When encountering a bee, most people scream and run away. Jeanne Hall, an IB and honors chemistry teacher, has taken a different approach to bees and decided to become a beekeeper. It not only helps her garden it also provides her a deeper connection to the environment.

Seven years ago, Hall, an avid gardener, discovered that some of her plants were not growing particularly well, especially her green beans, cantaloupe and cucumbers. She thought that maybe a lack of pollinators was the case and decided that she should get into beekeeping. For Christmas her husband gave her a gift, specifically everything she needed to begin the process of becoming a beekeeper.

There are many positive outcomes from becoming a beekeeper, including getting to eat honey made in your very own back yard and giving back to nature. Saving the bees has become extremely important in the past few years as bees provide us with so many fruits and vegetables, and without bees we would not have many of the foods we eat today. By starting her own beehive, Hall has greatly helped the environment. “I love harvesting the honey, pulling out the frames and seeing the honeycomb,” she said.   

Bees do sting when they are threatened and Hall has many stories to tell about the numerous times she has gotten stung. All it takes is one wrong move, and all of a sudden, the bees can get very agitated. “Now when I sense that they are getting agitated, I just close the hive and come back another day,” she said.

Becoming a beekeeper is the hardest way to contribute to the save the bees movement, but Hall chose to do it anyway. She works tirelessly as a teacher, a gardener, and a beekeeper. The outcome is not only wonderful students and flowers, it is also golden honey made in her very own backyard.