Program raises bees in the face of population decline
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — Ivy Academy student Noah Lewis walks outside to inspect the school's bee population each week. Curious students eagerly watch from a distance as the senior beekeeper inspects the hive, looking for signs the queen bee is healthy and repopulating.
It's exactly what faculty adviser and academy director of environmental programming Ansly Eichhorn had in mind when she and another faculty member went through a bee training program several years ago. The environmentally focused charter school wanted to add a bee population to its agricultural science program and received a grant to kick off the effort.
"It's a really neat way to teach students where their food and everything comes from," Eichhorn said.