This year an exciting and unique new club has been introduced to Hingham High School—the Beekeeping Club. The Beekeeping Club is supervised by Ms. Beaupré and led by sophomore Brett Anderson. Located in Ms. Beaupré’s room, room 129, is a bee hive, which was installed the week before classes began. The contraption itself is quite efficient, a tube connecting it to the outside world so that bees can come and go, piquing my interest. Some of the bees were donated and others were initially from Ms. Beaupré’s personal hive.

When asked about the importance of bees and their relevance in a science class, Ms. Beaupré said that they play an extremely influential role in the integrated sciences. In a chemistry class, bees can help students to learn more about carbohydrates through their involvement with honey and sugars. Observing bees is also a useful tool for the botany class, as bees are incredibly impactful in plant lives through pollination. Students can also learn about ecology and ecosystems through the study of bees. Ms. Beaupré asserts that bees are in some way relevant to every scientific field. Bees can also help further understanding of health problems. And if one cares about the food system, they should also care about bees, as bees play an instrumental role in food for human consumption, as so much of human food is plant-based and bees are influential in the growth and development of plants. Without bees, she says, we would have no almonds.
There is a stigma that bees are dangerous and pesky. However, Ms. Beaupré says many fears and dislikes of bees actually stem from bad experiences with wasps. By having a hive in her classroom, Ms. Beaupré hopes to educate students about the differences between bees and wasps and why bees deserve respect and interest.

Currently, the hive in Ms. Beaupré’s room is composed of female bees. The Queen bee, who is identifiable by a painted dot on her back, essentially runs the show. Her worker bees, also female, help maintain the hive and work with the honey. Male bees, drones, serve the purpose of impregnating the Queen so that the hive can continue its existence. After performing this duty, the male bee will die. During the winter the female bees have no need for male bees as they will not be relevant or useful until mating season, come spring.

The Beekeeping Club hopes to meet every two weeks on Tuesdays at 7:30AM in Ms. Beaupré’s room (129). At meetings, members can enjoy honey from different parts of the world. Last week was a creamy Hawaiian honey and next meeting is rumored to feature a smoky Mexican honey. Members will also learn about bees, the specific function of aspects of the hive, and explore and observe the bees. Eventually, the Beekeeping Club hopes to make lip balm using supplies from their own hive. They also hope to possibly partner with other clubs like the Green Team. The student leader of the beekeeping Club, Brett Anderson, promises that “we [the club] have some exciting things planned for this year, and can’t wait for them to come around!”

For more information about this awesome new club contact Brett or Ms. Beaupré!