Beekeeping a sweet new hobby at Mamaroneck High School

MAMARONECK - A path is beginning to emerge on a narrow, hidden slope along the high school that is now trekked a few times a week by teens donning head-to-toe suits, gloves and veils.

The trail leads to four boxes that house Mamaroneck High School's beehives, making it one of the only schools in the state to have on-campus apiaries.

"There’s really no better way to let kids have authentic learning than to have something that they’re going to be responsible for taking care of and seeing how important it is in the planet," said Cathy O'Reilly, a biology teacher at the high school.

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This is what inspired O'Reilly to write a grant application to the Mamaroneck Schools Foundation in October requesting funds for a school beekeeping program. She was awarded about $3,000 to purchase protective suits, attend beekeeping workshops, and purchase materials to start the hives.

The idea is not just to engage the science students, said engineering teacher James Love, but to bring an interdisciplinary approach to the program.

"We have a bunch of different angles, culinary arts, the pure science aspect of it, and the engineering fabrication part," he said, adding that this way it gets "more people involved in the process ... we're trying to look at it from different angles."

O'Reilly's advanced biology class is working on creating assignments related to keeping apiaries, the role of bees in the environment and bee anatomy for incoming ninth-grade students.

Engineering students designed and built the hive boxes and eventually, the culinary department will collect the honey.

O'Reilly said they have tried to attract younger students at the high school to participate in the beekeeping.

"We tried really hard to get members of the bee team that were ninth and 10th graders, so they would be around and they could mentor the newer kids next year," she said.

For ninth-grader Brennan Vincent, taking care of the bees has been unique.

"It’s a really good experience because it’s not like anything else," Vincent said. "It’s more of a hands-on experience."

Jacqueline Chiu, also a ninth-grader, said she appreciated the significance of the beekeeping work.

"I know there’s a decline in the population and knowing that we’re making a difference is really important to me," Chiu said.