College students buzzing and wrapped
For a group of students, making and selling beeswax wraps was the first step towards having beehives on their school grounds.
Nelson College for Girls Enviro Action Group member Emma Edwards said the group started making beeswax wraps during their weekends and selling them to fellow students.
The wraps were more popular than expected. The group made around 200, and the profits meant it raised enough to rent two hives from Backyard Bees.
To the group’s knowledge, Nelson College for Girls is the first school in Nelson to rent beehives. The group hopes to inspire other schools to do the same.
Edwards said the initiative would help the school ecosystem and educate students on the importance of bees and the environment.
The hives are fully managed by hive rental company Backyard Bees.
Backyard Bees owner Wendy Lane said the company was often asked if it could put hives in public places, but a risk assessment had to be undertaken in each location to make sure it was suitable.
‘‘To date we haven’t really had a school that is ideal with the location, age of pupils and access requirements, but this one ticked all the boxes, and the leadership team here were happy to have the hive.’’
Lane said it was great to partner with the students to educate the community about bees.
The hives have been in place for just over a week, and Edwards and fellow enviro action group member Bea Dawson had a chance to look inside them yesterday.
‘‘I never thought we could have a beehive at NCG, it’s so cool,’’ Dawson said.
Lane told the girls that each hive had about 30,000 bees in it, and this figure could rise to 60,000 when the hives were at full production in the height of summer.
They also learned that the bees create about 10 kilograms of honey to make one kilogram of wax.
Edwards said schools could do a lot more to care for the environment with a small step like having a beehive. She hoped future members of the enviro group would continue to fundraise so they could rent the hives for years to come.
‘‘I never thought we could have a beehive at NCG, it’s so cool.’’
Bea Dawson, Nelson College for Girls Enviro Action Group member