Field School + Bison + Bees
Back to my roots!
Though I've "retired" from my position of directing the American Beekeeping Federation's "Kids and Bees" program - I'll never not be involved with kids' education.
In high school I was an outdoor school camp counselor in Southern Oregon.
I spent time in my early 20s working with kids with disabilities and therapy horses in central Oregon.
In my mid to late-20s I ran a kid’s program at our local rec center in Skagway, Alaska, worked as a preK-12 substitute teacher, a paraprofessional for kids with autism, and ran a program through the watershed council connecting kids to their river ecosystem.
I spent my whole entire 30s, and the first part of my 40s, traveling around this country (and the world) teaching kids about bees. During those years I personally connected with over 15,000 students – and had kids interacting with live bees at every one of my programs (only three stings)!
The last couple of years my kids’ education bandwidth has been focused on curriculum development, but I still enthusiastically participate in educational events when the stars align.
Yesterday was one of those days!
It was an honor and a privilege to collaborate with Michelle Toshack, Xerces Montana Bumble Bee Atlas Conservation Biologist, to host students from Bozeman Field School at North Bridger Bison here in the Northern Rockies.
It was the student’s last day of school – and we celebrated by chasing bees through the sage, identifying wildflowers, and discussing the relationship between bison and bees.
We netted a queen Nevada bumble bee (Bombus nevadensis), a few male spring long-horned bees (Eucera), multiple species of mason bees (Osmia), a small carpenter bee (Ceratina), a honey bee (Apis mellifera), and a sweat bee (Lasioglossum).
Bonus: a velvet ant!
I love introducing students to bees they would never know were bees. They loved the color of the iridescent golden Osmia and the unbelievably small size of the Ceratina and the Lasioglossum. I got a kick out of the personality types and voices they assigned to each bee.
Not that Midgie isn’t the greatest company (because she is!), but it gets lonely out here and was a delight to be surrounded by giggles and curiosity.