Bee Safe
Children will be protected from stings with full length bee suits. Suits have veils, and will also include gloves so that each child feels safe and confident around the hives.
Leader
Cindy Hallowell
Location
110 Sandy Point Avenue Portsmouth, RI 02871
About the project
Students from Pennfield School and group home residents from Child and Family Services of Rhode Island will need protective gear for the new beekeeping program at Pennfield! They will wear the suits to inspect the hives, and then monitor and chronicle hive changes, development, challenges, and care. Guest experts will instruct the children on proper hive maintenance, as well as the importance of bees to the environment.
The Steps
Once we meet our project's financial goal, we will order the bee suits from Mann Lake Ltd. Hopefully they will arrive in time for our April 10, 2015 (but weather dependent) delivery of bees so that the children can participate from the very beginning!
Why we‘re doing it
The Pennfield School has a 19 acre campus which includes it's own raised bed garden where students learn the art and science of growing vegetables, herbs and flowers. The new beekeeping program will help with the garden's pollination and, even better, will show the community the fine yet delicate relationship between bees and our food supply. One of the Sustainability Department's goals is to make the campus "pollinator friendly", and in doing so, inspire our neighbors both agricultural and residential to do the same with their properties. The beekeeping program will help raise the awareness of children from both urban and suburban backgrounds to the importance of bees, and to the responsibility all of us have for their safety and health.