Alice’s Beehive Project

24 September 2020 - Academic

Last academic year, Mrs Sue Buxton (Director of Science and STEM) hosted a Sustainability Society. During one session she delivered information about using beeswax as an alternative to plastic. Lower Sixth pupil, Alice, was inspired by the information and began developing an interest in creating a beehive.

With only some previous experience in beekeeping at a summer camp, where Alice had the opportunity to carry out some hive inspections, Alice’s interests grew over the lockdown period and she became interested in creating her own hive. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, beginners’ beekeeping courses and societies were not running. Nevertheless, Alice began researching online and finding contacts to ask for advice.  She started thinking about where she may be able to house the hive; “I live in London and my parents were not too keen to have a beehive in our small city garden.”

When thinking about where to house the beehive, Mrs Sue Buxton advised Alice that Wycombe Abbey currently houses other hives on the school site and that it would be possible for Alice to set her hive up on the school grounds too.

“I got building and painting, and I now have my hive set up in the school apiary. I must admit the instructions were very difficult to follow at times, but all in all it was a great lockdown project.”

Alice explains that the hardest part so far had been finding a beekeeper who was willing to deliver a nucleus which contained a Queen bee, worker bees and drones, at a time that worked around her studies; the custodians may have had an unexcepted delivery when a package of bees arrived at the School gates!

“Hopefully very soon I will be introducing a nucleus into my hive to get ready for the coming winter.” Mrs Buxton explained that with beehives, the more you leave them alone, the better.

Alice is continuing to work on the hive before the bees arrive and plans to build some wooden blocks in DT to finish the project.

When asked why she became interested in creating a beehive, Alice explained “I just absolutely love the idea of supporting thousands of little extremely driven creatures and helping them to help the environment. I’ve also read and heard a fair amount about the falling global bee population and I really want to feel that I’m doing my part to at least support a few extra bees. And, of course – if all goes well, it should be very rewarding!”

Well done, Alice, and we wish you the best of luck with the beehive.