Our outing began with a ride on a school bus! The children lined up attentively and rode to Boulder with impeccable manners (they did not require so much as one reminder to lower their voices). In fact, our bus driver, Patrick, remarked to me several times on the exemplary behavior of the students (an occurrence which, much to my pleasure, was repeated several times throughout the day- complete strangers came up to me while we were in the garden and remarked upon the politeness and courtesy demonstrated by the children and incredulously asked me how old they were)! Apparently, the short busses that we normally get were getting some routine maintenance; so, the children were absolutely delighted to get to ride on a full size school bus (for several, this was their first ride on a school bus)!
After a short ride, we arrived at the Growing Gardens Children’s Peace Garden. The Growing Gardens is an incredible, local, non-profit devoted to cultivating community through gardening. They teach environmentally sustainable gardening programs to children and adolescents, as well as horticultural therapy programs for the elderly and the developmentally disabled. They maintain a large organic children’s garden and apiary (beekeeping operation) that is visited by 1,500 children annually; additionally, they manage more than 450 community garden plots, administer the Cultiva! Youth Project (an organic market garden maintained by adolescents aged 11-19 who donate a percentage of the yield to those in need and sell the remainder at the Farmers Market), and maintain fifteen active beehives at the site.
We were fortunate to have chosen a beautiful, sunny day for our visit.
The gardens were bustling with activity; everywhere we looked, people were weeding, pushing wheelbarrows filled to the brim, or resting under the tents with cool drinks. We meandered through the garden until we met up with our thoughtful host, Assistant Director of the Children’s Peace Garden, Kirsten Bell and her assistant, Ainsley.
Finally, we made our way out of the gardens and down a shaded path toward the apiary.
they hatched into larvae,
The larvae undergo several moltings before spinning a cocoon within a cell and pupating. Then, the worker bees cover the brood cells with a wax cap, from which the adult bees must eat their way out
They also got to examine some hands on bee products- including honeycombs, beeswax, several preserved specimens, and one of the honey supers/frames which the bees build their combs on.
The hive is filled with frames on which the bees build combs. Unfortunately, we were not able to take a lot of pictures here for fear of upsetting the bees, but if you have never seen a working beehive, it is quite an astounding sight (bustling and yet extremely organized). The sheer quantity of bees is staggering and there is the most incredible, audible, humming sound. It is also easy to understand the fascination many people have with these diligent workers and how they have become emblematic of hard work, perseverance, and as a metaphor for ideal civil governance. The hives at the Children’s Garden were specially built with large windows on the side which allowed the children to watch the flurry of activity occurring in the hive. The children seemed absolutely transfixed by the activity of the forager bees, busily returning from the garden with pollen and nectar.
Afterwards, Kirsten led the children through the garden to an arbor that was covered with honeysuckle vines. She asked the children what they thought nectar tastes like and why bees like to eat it; then, in a simple, but extremely effective demonstration (which seemed positively inspired to me), she allowed each of them to pick a honeysuckle blossom to sample. Needless to say, the children quickly understood the bees fondness for nectar.
Then, the children participated in a “pollinator relay.” The children took turns pretending to be honeybees, racing through the gardens in search of nectar. The children got to pick a flower and return to the “hive,” where they performed a bee dance to indicate where the other bees should go in search of flowers.
The children were very pleased with their flowers, and I was tremendously impressed with how much botany they had absorbed. Several of them took a few moments to locate the pollen and the various structures of their flower (hopefully, our guests were not too put off by the children’s penchant for taking flowers apart- flower dissection is one of their current favorite activities).
Finally (as one relieved boy exclaimed), the children were treated to a taste of the honey from the hive. Not surprisingly, it turns out that the bees make incredibly tasty honey!
After all that running, dancing, and “flying” through the garden, it was time to take our exhausted little beekeepers back to the school.