午夜剧场

In June, we started keeping Western honeybees in a corner of Chutobu Junior High School. In addition to studying honeybee ecology in science classes, we want to create an example of circulation and sustainability centered on honeybees at Chutobu Junior High School, which promotes education with an awareness of the SDGs. The first year of trial and error was a series of discoveries.

The students' first question was, "Won't they sting us?" The answer is, "They won't." Unlike hunting wasps, flower bees like honeybees do not sting unless they feel threatened. Even when opening the hive for work, the bees may be wary, but they have never attacked. The concept that bees equal stinging changes a little. They are highly social, divide roles, and can survive on their own even if left alone for a while. Recently, thanks to the cooperation of students, teachers, and janitors, our awareness has expanded, and information about honeybee sightings arrives from various locations. They even seem to be flying to the rooftop, which is equivalent to the 5th floor.

During the intense summer heat, the honeybees use their wings to fan air into the hive for ventilation. However, as the heatwaves exceeding 35°C continued, the queen bee's egg-laying pace dropped. A 1°C rise in temperature due to global warming has a significant impact on honeybees. After a summer of small hornet invasions and extermination using insect nets, and a pleasant autumn, it suddenly became cold. The honeybees' movements slowed down. I hurriedly handmade an insulation cover to fit the hive. They are truly sensitive to temperature changes.

Just when I thought we had overcome these trials, there was a sudden decrease in the population. Based on observations of weakened bees and carcasses, as well as the condition of insects around Chutobu Junior High School, I speculated that the cause was pesticides. Honeybees, whose travel radius extends several kilometers, are also skilled at communicating the location of nectar and pollen to their peers. Through the honeybees, we can see that there are many types and numbers of flowers even in the city, while the human impact that is invisible in daily life becomes clearly visible through the small bodies of the honeybees.

To make use of our experience so far, we recently planted tree seedlings with long flowering periods around the hives. We will continue to grow plants with plenty of nectar and pollen throughout the year. The cycle we aim for is: 1. Food waste produced by humans → 2. Making liquid fertilizer with worm composting → 3. Making plants bloom → 4. Honeybees producing nectar and wax, and the colony increasing → 5. Humans receiving a small portion of those benefits. Furthermore, I want to convey to students the nature of the city as seen through these small eyes, such as identifying the types of surrounding flowers by analyzing the collected pollen.