Education for Everyone

Educational Programs

The foundation has been busy creating programs for kids and adults. There will be an observation hive at the sanctuary and also one that we can take with us when we do presentations at schools, events and venues. We have done many presentations in the past and they are so cool. We have been asked to teach at elementary schools, high schools, colleges, libraries, garden centers, and several other venues. We bring fresh honey in the comb, for people to try and they love it!

 

People of all ages are truly fascinated by what the inner workings of what a hive looks like. These programs will continue to grow overtime, adding new topics of interest and expanding our education. These programs will be taught both at the sanctuary and on the go, at schools, universities, events, venues, etc. Some of the topics are:

 

  1. Bee biology; including examining honey bees, both male and female with the use of a microscope
  2. What bees mean to our ecosystem and why the bees are declining
  3. Basics of beekeeping; a look a beekeeping materials and supplies and teaching about the components of bee boxes and protective wear
  4. How to become a hobby beekeeper
  5. The little, but hugely important things people can do to help preserve our pollinator habitat
  6. The benefits of honey and how it can be used medicinally, in cooking and on the body

Field Trips

Once the sanctuary is fully operational, and our funding capacity has grown, the foundation will start with having field trips to the sanctuary from elementary school kids and underprivileged kids that can come and spend some time learning about the bees are why they are so important. They can get suited up and come out with us to observe bee hives. They will learn about what beekeepers wear, what they do and how honey is made. We will teach them how the bees and farmers work together and where their food comes from; and how they can start making healthier choices for themselves with the foods that they choose and how making better choices can and will affect their overall health and mood.

Teaching children early on how to better care for themselves, will in turn make them better decision makers, better parents and better humans and by showing them hands on and by giving them the visual aspect to this type of learning, we believe can have a longer lasting, permanent effect on them.

Many people are visual learners and with today’s society being led by the age of electronics, many children have lost fundamental life lessons, that cannot otherwise be taught by a computer or an app. This type of teaching is learned by them having to engage by using their brain and their hands to touch, feel and smell the world around them. We want to give people what we believe they want and need, to better understand how important their role is here on this planet. Over the years, we have spoken to hundreds of thousands of people and north of 50% of them, had really no idea that bees are responsible for pollinating many of the foods that they eat and for sustaining our ecological and agricultural environments. Many thought bees were just pests that fly around and make honey. Many were scared of bees because they were never taught otherwise. We will continue to be steadfast in teaching the general public through our sanctuary, website, media, events, bee removal and speaking engagements why bees are so awesome and how we can get them to see bees in a different way; as the intelligent, passionate and hard working creatures that they are.

We want to inspire people, make them know that their efforts to preserving our ecosystem don’t go unnoticed and that we need more people who are aware and care about how their decisions directly affect the future and generations to come.

As the sanctuary continues to plant its feet deeper into the ground, we will invite kids of all ages to the sanctuary to learn many of the same things, perhaps even evoking profound ideologies in some to explore the idea themselves of becoming a farmer. Most of our nation’s farmers and growers are now in their 50’s and 60’s, and that is disheartening. What happens after they are gone? We don’t have enough of our youth getting into agriculture, which is such an amazing field. There are so many aspects to that field of study, like forestry, conservation, agricultural biology… . Most farmers pass on their life’s work to someone in their family and we have spoken to countless farmers who say that’s no longer enough. We need more people involved in order to sustain the food needed to support our growing population.

There will be arts and crafts for the kids where they can construct and paint bee boxes for the bees that will live at the sanctuary (we would love to have our boxes painted by the people who align with our vision). This can also be something done by any visitor who might be a little too afraid to be up close and personal with the bees. The kids can sample honey and enjoy some peace and quiet with nature.