It’s an ongoing learning process. Bees and Beekeeping. An Interview with Emilie Harris

Ms. Emily Harris, a biology teacher at Hopkins School, New Haven says she enjoys working with bees, and it’s an ongoing learning process for her. Ms. Harris’s interest in bees started a few years back when she helped one of her students who wanted to work with bees in her senior year project. This led to her starting her own hive. Surprisingly for her, at that point, she came to know that her grandfather used to keep bees. It was exciting to have such common connections with her grandfather, previously unknown!

Ever since her first hive several years back, she has been maintaining her own hive, helping others create their own, and often supervising the maintenance of those hives. She has had mixed success with her hives. For the first few years, the hives didn’t survive the harsh winters of Connecticut, and then there were problems with mites. Further, one of the hives which survived the winter, couldn’t carry on after a particularly wet Spring. Every year is a learning experience for her, she is still trying to increase the longevity of her hives, which has been challenging.

When asked about the perceived danger associated with bees and beekeeping, she says, if interested, one should start with a mentor to get local guidance during the initial setup and maintenance of the hive. If one feels nervous while tending to the bees, one should slowly walk away from the hive. Honeybees die after they sting, so usually, they wouldn’t chase but go back to their hives. Most of the local bees we encounter in CT are Italian honeybees and not African honeybees.

She further believes having bee-related reading in the curriculum would really improve general knowledge among school children.

It is interesting to note, a few schools in Africa, have started creating hives in their school areas conducive for bees, to increase engagement in sustainable beekeeping activities.

And finally, one word that comes to her mind when she thinks of honeybees-COMPLEX!

Why, because there are a lot of complexities involved in their regular busy lives!