Thursday, November 11, 2010

Scarier Than a Hive of Angry Bees: Eighth Graders! and Beekeeping with Baby

Pearl had her first beekeeping experience on Tuesday. I can't believe it took me ten long weeks to get her out to the bee boxes during an inspection. Before you call Child Protective Serves on me, we made sure to keep her a safe distance from the boxes as the bee hat is a bit too big for her at this point. Here you can see Glenn in the background tending to one of our hives.

Oliver, Pearl and I sat in a field to watch. I couldn't take close up shots of bees, so I tried to take some good pictures of me and the kids. Pearl had her eyes on Daddy the whole time (or possibly a random tree-it's really hard to tell at this point).



Daddy and the newest member of our beekeeping clan.

In other bee news, Glenn and I were asked to give a presentation about beekeeping to eighth grade students this week. I have been afraid of eighth graders since the eighth grade. I had visions of the students calling me Dumbo (you can guess why) or chasing me around the room trying to poke me with a safety pin (yes, it happened and I am still traumatized). We love beekeeping so we decided to face the dreadful eighth graders on behalf of the bees.

I emailed my blogging friend Barbara in Canada (I just love Canadians-don't you?) to see if she could help us with our presentation. Barbara is passionate about educating people about the honey bee and had so many great tips to share with us.

As it turns out, the talk went really well. The students were polite, asked questions, seemed interested in bees and were eager to try the honey we brought. I'm not sure if kids are getting nicer in general or if these children were really special. They warmed my eighth-grader-hating heart.



I think Glenn and I are ready to take this presentation on the road. Anyone need a presenter?

9 comments:

  1. That's awesome! Congratulations on spreading the word in behalf of the bees. That's great! I'm so proud of you both!

    I can't believe how big Pearl has gotten since I've been away from blogging for a while due to computer problems. She looks so aware and interested in everything. You guys make cute kids ;-)

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  2. How awesome that you faced your 8th grader fear and went for the gusto! What you and Glenn are doing is incredibly needed for those coming up...as what one part of the web does affects the whole of it...

    I've just been sitting and reading over here and love what you've been sharing...

    Baby Pearl is just beautiful...she looks so engaged and curious!

    Have a fantastic weekend and thank you for this awesome post! I love the honey bees...well, all bees actually...they are all beneficial!

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  3. want to come talk to the garden elective group of students at Bellevue Santa Fe Charter School in Avila? That would so much fun!!!!

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  4. Awesome post & lovely pics as usual, Jess. As for presentations, I think Erin was looking for a presenter in JP on Dec 4th if you're available. ;)

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  5. I'm so glad to hear the presentation went well. I knew it would. I've found the that people really want to know more about bees, especially since they've seen and heard news about them.

    I just LOVE your photographs, especially the Mom and kids one.

    I hope your bees did well for you this summer and that they'll winter over well.

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  6. I love those photos of you three in black and white! And how fast your baby is growing. Goodness my Ella will be 4 in Jan and I was looking at her baby picks a few days ago. They get big so fast...

    I too had a trip back to school this week and did a school assembly for my book. Luckily it went great! I've not done the 8th grade and actually that scares me equally!

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  7. I second the request for Boston Dec 4th, but will be happy to see you all in May. She's getting so big and I love the announcement cards with big brother Oliver!

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  8. I love how I have 2 minions doing my dirty work for me! We do indeed have an opening for a beekeeping speaker or two (or four) on December 4th. You know how to contact me if your people are available;). Love the pics and post and second the comment on how beautiful little Pearl is. Good work B-Bs!

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  9. KUDOS to you and Glenn for your willingness to educate young people about the honey bee. I am finding more and more at my new job that children have a very limited knowledge of all things in nature. It is sad to realize how little time they spend outdoors.

    Also, I wanted to thank you for offering up a prayer on my behalf. I am happy to report that all is well.

    Rhonda

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