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A beehive, complete with around 10,000 bees, is a new addition to Whangaparāroa College’s grounds.
Year 12 and 13 students from the college’s Environmental Group built the hive and the bees were brought in on May 21 – a day after World Bee Day – by Red Beach beekeeper David Patterson.
Teacher Maria Sinclair says bees were on the students’ wish list, and it came together quite quickly once David offered to help.
With the hive built and painted and protective suits bought online, all was ready for the bees’ arrival. They checked out the hive and surrounding area, flying in figure-eight formations, and also swarmed around the students.
David is teaching the environmental group how to look after the bees. He says he expects bees to do well in the area, which includes good food sources including many native plants. Around 20-30kg of honey could be produced from the hive in a year.
Maria says part of the plan is to plant flowering species in spring.
