BeesMAX at Oakfield Primary School

BeesMAX at Oakfield Primary School

Oakfield Primary School has a BeesMax bee hive installed on the grounds, supporting the crucial rehoming programme from BeesMax. The hive also provides a resource for pupils as well as employees to learn about the life of bees, the programmes in place to support the regeneration of the bee population in the UK, and how their existence plays a crucial role in our lives.

GETTING INVOLVED

The hive at the school

Since the original installation the BeesMAX honeybees at Oakfield Primary School the location has become a really important feature on the BeesMAX calendar and we’d like to thank all the staff who have championed this through to completion.

There is so much that can be learned by adults and children going the distance and putting on specialist beekeeping PPE and observing the interior of a colony.

Contact BeesMAX

Events and linked hives

BeesMAX have organised some exciting beekeeping events for 2023 to be held on the Isle of Wight where BeesMAX has hives located. Contact BeesMAX below if you’d like to be informed of all their upcoming events.

ISLE OF WIGHT HIVES
The Garlic Farm

Check out the hives at The Garlic Farm.

Oakfield Primary School

This page is dedicated to the hives at Oakfield Primary School.

Ventnor Botanic Gardens

Check out the hives at Ventnor Botanic Garden.

Wildheart Animal Sanctuary

Check out the hives at Wildheart Animal Sanctuary. 

Latest News

 

Latest News & Updates from the hives on the Oakfield Primary School. 

Oakfield School’s hive is just so well behaved.

Do not attempt this unless you are sure you know the bees you are dealing [...]

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01
Aug
The first look into the Oakfield Beehive in April 2020

Wow they have survived well! 6 frames of bees eating ravenously. See the remains of [...]

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04
Apr
A second beehive arrives at Oakfield School in Ryde Isle of Wight

Both colonies are heavily weighted down because high winds can have a devastating effect and [...]

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06
Mar

Video Playlist

Click the ‘hamburger’ icon on the top right of the video below to see all videos in the playlist.

 

Archive Photos – Oakfield Primary School

Scroll photos and click to enlarge.

Watch OUR LIVESTREAM

This beehive camera shows a live stream of the honeybee colony every day, 24 hours throughout the year.  Notice the clock inset displaying UK local time. Even at night the honeybees can be seen resting but still moving around.

Viewing the livestream

Get in touch

There are various facilities for you to use so please explore the time lapse clips on the left side bar. Expand to view full screen by first hovering over the bottom bar and then clicking various on the bottom right-hand side.

Latest

Over the winter this honeybee colony has survived very well and you can see several thousand in the cluster beginning to organise themselves to initiate spring breeding. The queen will probably start to lay eggs in early March.

BeesMAX and Arnia IT

Arnia is a company, like BeesMAX, concerned with bee health, but from a more technical standpoint. They have developed technology that goes into a hive and records data that is sent back to the beekeeper. 

A graph showing information from the arnia system inside a honeybee hive, including the changes of the weight of the hive across a month, with the option to also see the temperature of the hive.

Arnia IT inside a hive

Sensors are fitted inside the hive in order to monitor the colony’s behaviour and these statistics are then sent, via a gateway, to the user’s devices, allowing them to better understand their own bees. The data collected can be compared across different hives using the same technology.

Our mission

So why Arnia?

The Arnia system opens up a whole world of educational opportunities and provides a more in-depth experience.

It is unique in combining colony acoustics monitoring with brood temperature, hive humidity, hive weight and apiary weather to provide detailed insight into hive conditions and bee behaviour. No other system provides this richness of data.

Our team
Arnia monitoring system attached to battery inside the wooden honeybee hive.

The Arnia IT system in action

Through the use as part of our Honeybee Rewilding Scheme, we aim to provide depleted wild colonies with a new habitat in which the bees can reorganise and restructure. As well as placing these in woodland areas, they also offer schools, individuals and businesses the opportunity to install hives on their sites to support the rewilding of our honeybee colonies.

Host A Hive

How to support Oakfield School’s honeybee conservation

There are a number of ways friends of Oakfield Primary School can support the school hives with the honeybee rewilding conservation project. Take a peek below and let us know how you’d like to help. 

Join An Event

Join an event hosted by Oakfield Primary School and learn about the urban rewilding project at the school.

Contact BeesMAX

Isle of Wight Honey

Every pot of Isle of Wight honey sold raises money that goes directly back in to support the rewilding project.

Contact BeesMAX

Host Your Own Hive

Hosting your own hive will help us build the conservation corridor to help support our bees. Help us increase the number of conservation hives.

Find out more

Contact BeesMAX

Contact us for further information about hives at Oakfield Primary School, upcoming events, or hosting your own hive.