Since several years the bee population is dramatically in decline. This year, 15 billion bees have disappeared in France, mainly because of the use of pesticides. After having seen the movie Pollen (Wings of life), a few Roots & Shoots groups, under leadership of Ghislaine Joubert at the Joliot Curie School in Ivry-sur-Seine (outskirts of Paris), have initiated several projects linked to biodiversity in general, and with bees in particular.
Due to the grant provided by the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund, the Jane Goodall Institute was able to purchase a complete honey laboratory, an educational beehive, 60 uniforms for children and 4 beehives with bee colonies, with all the material necessary for the production of honey. In partnership with Ivry’s City Council and a local Bee keepers association (L’APAI), several school classes (+/- 100 children) have visited the beehives and learned about the complex society of the bees. On May 16th, Jane Goodall herself had the opportunity to discover the world of bees from very close by! Since her visit, the bees have produced in a very high quality of 140 kg of honey. This honey has recently been awarded with a Gold Medal of ‘the Best Honey of Ile-de-France Region’! Our educational animations encounter a great success and already 11 Roots & Shoots groups (260 children between the ages of 5 to 11) have subscribed for the next school year 2014-2015 to discover the magic world of bees! www.rootsandshoots.fr
