On March 14, the Gorham High School (GHS) Beekeeping Club celebrated ten new graduates of the GHS beekeeping certification program. In addition to last year’s graduates, this now brings the number of beekeepers in the club to 20.

Each graduate has completed a 5-week series, which included weekly classes and weekly readings from a textbook on backyard beekeeping as well as visit to a professional apiary. Completion of the course qualifies students to handle the live bees that the club currently has in two hives in Robie Park.

The GHS beekeepers recently installed two new nucleuses into the hives with the help of mentor Skip Baker from Vs Bees in Buxton, who also gifted the bee nucs to the club. The club will maintain feeding and inspecting the bees through the spring and summer.

Community members can safely observe the hives in the park and enjoy the fascinating and marvelous honeybee habits. Please use common sense around the hives, and never throw things at the hives or enter the fencing perimeter.

In addition to the 20 beekeeping members, the GHS Bee Club also has an additional 30 members who are involved in various ways. Some of the members contributed to the fundraising sale at the recent documentary night, where the club raised nearly $375 towards the purchase of a storage shed.

Several members are in a planning phase of teaching a bee workshop in conjunction with Baxter Library and 4H this summer.

The club also held a bee-themed art contest this year, made chapstick from beeswax, and plans to harvest honey later this spring when the temperature is warm enough.

A couple of club members are planning to work with a professional beekeeper as their summer job this year.

Be on the lookout for the GHS Bee Club at the Gorham Farmer’s Market this Spring!