Beaufort Academy is thrilled to have received a hive this week from The Bee Cause Project. The mission of The Bee Cause Project is to stimulate curiosity in young people about the importance of honey bees in our lives, the need to understand and embrace them, and to care about their well-being through the installation of bee hives in 1,000 schools. The hive at BA is number 32.
Funded by the Savannah Bee Company, Bee Cause was started by that company’s president and founder, Ted Dennard, who donated 20 hives and enough money for the salary of the company’s executive director, Tami Enright, to get the project started. The eventual goal is for participating schools to pay it forward.
BA has created a bee-friendly area outside of the Aimar Library where the bees can enter and exit the glass encased hive that is located within the library. The hive is attached to the wall on a swivel so that all can observe both sides of the hive.
Bees are pollinators. Pollinators transfer pollen and seeds from one flower to another, fertilizing plants so they can grow and produce food. Cross-pollination helps at least 30 percent of the world’s crops and 90 percent of wild plants to thrive. Without bees to spread seeds, many plants — including food crops — would die off. Now, a condition known as Colony Collapse Disorder is causing bee populations to plummet, which means these foods are also at risk. In the United States alone, more than 25 percent of the managed honey bee population has disappeared since 1990. Through the Bee Cause Project, the school hopes the students will not only find out about the life of bees but also how important bees are, and that they can make a
positive difference.
Beaufort Academy needs to pay it forward. Schools that receive a honeybee observation hive agree to help pay for the ongoing care of the bee family they have adopted and for the installation of honeybee observation hives at other schools by selling Bee Cause Honey. For every purchase of Savannah Bee Company Bee-Cause Honey, 100 percent of the proceeds are donated to a school hive project and are used to support The Bee Cause’s mission to install honeybee observation hives in order to “save the honeybees one school at a time.”
The Bee Cause Honey is collected from White Holly, Gallberry, a little Saw Tooth Palmetto, or maybe Tulip Poplar. The flavor depends on the wildflower blossoms and the whimsy of the bees.
Please stop by the front office to purchase a bottle for $15 or email eroddey@beaufortacademy for more information. Beaufort Academy is located off Sams Point Road on Lady’s Island.
