Beekeeping Experience – A Day in the Apiary

Beekeeping has served as an important art and science throughout human history; it has been around for centuries. In modern life, beekeeping continues to fascinate many across the globe. As a form of agriculture, bees provide a source of food, medicine, and other commodities while bringing income to the most devoted. Urban beekeeping is currently booming and Begawan realises that children need to experience such an activity to heighten the awareness of the importance of plant pollination in our lives.

On 23 February 2022, Eco Warriors visited an apiary located in West Selemadeg, Tabanan. This program aims to enrich the students’ insight and knowledge about beekeeping. The students were guided by the Learning Centre’s facilitators and two beekeepers.

The beekeepers gave the students a chance to see the process of collecting honey from the bee hive frame. Knowing how it is done, the students safely took part in collecting more honey by themselves then tasted the honey together with the facilitators. The students were happy to taste the sweet rewards of their hard work.

Throughout this program, students also learnt the importance of the bees’ role in pollination. Since the apiary’s location was in the middle of a forest, students had a firsthand look at how the bees collect their honey in nature, and how bees communicate with each other. Even though students had an initial fear of bees, they were fascinated with bees and slowly able to feel that bees are their friends.

The excitement during this program was not only perceived by the students, but also the facilitators. Begawan’s program has implemented the “Learning by Doing” experience once again! We also want to express our deep gratitude to Mr. Chakra and Mr. Panca for having us in their apiary. (Devi Devanthi)