FOR the first time in the Hunter, native bees are being brought into the classroom to help fill a gap caused by the varroa mite infestation to the honeybee industry.
Through a collaboration between Bee Innovative, Regional Industry Education Partnerships (RIEP) and Rural Learning Exchange, students at Mount View High School have been undertaking a NSW Stage Five Agriculture curriculum subject, designed in response to the outbreak.
The pupils were gifted a hive for a hands-on experience designed to illustrate the importance of native bees to the local ecosystem and the economic potential in honey production.
Year 10 students Sharlet Shearer and Molly Bedford said it was special to be given the opportunity to get up close and personal with the bees.
"It's really cool to have something like this, because a lot of people won't ever get to experience it," Ms Shearer said.
"It's been exciting watching the bees go about their day, doing what they need to do," Ms Bedford said.
Ms Shearer said she enjoyed having a responsibility of looking after a hive.
"It's been interesting to weigh it, see how much honey they've produced, how much food they've eaten and see how it changes throughout the winter," she said.
"It's really interesting to see it up close - they're just such an important part of our ecosystem."
Bee Innovative co-founder Kate Lyall said native bees were a good synergy for schools because they are stingless and she hoped to see more schools undertake the subject.
"There's no problems with people being stung so that's a good platform for schools to go forward with," she said.
"We're hoping the Department of Education is very excited about this because other high schools in NSW might wish to take up the program in the Ag space as well."
Ms Lyall said while varroa mite has been a big hit to the honeybee industry, native bees were a positive alternative to help soften that blow.
"There's certainly a future, we still want to keep and value or European honeybees because they're absolutely important for many crops, but there's light at the end of the tunnel and there are other pollinators we can consider using," she said.
RIEP officer Walter Mansfield said he is hopeful to see the new bee subject implanted in schools state-wide.
"I think we'll get hundreds schools over the coming years who want to take on this program because of the impact varroa mite is going to have on the industry, and it's just been going to become too hard for teachers who are already teaching honeybee subjects to manage the varroa mite infestations,' he said.
"So I think they'll look to an alternative subject and native bees are perfectly placed to fill that gap."
