Messines Bee Farm

🐝 Day 1 of our Great Southern road trip and what a wonderful start at Williams Primary School!

The Year 1 and 2 students were incredibly curious, engaged and full of thoughtful questions. It was clear their teacher had done a fantastic job front loading the learning, with students confidently sharing their knowledge and making connections throughout the session.

It was also lovely to see their Talk for Writing program going great guns, with students eager to communicate their ideas and observations.

Thank you for welcoming us into your classroom and sharing your enthusiasm for the wonderful world of bees. 💛🐝

🚗🐝 The Great Southern road trip begins!

Over the next 5 days, the bees and I will be travelling across the Great Southern, visiting schools and residential care communities, sharing the fascinating world of bees with learners of all ages.

That's:

🐝 2,000 bees
📍 7 venues
📚 10 presentations and incursions
🛣️ 5 days on the road
💛 1 shared vision

A vision of connecting people with the natural world through curiosity, conversation and meaningful experiences.

One of the things I love most about this work is that whether I'm working with young students or older members of our community, the response is often the same — wonder, questions, stories, laughter and a renewed appreciation for the important role bees play in our lives.

Why don't you join us on the journey?

Over the coming week, I'll be sharing some of the wonderful people, places and moments that make this work so special. 🐝✨

Follow along on our socials and see where the bees take us next.

🐝 One of the most rewarding parts of my work is seeing teachers take the bee theme and run with it, creating an integrated learning journey that captures students' curiosity and extends far beyond the day of an incursion.

Recently I had the pleasure of visiting the Early Learning Centre at St Peter's Primary School, Inglewood. From the moment we arrived, it was clear the teaching team had thoughtfully front loaded the learning and immersed their students in the world of bees. 🌼

The teachers had created an incredible bee themed environment, complete with learning centres, opportunities for exploration and discovery, and even dressed to theme on the day. The attention to detail was inspiring. ✨

As a result, the students arrived curious, inquisitive and ready to engage. They asked thoughtful questions, shared their knowledge with confidence and embraced every part of the experience. 💛

As both a teacher and beekeeper, this was wonderful to see. My dream has always been for our incursions to be part of a collaborative learning experience, where classroom learning and real world experiences work together to deepen student understanding and create meaningful connections.

Seeing the learning already underway before our visit, and knowing it will continue long afterwards, was incredibly rewarding. It was theme based learning at its very best. 🌱

A huge thank you to the staff and students at St Peter's Primary School for making us feel so welcome. The bees and I loved every minute of it. 🐝🚜 ❤️

St Peter's Primary School

What a wonderful day sharing our love of bees with the residents and staff at Catholic Homes Belmont and Opal Care Alfred Cove Community Care.

From the moment we arrived, the conversations started flowing. Residents shared memories of gardens, farms, family beekeepers and favourite honey recipes, while others simply enjoyed the opportunity to see, touch, taste and learn something new.

The fun, wonder, curiosity and passion in both centres was truly infectious. It's always a privilege to watch bees spark stories, laughter, questions and genuine connection.

Thank you to the wonderful teams at Catholic Homes Belmont and Opal Care Alfred Cove Community Care for welcoming us so warmly. We loved spending time with your communities and sharing the fascinating world of bees.




🐝🍯💛

One of my favourite schools, Seaview Community Kindy, has created a reel that I just had to share!

What I love most is seeing how the wonderful Ms Amy has extended the children's learning long after our visit. From their play based apiary setup to the fabulous "Pollen Party" glitter station, this is inquiry learning and play based education at its best.

When children can revisit concepts through imaginative play, sensory experiences and hands on exploration, that's where the real magic happens.

This is exactly why we love working with early childhood educators. The learning doesn't stop when we leave. Seeing children continue to explore, question, create and connect with their learning is the greatest compliment we could receive.

Thank you, Ms Amy and the team at Seaview Community Kindy, for creating such a rich learning environment and for inspiring the next generation of bee champions. 🐝💛

🐝 Today we had the pleasure of visiting the Kindy students at Christchurch Grammar School

This school holds a very special place in our hearts 💛 Christchurch Grammar was the very first school Messines Bee Farm ever delivered an incursion to, so it was wonderful to be back again today for our fourth visit.

There is nothing better than watching young learners explore the amazing world of bees 🌼 ask thoughtful questions and discover just how important pollinators are to our environment 🌏

Seeing schools continue to welcome us back year after year means so much to us. We are grateful to be part of so many students' learning journeys and love seeing their curiosity grow with every visit.

A big thank you to the staff and students at CCGS for another fantastic day of learning, discovery and bee-filled fun 🍯

We can't wait to see you again 🐝

> One of my favourite places to visit is Seaview Community Kindy. A beautiful haven of play based learning, filled with curious minds, open ended exploration, and plenty of fresh salty air. It's always a joy sharing the fascinating world of bees with these young learners. 🐝🌊

Our third visit to and what fun we had!
These little peeps had a blast learning about all things bees!