A Sweet Experience
at the Westboro Jewish Montessori Preschool
Students were abuzz at the Westboro Jewish Montessori Preschool on Wednesday, September 16, 2009. Beekeeper Russell Corbett paid a visit to the school on Switzer Avenue to share his knowledge of honey-making.
Mr. Corbett, of Russell’s Honey in Carp, explained the process of producing the natural treat to curious students.
The Queen Bee lays eggs that will become new bees. “The Queen is the most important in the hive,” Mr. Corbett told the class. Male bees, called drones, and female worker bees collect honey. Bees collect pollen, their protein, that makes them strong. They make honey by collecting nectar out of flowers, and they ingest nectar and regurgitate it—in fact, the more it is regurgitated, the thicker the honey.
Students learned that the sweet rewards of honey are only reaped from a lot of careful work. To extract honey from hives, beekeepers use a “honey super” to scrape beeswax off the honeycomb. First they must take the bees out from the super. An extractor uses centrifugal force to remove the honey. As the frame spins around and honey flies out, it then runs to the bottom of the drum and is filtered several times.
The lessons in honey will be remembered by students preparing for Rosh Hashanah, when honey represents a sweet beginning to the Jewish new year.