We Started Keeping Honeybees

2021/01/26

In June, we started keeping Western honeybees in a corner of Chutobu Junior High School. In addition to studying honeybee ecology in science classes, we want to create an example of a cycle and sustainability centered on honeybees at Chutobu Junior High School, which promotes SDGs-conscious education. The first year of trial and error was a series of discoveries.

The students' first question was, "Won't they sting you?" The answer is, "They won't." Unlike hunting wasps, bees like honeybees do not sting unless they feel threatened. Although the bees sometimes become wary when I open the hives to work, I have never been attacked. The concept of "bees = stinging" changes a bit. They are highly social, divide roles, and can survive on their own even if left alone for a while. Recently, thanks to the cooperation of students, teachers, and custodians, awareness has spread, and information about honeybee sightings arrives from various locations. It seems they are even flying to the rooftop, which is equivalent to the fifth floor.

In the intense summer heat, the honeybees fan the inside of the hive with their wings to ventilate it. However, as extremely hot days exceeding 35°C continued, the queen bee's egg-laying pace dropped. A 1°C rise in temperature due to global warming has a significant impact on honeybees. After a summer of attacks by small hornets and extermination using insect nets, and a pleasant autumn, it suddenly became cold. The honeybees' movements slowed down. I hurriedly handmade insulation covers to fit the hives. They are truly sensitive to temperature changes.

Just when I thought we had overcome these challenges, there were times when the population suddenly decreased. Based on observations of weakened bees and carcasses, as well as the state of insects around Chutobu Junior High School, I surmised that the cause was pesticides. Honeybees, which have a foraging radius of several kilometers, are also excellent at communicating the location of nectar and pollen to their peers. While honeybees show us that there are many types and numbers of flowers even in the city, the human impact that is invisible in daily life becomes clearly visible through these small-bodied bees.

To make use of our experience so far, I recently planted saplings of trees with long flowering periods around the hives. We will continue to grow plants that provide plenty of nectar and pollen throughout the year. The cycle we aim for is: (1) food waste produced by humans -> (2) making liquid fertilizer with vermicompost -> (3) making plants bloom -> (4) honeybees producing honey and wax, and the colony increasing -> (5) humans receiving a small portion of those benefits. Additionally, I want to convey to the students the urban nature seen through small eyes, such as identifying the types of surrounding flowers by analyzing the collected pollen.