Local Beekeeper Hosts Local Homeschool Group

A local beekeeper, Dave Moore, recently hosted the Blooming Brains Homeschool Group, a group of Richland County homeschoolers. Blooming Brains consistently hosts learning activities, field trips, and other opportunities for the children's educational enrichment.

Sophia Ogbonna, a 5th grade student and regular participant of Blooming Brains wrote: "On Sept. 16, my homeschool group, Blooming Brains, was invited to visit David Moore's bee farm. We learned lots of information about how bees are cared for and how bees work together in the hive. For example, we learned that the smoke that beekeepers use to keep the bees calm is actually making the bees think there's a fire and they will start to cover themselves in honey to get enough resources to leave the nest. We also learned that if the queen passes away the beekeepers will find a new queen and put it in a tube for the other bees to get used to her scent. Afterwards, she will become the new queen bee. I had a lot of fun and I'm so excited to go on more trips with my homeschool group."

Hailey (2nd grade) and Sophia Sarkozi (3rd grade) were also in attendance at Mr. Moore's Bee Farm.

Hailey recalled her time at the farm as fun and exciting. Stating, "The bees were so cool, they will suffocate any wasp that gets into the hive. The queen bee is also the only one that lay's eggs for the colony. Mr. Moore was so kind, he let us take scoops of honey off the comb and it was so good!"

Sophia was also very excited about her time with the bees. "I learned that a queen bee has a mark that gets put on her so she stands out as the queen bee. Honeybees are also very friendly, unless you're in their path to the hive. They die after they sting you so honeybees don't sting unless they have to. Mr. Moore allowed us to get up close so we could see the bees at work in their hive. It was so cool and he let us take scoops of honey off the comb, it was so good I could eat it all day!"

Both girls were sparked with a desire to learn more about bee keeping and hope to have their own colony some day!

This was such a fun hands-on learning experience for the Blooming Brain's Homeschool Group, and we'd like to thank Mr. Moore for his hospitality and sharing of his knowledge!