Being a Mascot

I never thought I would be a star at a preschool at age fifty two, but apparently that is one of my job descriptions as a beekeeper. I went recently to the Justin Early Learning Academy in Simi Valley, CA, and they had the bees as their school animal/mascot. Consequently, when I was honored to teach these adorable preschooler (some with Special Needs) about bees they were pretty impressed by everything I did. They really liked doing the bee dance where we threw our arms in the air and went one way and then another. They really liked it when I impersonated the queen bee, but when I put on my beekeeper suit some of them where really impressed. And sadly some of them were a little scared. It was the best experience I have had as a beekeeper. It was also amazing to see how well the staff handled all of these kids. Some of them where a bit more challenging to manage than others, and especially when tantrums happened. What would preschool be without a good tantrum from a child now and then? Pretty boring. The kids were also really great at asking me questions, which I was pretty blown away by because I thought they were very well educated about bees. None of them liked being stung by bees that is for sure. The staff was very amazing, and so accommodating to my needs. When I left they all said to me, “Bye Beekeeper!” It was so precious seeing their big eyes and enthusiasm for all things bees. I would go back and do this service any time! 🙂