Hockaday Hives

Hockaday works with Alvéole, an urban bee company, and now has a dedicated beekeeper who visits campus regularly to visit with students and teachers, as all divisions incorporate lessons about bees into their curriculum.

 

“Having the beehive on campus gives our students the chance to get outside and connect what they are learning in class to the natural world,” said Science Department chair Peggy Cagle.

 

Located near the Field Research Station behind the softball field, the beehive features Italian honey bees, who are mild-tempered and perfect for urban environments. The bee hotels, located near the Lower School garden, are a space for native bees to lay their eggs. Native bees are gentle and are mostly nonsocial, so they feel no need to protect the bee hotel. Middle School students will work this spring on a culminating project to design and build their own bee hotels, which they will take home to provide a hospitable area for local bees to lay eggs.

 

“As we learn about the life cycle of bees and how to care for bees, we see the ecology and biochemistry topics covered in class come to life,” said Mrs. Cagle.