AN East Lothian high school is now offering its students a new beekeeping course, with the chance to make and sell their own honey.
Musselburgh Grammar School is the first of its kind in East Lothian to introduce the initiative, which has culminated in the production of the student’s first batch of honey.
The course means that students receive a forward-looking environmental and agricultural education, and work alongside the “beekeeper’s year”.
Pupils from across the school are invited to take part in the course, tending to beehives set up in an apiary in the school’s courtyard.
Four members of staff at Musselburgh Grammar took part in a year of training in order to be qualified to teach the course.
Nicola Watson, Steph Dias, Dr Heather Brown and Claire Burns earned their stripes at Newbattle Beekeeping Academy in Dalkeith and are now certified beekeepers who have all been responsible for their very own bee colony.
The school has been abuzz for the last year as the hives change with the seasons and require regular checks to ensure the bees are safe and productive.
Pupils have braved the swarms and participated in hands-on activities, and are now rewarded with jars of honey that they collected and processed themselves.
The honey was sold at the school’s Christmas fair for £8 each and is described as a “summer honey” with a pale colour and high purity level.
Speaking to the East Lothian Courier last week, Claire Burns said: “Newbattle High School in Midlothian offer this course to their students and I think that Castlebrae High School in Midlothian are planning to offer it to students in the near future.”
A pupil at the school also expressed their gratitude for being able to take part in such a special experience: “A lot of people are scared by beekeeping, but it’s been my favourite subject since I started it.
“It feels incredibly rewarding seeing the honey being sold after all our hard work and doing hive checks is really fun.
“Even the written work is interesting and I now know so much about bees, including how to identify different types of bees, where to put beehives and a lot more.
“Beekeeping is really fun and you won’t really get stung if you know how to ‘bee’ safe!
“Our honey day, where we extracted the honey, was definitely the highlight of the subject so far.”
A spokesperson from Musselburgh Grammar School said today: “We are delighted with the enthusiasm and interest that our pupils have shown in this course where they have been developing skills in, teamworking, enterprise and creativity, in addition to showing an interest in ecology and animal husbandry.
“We quickly sold out of this year’s honey at the school fair and hope to have a new batch ready for sale in the autumn.
“In order to establish this course, we have worked closely with Newbattle Beekeepers Association and Dalkeith High School, we thank them for their ongoing support and guidance.”
