Local primary school is buzzing with excitement after receiving support for beekeeping club

A local primary school in Launceston, Cornwall, is helping its pupils become young beekeepers thanks to support from South West Water.

St. Catherine’s Bee Club started in May 2022 when they purchased two established bee colonies from the local Launceston Beekeepers Group. Since then, they have run a weekly after school club for any keen Year 5 or 6 pupils, where they are taught about bee husbandry, with the practical and theoretical side of beekeeping being learnt throughout the year.

All the children in the Bee Club are now ‘buzzy bees’ in their own right with their two working hives to maintain and care for – helping to educate them on the important role that bees play for the environment, and how caring for them is of the utmost importance.

Through support given by South West Water’s Neighbourhood Fund, the school will expand its Bee Club with new hives, microscopes, honey extraction equipment, educational books and by planting a new garden full of flowers for the bees to get busy pollinating.

Jo Parish, School Secretary for St. Catherine’s School, said: “All of us here at St. Catherine’s want to say a huge thanks to South West Water and its Neighbourhood Fund for supporting us. Our Bee Club members are thrilled to receive the help and can’t wait to use all the new equipment and watch their hives thrive!”

This year, the school are even hoping that some of the club members will undertake an exam to gain their Junior Beekeeping Certificate from the British Beekeeping Association.

Laura Flowerdew, Chief Customer and Digital Officer at South West Water, said: “We are always looking for new and innovative projects and ways to help support our community and the environment, which is why we’re proud to help St. Catherine’s beekeeping club.

The club is a great way to get young children interested in the environment around us and the role bees play within it, so we are really pleased to be able to help them grow.”

Since launching in 2021, South West Water’s Neighbourhood Fund has worked with fantastic local community groups and charities that inspire physical activities, education, health and wellbeing, and positive environmental outcomes each year.

For more information about the fund, and for details on how to apply, visit southwestwater.co.uk/community/support/neighbourhood-fund/