The kids and the bees: St. Bonaventure's students showcase their own hive and bee research

Grade 7 students at St. Bonaventure's College celebrated World Bee Day on Saturday with a presentation from their very own hive near the school in downtown St. John's.

The hive was gifted to the school in 2021 by theNewfoundlandandLabradorBeekeepingAssociation and has been the pet project of social studies teacher Chris Peters and science teacher Robyn Matthewsever since.

"We have a student, who has since moved on, who was super-keen in beekeeping, and she kept saying, 'We should have bees,'" Peters told CBC News.

"I kind of thought, 'There's no way.' Then a couple of things came together. During the lockdownwe were offered a hive for the school. I sent an email off, thinking the answer would be no, and everyone came back with, 'That's a great idea.'"

The students spent months researching the role of bees and their impact on the environment through core subjects including math, English, science and social studies.

The research was then presentedSaturday morning, with about 70 people in attendance.

"It's been great for the class overall just to learn about bees in a different [way]," said Peters.

"The kids had a great time. They put this information together. We very much wanted them to identify what they thought was important and they did a great job of pickingthe history of bees but also the life cycle of the bees and demonstrating that."

The project has also produced a lasting impact on some of the students.

"I've actually been thinking about starting a hive myself with my family," said student Ryan Pierceysaid.

"We've always thought about it, but this year has really made it come to life. Now that I know so much about it, maybe it's coming even closer to starting one."

Piercey said there's space at his home that is perfect for his family's hive. He hopes to harvest his own honey and wax when the time comes.

As for the St. Bon's hive, the class has not harvested anything from it just yet.

Peters said they left the honey inside last year but hopeto go through with a harvest next fall.

And while the students will mostly disappear for summer holidays at the end of the school year, Peters said some plan to stop by the hive when they can.

"We've been working on getting our students comfortable around bees and getting in there and inspecting the hive and working with the bees," he said.

"It's phenomenal to have the students rewardedwith people coming down to listen to what they have to say about bees and what they've learned."

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