With the addition of a hive comes the potential for education. The learning is not limited to beekeeping but also encompasses pollination, forage creation, the relationship between bees and other native pollinators, and honey production. The opportunities that arise fit the vision that created and continues to develop the LFSOG.
“The Orchard Garden aims to cultivate a living outdoor classroom that invites learners across disciplines to explore and connect theory to practice through the relationships between teaching, learning, and growing.” 1
The second hive can involve the Faculty of Education to a great extent, and will be an important asset since the LFSOG is a space where future teachers are exposed to methods for integrating gardening and outdoor education into their vital work as educators of future generations. Merely having a second hive provides a point of comparison, and acknowledges that there are a myriad of ways to interact with pollinators, reinforcing the attitude that we should not always rely on one method; we should seek to experiment and use methods that are most appropriate for our specific environment.
It should also be noted that the addition of a second hive at the LFSOG has social benefits that reach beyond the Faculty of Land and Food Systems and the Faculty of Education. For example, in the future when the LFSOG has gained experience with the different hives, workshops about building and maintaining hives responsibly can be to engage a wider contingent of people. The nearby Department of Forestry may also become interested in learning about the hives. Ultimately, the addition of a second hive increases the number of people who could be involved in learning, provides an opportunity to compare different hive models, and enforces the attitude that we should consider various methods and approaches in agriculture.
Back to social research topics