children! 
The 'Advanced & Junior Certificate children have been working really hard recently recycling some old brood boxes to make 'pollinator palaces' for solitary bees & 'bugs' Once again, Mr Tett, our beekeeping buddy from Kendal beekeepers came along to help transform the old boxes into splendid bug hotels. The children braved cold weather and driving rain today to get them finished and planted up before our apiary day on Sunday with Kendal beekeepers.  After three years of school beekeeping, we know the Cumbrian weather is... well a bit 'temperamental!' Today was no exception, the 'advanced' & Junior Certificate teams had planned to split one of our VERY full colonies. This means taking a frame of eggs, a frame of brood & one of stores, (along with a cup or two of nurse bees) putting them in a small 'nucleus' hive and allowing them to make a new Queen... This has lots of advantages... it means if we miss a swarm, our wonderful 'Queens Genes' have not been entirely lost, as we have a 'daughter' establishing her own colony... it is also a method of 'swarm prevention' By reducing the bees in the hive, they have more space & are less likely to make swarm preparations. THAT IS THE THEORY! But, as you will know from previous posts, bees only forage really above 12 degrees, so with today hovering around 9 degrees, it was too cold to open our hives, as it may have resulted in the brood getting chilled. So, it was a good opportunity to catch up on essential jobs in the shed... super frames to be made... and the final preparations on our new pollinator hotel. We are so proud of them all, such brilliant team work, getting on with it all independently and with amazing focus...
Goodness, what a busy session at today's Bee Club! Half of the children went in to the hives for the first time, the other half were great working in teams to see who could find and put all the parts of a hive together the fastest! No mean feat as there was so much equipment for them to sort out. They then used their great DIY skills to put staples into each hive part which will allow us to identify which 'super' (the honey box) came from which hive. It also has the benefit of us being able to trace any equipment in the event of any serious diseases. The children did wonderfully at lighting the smokers for real and using them with respect and commonsense in the apiary, well done everyone!
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