Bee Green: The Live Action Bee Movie

The following blog post was written by: Joyce Wong
Additional Team Members: Emi Haus, Simon Graves, Kyla Brown
Spark-Y 2019 Summer Internship City Hall Team

Have you ever been so loyal to someone, you’d be willing to die for them? Do you think when you’re born, you have a destiny or purpose? Have you ever flown for what felt like forever in order to fulfill a job to the best of your ability?

If you said yes to any of these, you and bees may have more in common than you think. Bees are incredibly complex creatures, and are very intricate. For the past few weeks, our team at Spark Y has been working with these creatures across Minneapolis and at City Hall. In addition to receiving beekeeping training for maintaining hives, we’ve also learned so much about green roofs, the fear of bees, and how our actions impact ecosystems.

City Hall

Located at the heart of Minneapolis is a leading example of sustainability: the green roof. Not only does the green roof last longer than traditional roofs, they also provide insulation and absorption of heat; This, in return, lowers energy costs and greenhouse emissions. Our intern team has been lucky enough to visit this roof and the bees that live on it for several weeks. Originally, I had been surprised to find bees in such a central part of the city. However, as the environmental worker at City Hall explained, having bees closer to the cities shows that we can live in harmony with pollinators. They’re not something to be feared.

As for our beekeeping training, that was a very unique experience. We learned about the thousands of incredible things to look out for when examining a hive. For example, we learned about how baby bees can be seen breaking out of their cocoons when being born. Also, how bees will cap off their “section” when it’s filled to the brim with sweet honey. Lastly, we learned about how the worker bees will clean the queen with undying patience as their queen lays 1000-2000 eggs per day!

After understanding all of this, I started becoming fascinated with the way bee colonies function. Although I hadn't previously been remotely interested in bees (expect for when one flew near and my friends started shrieking), receiving training for beekeeping for several weeks has shifted my perspective.

All In the Head: Kyla’s Fear of Bees

Before this internship, Kyla, one of our team members, has always thought bees were incredibly scary. She said the reason for this was that lots of TV shows portray bees as terrifying animals that try to sting people. As a result, even though she hasn’t been stung before, she always believed they were “just a pain in the butt.”

To clarify, the fear of bees and bee stings is actually very common. To be fair, it’s normal to be worried about your health, especially when society constantly paints a negative picture of a specific animal. In some instances, people may even develop apiphobia, where the fear of bees affects their daily lives.

Now, when we first got onto the green roof, Kyla said she was very anxious. Being the honest person that she is, she said the bees were “worse than I’d expected.” Just seeing the bees themselves made her want to stay far away.

That day, although she didn’t end up suiting up, she had taken a crucial step towards overcoming her fear of bees. It’s important to remember changes never happen overnight, whether it’s in sustainability, entrepreneurship, or even overcoming fears. Therefore, persevering through your struggles is one of the most valuable skills a person can obtain.

The following week, Kyla took not a step, but a giant leap. Not only did she put on the bee suit, she stepped onto the green roof and was close enough to hear the bees sing! When asked about how she felt, she said, “to be completely honest... not good. Watching them swarming, buzzing around, and crawling on top of each other...it was so scary.”

Despite this, she tried to reassure herself by thinking “I got this. I’ll be fine.” That really helped her. Whereas the first time, she was trying to get as far away as possible, she was able to get close to the bee boxes the second time. Of course, making progress is a gradual process, and although she had to get out of the suit after ten minutes, she’s now more willing to learn about bees.

When asked about what she would tell others who are scared of bees too, she said, “You need to have more faith in yourself. Now that I know much more info, and that bees don't like to sting people because they actually die...I’m not as scared.” She continued, “The hype isn't real. You’re not gonna get stung unless you’re putting bees in danger. It’s all in the head.”

All in all, Kyla’s fear of bees is one of the most common fears in the US. Many people grow up with the stereotype of bees being ruthless killers. However, on closer examination, it is clear that bees have been misinterpreted. Not only do they contribute to our food sources, they also help with entire ecosystems! In order to break down this irrational fear, slow exposure to bees can help people develop a positive correlation to these amazing pollinators.

Pesticide Usage

Recently, the increased amount of pesticides in urban areas has been detrimental to many of our pollinator friends. Initially, our team hadn’t been aware of this problem. Through this internship however, we’ve realized how immediate the consequences of ignorance can be.

For instance, when we collaborated with Erin Rupp, the founder and executive director of Pollinate Minnesota, she explained to us, “Last year, 40% of honeybees died in the winter, the second highest rate ever recorded.”

Unfortunately, honeybees are not the only ones.

Another species of bees, the Rusty Patched Bumblebees, has been dying at an exponential rate. Though once abundant, they, in addition to many other solitary bees, have been placed on the endangered species list. Clearly, pesticides have harmed many creatures.

