THE STORY BEHIND THE NAME

Some days it seems impossible to unglue kids from their devices. As a teacher, I don’t know how many times I’ve been run into in the hallway, as a student tries to sneak in a text or quick video. Or how many times I’ve caught a student “accidentally” on Instagram or TikTok at school. It seems rare to find anything unplugged from technology that can capture their attention in the same way, until they started buzzing about bees.

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One day in science class we came across some pictures of a honeybee swarm. The students were instantly amazed at the perfectly created comb and the massive size of the colony. As we continued to explore the pictures and dig more into our conversation, it created quite the spark. The questions were never ending. For some reason, students think that their teachers know everything. To their surprise, I knew next to nothing about honeybees and could not answer even a fraction of their questions. For the next couple of weeks, our class took a sharp turn into a bee investigation. We read dozens of books and watched way too many YouTube videos. We invited a beekeeper into our room to flood him with our questions and soak in all we could. 

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The students weren’t the only ones who were amazed. Seriously. If you don’t know much about honeybees, grab a book, watch some YouTube videos, or listen to a podcast.

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Honeybees are truly amazing. Amir would come home from work and find me sitting on the floor reading children’s books about these fascinating little creatures. I mean, what insect can dance at a precise angle in relation to the sun to communicate the exact distance and direction of a good food source? What creature can literally cook their insect predators to death by turning up the heat in their home simply from the flap of their wings? How can an insect make one of the most delicious foods, that we can eat, and it NEVER spoils? I could go on forever, and poor Amir, listened to these questions. Every. Single. Night. When he walked in the door each day after work, he could always expect to hear, “Guess what I learned about bees today?!”

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Amir patiently listened to my new information & fascination with bees, but his real interests are deeply rooted in the garden. I realized just how important Amir’s garden was to him when our first fight was over planting vegetables. It was our first spring together, and I was excited to help him plant the garden and learn from him. As he motioned to the other side of the garden, he asked me to plant the green beans. Amir proceeded to plant the tomatoes, and I walked to the other side of the garden. . . through the newly tilled, airy, fluffy dirt. As Amir turned around and realized what was happening, he barked, “Do you realize how long it takes to undo compaction!?” Needless to say, we learned something very important about each other that day. Amir takes his vegetable garden very seriously, and I. . .

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When Amir notices a good opportunity, he doesn’t let it slip away, especially if it relates to the garden. As Amir listened to the never ending bee talk, he thought he’d capitalize on the circumstances. He saw the opportunity to give his garden a boost and fill the pantry with a sweet treat. As spring approached, so did my birthday. He was especially excited about my gift that year. I had no idea what it was, but based on his enthusiasm, I was very curious. 

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One morning, a few days before my birthday, I was just waking up. Amir walked in the room with a massive box and said, “I can’t hide it. Is it okay if you open it now?” As I ripped open the box, I could not believe what I saw. An empty beehive and a beginner beekeeping kit. Never in my life would I have guessed that I would become a beekeeper. I think I was equally excited and terrified.

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My students were hooked, and so was I. Before we knew it, that small spark of interest turned into a wildfire. I started to overhear student lunch and recess conversations including words and phrases like royal jelly, propolis, & waggle dance. My students became personally invested in my new beekeeping hobby and wanted daily updates. Next I saw a crew of my kids watching a honeybee at recess. . . They weren’t just staring at it, or even more likely, screaming & running from it. They were standing as statues and yelling in whispers, “Land on me next!” They learned from our new beekeeper friend that bees land on people because they like the warmth and want a break. Each student was eager to help give this hardworking bee a cozy, little rest. At this point, I knew I needed to seize this opportunity & enthusiasm for the good, unplugged outdoors.

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This was a perfect opportunity to bring out the life science standards. To me, life science is the best part of science. It’s plants. It’s the outdoors. It’s the fascinating pieces of nature. However, I’ve learned that as soon as a student reads the words producer, consumer, & ecosystem, their brains turn off. Not everyone shares my enthusiasm. 

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So, our class turned our life science class into bee class. It was amazing to witness the students come to life. They were finding the resources for me. Parents were emailing me pictures of beehives from the store (that their child was begging them to buy) and Tweeting pictures of their child visiting bee exhibits at the museum. We were teaching each other, not just me teaching them, and they were gaining all the knowledge (and so much more) that they would have gained in a typical life science unit. 

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As we continued to learn so much about bees (including the fact that they are responsible for pollinating a significant amount of our world’s food supply), my students were devastated to hear that honeybee populations are on the decline. This ambitious group of kiddos was determined to help save the bees.

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We visited another school that had a group of students with the same passion. After witnessing how these students got a beehive at their school, there was no stopping this group of fifth graders. They were ready to accomplish a similar feat. They shared their love of bees with almost every classroom in the school. After gaining the support of nearly all the students in the school, they did multiple fundraisers and wrote a grant to attain the funds needed to help their sweet honeybees.

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To my amazement, by the end of the school year, I had a class of students, grinning from ear to ear & dressed in beekeeper suits, assisting our beekeeper friend with the installation of our two outdoor beehives and one indoor observation hive.

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Needless to say, this was a special year with a special group of kiddos. They were so thrilled that they accomplished their dream, and I think equally thrilled that their teacher (who previously knew barely anything about honeybees) now had a beehive as well because of them. They absolutely LOVED that “Mr. Faghih” came up with the best birthday present. They begged to name the queen bee of my hive. They threw around ideas for days, but nothing stuck. 

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Then one day, one of my girls said, “Mrs. Faghih! I have the best name for your queen bee. She should be Mrs. Fabee!”

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Perfect. So simple, but perfect.

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To this sweet group of kiddos, thank you for bringing Mrs. Fabee and her hive into our lives. She will be a cherished part of our farm. You taught me to pursue what you are passionate about, dream big, & share it with others. I think I learned more from all of you than you learned from me.