O.B. students team up with farm to save bees
Farmer, 3rd-graders pay each other visits for ongoing project
BY LAUREN CIRAULO Staff Writer
The third-graders from Raymond E. Voorhees Elementary School in Old Bridge have generated a sizable buzz among Hauser Hill Farms' chief pollinators.

JEFF GRANIT staff Old Bridge farmer John Hauser explains the importance of pollination to Voorhees Elementary School students including Robert Michaelson (l) and Ricky Sosa during a visit to Hauser Hill Farms last week.

The students, inspired by a science unit on honeybees and the role they play in plant pollination, created the philanthropic Pennies for Bees and spent the month of March collecting donations to support Hauser Hill Farms and its essential beehives — an endeavor that resulted in an April 15 visit to the Ticetown Road farm.

Interest among the children piqued, quite accidentally, when they inadvertently discovered colony collapse disorder (CCD), an unexplained phenomenon among honeybees in which worker bees from a colony abruptly disappear.

"As we were studying this unit, one of my students came across a Häagen-Dazs blurb that read 'There's a 50-percent reduction of the honeybee population and scientists don't know why,'" said third-grade teacher Julia Olson. "The class was fascinated and asked if we could adopt a beehive."

PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff Above: Third-graders from Voorhees Elementary School, Old Bridge, take a tour of the greenhouse on the grounds of Hauser Hill Farms last week during one of two scheduled visits there this spring. Left: John Hauser shows the students a beehive.

Olson initially researched the idea of adopting beehives on the national scale, but quickly concluded that working hand in hand with a local farmer would make more of an impact.

"With John Hauser [of Hauser Hill Farms] being named New Jersey Vegetable Grower of the Year, the kids were doubly enthusiastic," she said. "It's as if he was a celebrity to them."

After some brainstorming, the students launched Pennies for Bees in order to fund the adoption of the beehive. They enlisted the help of school Principal Cecilia Skove, who allowed the third-graders to place plastic

containers in every classroom for change collection. By the end of March, the students raised $335.

During this time, John Hauser visited all the third-grade classes to discuss the importance of bees on his farm.

"He was quite impressed with the students' knowledge about bees and their function in agriculture," said Midge Hauser, John's wife, who teaches Spanish at Voorhees. "But he was especially surprised by their passion and willingness to help."

Midge Hauser encouraged Olson to arrange a tour of the farm for the thirdgraders. All four classes, including 75 to 80 students and teachers Olson, Michael DiGiglio, Christine Bracken and Michele Donnelly, visited the Old Bridge farm last week. The children rotated around three stations that detailed the happenings at the farm. The first station simulated actual field soil cultivation and seed planting, illustrated by summer pepper plants and lettuce. They also picked out their own matured flowering plant, planted it in a peat moss container, and took it back to school with them to nurture.

The second station was a tour of the greenhouses and a discussion about farmer's markets and road stands. Midge Hauser, who manned this station, also showed the children how the food is picked and sold, and explained the different kinds of eggs from emus, chickens, turkey, geese and ducks. In addition, the students were brought to observe 70 newly hatched chicks that were being incubated.

The third station drew upon the science lessons they were exposed to. It consisted of a visit to the beehive, where the students were required to stand on only the right and left of the hive so as not to aggravate the bees. "What does it feel like if they bite you?" one student asked. While there, John Hauser explained the different sections of the beehive box and where the honey goes.

According to Midge Hauser, the children were full of intriguing questions, very well behaved, and did not take one bathroom break.

"They were just so excited to get from station to station. They were like little sponges absorbing all the information," Olson said. "Many of the kids got back and just sat down outside to talk about their trip instead of playing at recess."

The money raised by Pennies for Bees will be used by John Hauser to buy two hives, both of which will be named, assembled and decorated by the third-grade classes. While immediate plans only include a visit from the students in early June to affix the hives and see the fruit set from pollination, Olson and Midge Hauser said they hope that there's more to come in the future.

Olson has already discussed with the fourthgrade teachers the possibility of bringing these students back next year to see their work come to fruition, and Midge Hauser said her husband would be happy to harvest any interest in agriculture.

"He wants to educate children about agriculture at every opportunity," she said. "You never know, if one child's interest is cultivated, he or she could be a future farmer."