Now, many people say that losing bees over the winter is expected. They may say farmers have adopted a practice which allows them to replenish the supply of dead bees every year.

Despite this stance, it is clear that replacing honeybees is a costly process that doesn’t address the real obstacle. It focuses on repairing a problem (pesticides) that shouldn’t occur in the first place. In addition, this stance fails to acknowledge that solitary bees are in danger.

Understanding this is crucial because when these bees pollinate wildflowers, they produce food sources for many insects and birds. This in turn, contributes to the entire ecosystem. With the declining populations of pollinators due to pesticides, not only would we lose our food sources, we would also destroy complete ecosystems. It holds the domino effect. Do you want to be a contributor to this problem? Or do you want to help solve this epidemic?

How Can You Help?

For one exhausted bee traveling miles across the bustling city, planting native flowers can make all the difference. Some beautiful flowers you could plant include: the Black Eyed Susan (as shown below), the Stout Blue-Eyed Grass, and the Sky Blue Aster.

As our team members prepare to spread information to others through an interactive workshop, we are incredibly grateful for this opportunity to develop professional skills of communication. In addition, Kyla’s experience made us realize how, initial discomfort can lead to growth. Finally, learning about the various types of pollinators has helped us realize how impactful knowledge is, and how it can empower youth to take action and create change.

Vermicomposting at Columbia Heights

The following blog post was written by Columbia Heights 2019 Summer Internship Team: Mary Clare O'Shea, Anteneh Zelalem, George Bonete Quintero, and Robbie Creadick.

This summer, the Columbia Heights internship team has been working with the students at the Columbia Heights summer recreation program. Every week we strive to facilitate an engaging experience for students that will inspire them to live more sustainably. We do this by focusing each of our lessons on one of the “5 Es of Sustainability” (economics, education, equity, environment, empowerment). Then, we include a hands on activity such as building mini aquaponics systems or engineering from recycled materials. 

Last Friday, our E of the day was education. We began by teaching students the important role education plays in empowering people to better care for the planet. Many have no idea where their trash goes after throwing it away. Others believe that throwing away organic matter is environmentally friendly because it will decompose. Education is the key to curbing these misconceptions. Breaking down and re-purposing trash so it does not wind up in a landfill is integral to a healthy planet.

What better way to demonstrate this to students than vermicomposting?

Our two black bins of vermicompost sitting mysteriously on the tables prompted nonstop questions about what was inside. Once we finally cracked them open no one was disappointed by the boxes of dirt, worms and garbage. Students happily picked up shovels and began exploring the contents of the bins. At first, many were grossed out by the small wiggly red worms but they eventually warmed up to them. After discussing how the worms turn the musty smelling mixture of microgreens, wood shavings, and paper scraps into organic fertilizer, students were each given a plastic baggie to create their own vermicompost environment. Each student picked out two or three worms and were sure to name them before they placed them in their vermicompost home. Many started to ask in bewilderment how it was possible for tiny creatures like John and Spiderman to convert heaping piles of garbage into pounds of organic fertilizer. In the end, building their own mini vermicompost compelled students to appreciate the composting power of the worms and their potential as a solution for a greener future. 

Robbie: “As someone who wants to be a teacher when they grow up, this has been an extremely helpful and memorable experience. It’s amazing to see the kids build friendships with each other while also learning important things that can make the world a more sustainable place like vermicomposting.”

George: “The kids had fun writing facts about their worms and naming them in the vermicomposting activity we were doing, It was funny how three kids named all their worms ‘John’, it's nice seeing how happy and interested they are on the lessons we plan and the different activities they do to help them better understand the lesson of the day.”

Anteneh: “I think that the kids really enjoyed the vermicomposting and the video we showed them. Overall i think the kids had a fun and enjoyable time in the classroom.”

Emma: “This internship has given me my first experience teaching in a classroom. I've learned a lot from being in a situation where I'm not completely comfortable, and also from the other team members. Also, it's really fun teaching in a hands-on way!”

Cultivating Sustainable Mindsets at MPS Culinary

The following blog post was authored : Maria Montero & Quinlan Genrich on the Minneapolis Culinary internship project. Additional Team Member: Amelia Bowser

Accessibility. This word was emphasized to us by Caitlin, our team lead and Urban Farm Manager, as well as our contacts at Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) to whom we ultimately report. Through our summer internship with Spark-Y, we are working to create an accessible learning space for MPS students and community members. One that educates students on sustainable growing, eating, and living in an engaging manner outside of the typical classroom. Our internship focuses on two main strategies to encourage accessible sustainability. First, we care for the diversity of plants in the community garden space. Second, we have planned and designed an outdoor education space, which we will create by the garden and adjacent to the entrance of the MPS Culinary & Wellness Services building. Our main goal is to bring the youth and classrooms of MPS outdoors to the natural world and make learning accessible and enjoyable!

