Community Beekeeping Project, Kodiak Public Library

DEED Spotlight on the Community Beekeeping Project, Kodiak Public Library 

The Kodiak Public Library hasn’t let COVID-19 stop patrons from reading and learning! The library set up curbside service and has fulfilled almost 500 deliveries so far! Children’s Storytimes and Trivia Games have been moved to Zoom. They transitioned the Summer Reading Program to Beanstack, an online platform that tracks reading progress. So far the readers of Kodiak have logged 38,076 minutes of reading, written 31 book reviews, completed 76 activities, and preschoolers have read 390 books. What is unique about this summer at the Kodiak Public Library is the Community Beekeeping Project! 

The Kodiak Public Library is now home to two honeybee hives! Each hive has one queen bee and thousands of female workers and male drones. The queen bees are named after storybook characters – Queen Charlotte (Charlotte’s Web) and Miss Honey (Matilda).  

A live stream Bee-Cam is set up to check out the bees and watch Tuesday Hive Checks. Tuesday Hive Checks can be viewed on Facebook Live or attended in-person, but in-person attendance is limited to twelve to observe social distancing. At hive checks participants can see a close-up view of the eggs, larvae, and queen, examine different types of honeycomb, and can even taste the honey! A popular activity is holding the drones. Did you know that male drone bees don’t have stingers? It’s like holding a fuzzy teddy bear! 

Youth can join the Bee Explorer Club, a STEAM club that explores the science of bees and the exciting world of beekeeping. Families receive a newsletter with bee activities, bee-related reading, bee facts, and updates on the hive. Bee Explorers are invited to participate in special outdoor socially-distanced bee activities in small groups on the lawn. Activities include interpreting bee stories by acting out the components of the story: warming the wings, smelling for flowers, and replicating the important bee waggle dance which communicates the direction and abundance of flowers. Beekeepers perform pollination demonstrations, and host fun games for the kids to collect “nectar and pollen” (colored water and pompoms) to bring back to the hive cells. There are even bee-themed scavenger hunts and story walks around the library lawn. 

Learn more about the Community Beekeeping Project here: https://www.city.kodiak.ak.us/library/page/community-beekeeping-project 

Thank you, Kodiak Public Library, for inspiring STEAM learning through this un-BEE-lievably creative opportunity!