Leicester Elementary School’s (LES) media center became a hive of excitement on Thursday.
Tucker Worley, of Worley Honey Farm, displayed tools of the beekeeping trade – such as a smoker and a protective bee suit – as well as his observation hive. Students marveled as worker bees went about their honey making business and attended to the queen. LES participated in the One School One Book program this year, and every student received the “The House at Pooh Corner” to read at school and at home with their families. Since Winnie the Pooh is obsessed with honey, Media Specialist Caryn Levy said the book provided a great opportunity to teach kids about real honey production.
“We want our students to know more about where their food comes from,” she said. “And we want them to know how important bees are for that food.”
Worley has 80 hives on his farm and uses them to produce honey and to pollinate cucumber fields in Haywood County. As a member of the North Carolina Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers program, Worley values educating the next generation about agricultural science.
“It’s important for young people to know what it takes to grow vegetable and food crops,” he said. “It also helps them to see that bees are good. They’re not out to get you. Maybe this will help some of the kids get interested in beekeeping down the road.”