Children taught the importance of bees and habitats they live in

A BEEKEEPER visited a primary school in Henley as part of British Science Week.

Jo Eddon, who founded Honeys of Henley with husband Nigel, visited Sacred Heart Primary School in Greys Road on Tuesday last week to talk about the importance of bees.

The school is already working in partnership with Henley Town Council and Greener Henley, a climate action group, to create pollinator-rich habitats. It is hoped that the town will be awarded “bee-friendly” status by the Bee Friendly Trust, a charity which supports the creation of sustainable habitats, by May.

Mrs Eddon gave an interactive lecture to the pupils from all year groups, telling of the importance of bees in nature, their threats and the construction of their colonies. She taught them about the many functions of the three primary bees in a hive — a worker, drone and the queen bee.

The pupils were able to inspect the honeycomb in the interior frame of a beehive and taste a sample of locally-produced honey. They also saw wax, pollen and propolis, which fights germs in the hive, in glass jars.

Ms Eddon told the pupils of the importance of protecting the whole ecosystem to support bees. She said: “Honeybees all around the world are being looked after by humans. People like me make sure that they have somewhere to live, have access to water and have flowers and plants around them.

“It’s the other insects that we also need to be looking out for. We need to think about our beetles, flies, even wasps, spiders and earwigs. All these kinds of insects you see in your garden are so important.”

She encouraged the children to plant flowers and build bug houses to support them. Mrs Eddon said: “If you have an opportunity to plant some flowers in your garden, put some flowers in a pot, know somebody with a flowerbed that you can chuck some seeds into, or put out a dish with some water in the summer, you would be really helping the insects that are part of our town.

“Even a nice little messy garden with old leaves and twigs will help all the other insects, which are super important and need our help the most. It’s about supporting all of the native insects and plants to support biodiversity” she added.

Hollie Rooke, 10, who is in Year 6, said: “It was very fun and informative. I think it’s good to learn more about bees because we have been planting flowers and I have seen a lot of bees, so I think it’s working.”

Finn Meredith, 11, also in Year 6, said: “We learnt that bees have lots of dangers and not a lot of plants. We will be building a bug house, so that’s exciting.”

Headteacher Rachel Sanders said: “We have a campaign to become a bee-friendly school. The nature club has already been working hard to create new habitats around the school and thinking about plants and seeds that we can use to create wildflower meadows to encourage biodiversity. To add to this, parents have come into school to create bee and bug hotels.”