Community Garden

The Minneapolis Public Schools Culinary & Wellness Services contains a beautiful garden encompassing the front sides of the building. One of our responsibilities as part of our summer internship project is to maintain the communal garden space by weeding, planting, and harvesting the many varieties of fruits, vegetables, and herbs. As a group we stay very productive with hands-on work and assistance to our wonderful Urban Farm Manager and team lead, Caitlin. We have learned a lot from her urban farming expertise and how to best care for the growing space. There have also been many generous volunteers of all ages helping out and we could not be more grateful for their dedication and hard work! With the little time we have left of this internship experience, we cannot wait to continue our journey of enriching sustainable living, getting our hands dirty and digging into more garden exploration!

Outdoor Education Space

Within the dominant education model, experiential learning is often forsaken in favor of sitting inside at a desk seven hours a day, nine months a year. In high school, I remember asking my teachers each spring to take class outside to which the answer was usually “no, we have too much to do.” I remember savoring each 20-minute lunch when, on nice days, my friends and I would sit on the grass and try to avoid being hit by a stray frisbee. Through providing an outdoor educational experience, our internship challenges the idea that learning can only be accomplished by reading and lecturing in an indoor classroom. In addition to the hands-on garden space, we are working with MPS staff to design and create an outdoor classroom and produce preparation space. A table equipped with a sink will allow for easy produce cleaning and preparation. Stools will allow for flexibility of arrangement and use. Picnic tables will provide additional seating and table work space. A chalkboard will provide ample space for written instruction and information. Finally, a sign will welcome people to the garden and learning space, intentionally engaging the youth, the community, and the MPS Culinary employees. These components will work together to foster an exciting educational experience and support a tactile learning environment. We hope this space, as a departure from the traditional classroom, will engage visiting MPS students in a different way and inspire them to further explore the origin of their food, its preparation, and the meaning of sustainable living. Having spent the first half of the internship budgeting, proposing, and planning the outdoor classroom and produce preparation space, we look forward to seeing our plans come to fruition throughout the remainder of the internship!

Our participation in this Spark-Y summer internship will add value in our futures by fostering more sustainable living habits, knowing how the connection of people and nature can build community, and enhancing our interests in the environment. This internship has developed our problem solving skills and provided space for us to think about how a garden and education space can be engaging and accessible for everyone. We have explored what sustainability means to us and thought in a mindset that encompasses a world greater than the individual, inclusive of the natural world and the systems on which we rely. We will bring this sustainable mindset with us in our future careers and our expanded understanding of what constitutes education will continue to shape how we learn and interact with others.

A Summer of Sustainability at Roosevelt

The following blog post was written by Nurfadila Khairunnisa, Keriann Cooper, Olya Noyes, and Tunger Hong on their 2019 internship project at Roosevelt Urban Farm (RUF ).

This summer, the Roosevelt Urban farm (RUF) team is taking on big projects for the students and community members at Roosevelt High School. Roosevelt is located in South Minneapolis, just a couple blocks north of Lake Nokomis. During the school year, Roosevelt offers an Urban Farming class that works on and takes care of the aquaponics system and the outdoor garden in collaboration with Spark-Y. This is all part of Roosevelt principal, Principal Bradley’s initiative to make his school “made by the students.” Two of Spark Y’s interns in the RUF team this summer, Olya and Keriann, are also students in the Urban Farming class during the school year!

As our biggest project, our team will build a hoop house on school grounds for students to be able to grow plants all year long. A hoop house acts very similarly to a greenhouse but with better ventilation. It is made by hoops made of PVC which are placed in a row and covered by greenhouse plastic. They should be placed in a location with good soil and in an area open to sunlight. Some benefits of having a hoop house include helping extend growth season by up to four months, holding in heat, being easy to relocate and move around, holding in moisture which is good for the soil, and much more.

So far, we have not started on the hoop house since we’ve only gathered all of our material last week. We hope to get started on it this week and to have it done as soon as we can.

Another one of our projects is to reorganize the aquaponics classroom that students use during the school year. We are getting help from an interior designer named Ilana, who is a friend of our team lead, Matt. In the first picture, you can see how the room currently looks like after moving around some of the big tables and cleaning up the area. It isn’t how we want it to look like just yet but looks a lot better than how it looked when we first stepped into the room!

The classroom following interior design changes.

Here are some things that our interns at Roosevelt have to say:

Tunger: "I am most excited about doing some changes to the aquaponics room and building the hoop house. Our project at Roosevelt is important to me because helping out the community is always a good thing and gives a feeling of accomplishment once finishing the project."

Keriann: "Working on Roosevelt's food systems has empowered me to start my own sustainable garden. I have a good feeling that our aquaponics system and new hoop house will also excite future Roosevelt students to engage in sustainability."