Schools abuzz with Bee&Bees

Students at kitchen gardens schools around Australia have been buzzing with the excitement of making Bee B&B Hotels to attract pollinators into their gardens.

More than 40 Kitchen Garden Program schools took up an offer last year to receive free Bee B&B Hotel kits, and have been busily putting them together and installing them in their gardens.

The Weleda Bee B&B Hotel kits include an educational resource, developed as a collaboration between remedy-maker Weleda and the Kitchen Garden Foundation.

The educational resource, The Power of Pollinators, aims to teach students in Years 3-6 about biodiversity and the importance of pollinators, particularly native solitary bees.

Bees are having a tough time around the world as habitat loss, extreme weather events and the use of pesticides threaten their numbers.

Solitary native bees play an important role in pollinating many fruits and vegetables. They live alone and lay their eggs in a little hole or hollow stem, so providing a Bee B&B Hotel for them to call home can be very beneficial for veggie gardens.

Some schools are concerned about encouraging bees to make a home in their garden, but they shouldn’t be feared. Native solitary bees are a great friend to school gardens, helping to pollinate plants and fruit trees and keep gardens productive.

Junction Park State School in Brisbane received one of the Weleda Bee B&B Hotel kits. Kitchen Garden Specialist Soraya Del Castillo said the students ‘had a ball’ putting it together, as you can see in the photo above.

Wellington Public School’s Kitchen Garden Program Coordinator Sue Nicholas said their students had also ‘thoroughly enjoyed’ building the Bee B&B Hotel for their school in inland NSW.

“They enjoyed learning about the bees and why we should provide a home for them,” Sue said.

Christine Tingle, Kitchen Garden Program Teacher at St Mary MacKillop College in Albury, said the school was very grateful to receive the Bee B&B Hotel.

“We love our pollinators at St Mary MacKillop College,” Christine said.

Mat Tedut, the Kitchen Garden Teacher at Wollongong’s Berkeley Public School, said his students had used the activity in The Power of Pollinators resource to observe pollinators in their garden. He said they would continue to monitor the garden to see if the Bee B&B Hotel encouraged more pollinators to visit.

Due to the success of last year’s offer, Weleda will be offering free Bee B&B Hotel kits to schools again this year. The kit, aimed at students in Years 3-6, includes materials to make a Bee B&B Hotel and The Power of Pollinators educational resource.

Visit beehotel.weleda.com.au to register for your Weleda Bee B&B Hotel kit and for more information on Australian native bees, other pollinators and biodiversity.

About Weleda

Weleda was established over 95 years ago by Rudolf Steiner and Dr Ita Wegman to create natural holistic remedies for the whole family, from skin care to healthcare.
 
Weleda ingredients are either grown in their biodynamic gardens or sourced through fair trade partnerships around the world. Weleda’s products are free from synthetic preservatives, fragrances, colourants, genetically modified ingredients and raw materials derived from mineral oils. Weleda has never tested any of its individual ingredients nor finished beauty products on animals.