We now have Italian honeybees from Massachusetts on our very own beehive on the school roof! City Growers will be checking on them twice per month. Please welcome our very own Queen Bee Pinketti, named by the PS 20 children and Mr. Anthony, after Mary Pinkett, a Crown Heights resident who was the first Black New York City councilwoman. Find the queen bee in the photo below; it has a red dot on it!

  • What kind of honey will we get? It will be wildflower honey, as our bees will be collecting nectar from various flowers.

  • How many queens will we have? There is always one queen per hive

  • What do honeybees eat? They eat nectar, pollen, and honey.

  • Does every honeybee have a determined role? Yes! Inside our hive there will be one Queen—her job is laying eggs. 90% of the hive is made up of female Worker bees—these bees live up to their name by doing all the jobs involved with food, shelter, and protection. The last 10% of the hive is male Drone bees—they mate with Queens from other hives.

  • What can we do to help our honeybees prosper? Plant flowers and educate people so that people are not swatting at them. 

  • What are the main risks to our honeybees? Mites, extreme cold, and colony collapse (due to pesticides)

  • Is it dangerous to have honeybees on the roof? No. Honeybees are always living around us anyway. Having them on the roof instead of a ground level hive creates less chance for children running into them.

  • Are honeybees aggressive? No, honeybees are vegetarians, they get all of their food from flowers and have no interest in stinging or biting humans. Honeybees follow the "Golden Rule" and you should treat them the way you want to be treated! If you are swatting or running around screaming, they may feel the need to defend themselves. 

  • Can honeybees sting? Yes, but only female honeybees have stingers. They will sting only if attacked. Honeybees are not like wasps who are territorial and can sting many times. Honeybees can only sting once and then they die.

  • What should a child do if he/she comes close to a honeybee? The best thing to do is stand still as a statue and stay calm. When a bee comes near you, its because they think you look or smell like a flower. If you give them a minute to smell you, they will realize you are not a flower and leave you alone.

  • How much honey can we expect and when? A healthy hive can produce about 40 pounds of honey in a season, but generally you don’t take any honey for the first 2 years, so the beehive has time to establish itself. We will be able to do tastings after 1 year, but proper harvesting and jarring will be in 2 years.

  • Who will be taking care of the beehive? Our partner City Growers, based in the Navy Yards, will take care of the installation and the maintenance of the beehive, at least for the first year. Hillary or Renel, who you may have already met during the bee workshops, will come twice per month to check how the bees are doing. Children will not be allowed access to the roof.



If your child(ren) has(have) an allergy to honeybee stings, you must notify the school and obtain a 504 form. This form must be filled out by your physician and returned to the school.