Beekeeping program put on hold
Bees temporarily stored in backyard
Biology teacher Kristen Lindstrom was faced with a difficult decision after the bees for Pascack Valley’s beekeeping program arrived, but could no longer be stored due to the pandemic.
“I either had to give [the bees] away and potentially lose money, or we would have to cancel our order for the year, which meant the next time we could get the bees was in April of 2021,” Lindstrom said.
The bees for Pascack Valley’s beekeeping program arrived on April 4, but could not be stored since the school is shut down from the coronavirus. Since both her parents are beekeepers, science teacher Kristen Lindstrom is temporarily keeping them in their backyard.
When the bees arrived on April 4, Lindstrom temporarily found a new home for them — her parents’ backyard — until September.
Since both her parents are beekeepers, Lindstrom came up with the idea to start a beekeeping program in September of 2019 to educate students on the environment. She originally arranged for other teachers and their students to help out with the program before the pandemic.
“I was going to have [teacher of technology and engineering Jim] Kennedy’s class build a [bee] stand,” Lindstrom said. “However, we will have to find a way to build our own. It’s a little challenging, but I don’t think it is something we can’t figure out.”
Although this project was in its early stages, Lindstrom said that multiple students expressed interest in the beekeeping program.
“There was a lot of interest in the environmental club members that I advise,” Lindstrom said. “I know that if I built the program there would be a lot of student interest.”
Sophomore Faith Macchione was drawn to the program due to her upcoming Girls Scouts gold award, which focuses on bees and the impact they have on the community.
“We have already planned to do some activities to help educate the community on the importance of bees, as well as take care of them,” Macchione said. “I took a beekeeping course that taught me a bunch of different things about the program, and I am excited to discover more things [about beekeeping].”
Lindstrom said she thinks that the program will be up and running again at the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year.
“They are going to lay eggs and build out their numbers,” Lindstrom said. “They’ll be really healthy, so when the time comes it will be easy to get them [to PV].”
Sarah Shapiro is a senior who has been in The Valley Echo since her freshman year. She became an editor in her junior year and editor-in-chief in her...
