Warepa School gets leafcutter bees

Warepa School principal Sue Adcock and pupils Keeley Puna (13), William Maze (10) and Lucy Clark (12, back right) are surrounded by the rest of the school as they hold on to the parts of a leafcutter bee house donated by New World owner Julie Broderick (right).

School pupils in Warepa have been given their own leafcutter bee house to help grow a colony.

New World owner Julie Broderick visited Warepa School on Monday to present it with a ''pollination package'' or miniature bee house and 75 cocoons of leaf-cutter bees as part of the Little Garden promotion.

Mrs Broderick said there was a big focus on pollination this year, as a significant portion of the food produced relied on bees.

''Bees are very, very important to our society. There's a lot more to bees.''

There was excitement among the pupils as they quizzed Mrs Broderick on everything from how long it would take for the bees to emerge from their cocoons, to what the house was made of and why.

Preparing the colony would take time as the cocoons needed at least 21 days of 21degC heat before they would hatch.

School principal Sue Adcock said the pupils had spent the past few weeks learning about bees, their life cycles and the importance of their role in the environment.

With the bee house, the pupils would be able to monitor their own colony.

''It's an amazing learning tool which allows children to learn the process that goes behind pollination,'' Mrs Adcock said.

The bees would be set up in the school's vegetable and fruit garden, which the pupils already maintain.

They had previously used it to grow vegetables for coleslaw and snacks.

''The children plan it out. They look after the garden and actually harvest the produce.''
Mrs Adcock said the colony would be integrated into the children's learning curriculum alongside the produce.

samuel.white@odt.co.nz