Experience the awesome wonder of the honey bee

We're creating a happier, healthier planet – one bee & one student at a time!
Check out our free Hive Alive Curriculum & Ask a Beekeeper Forum
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What We Do

We educate K-5 students on the wonder and need to conserve honeybees.

The Sweet Virginia Foundation educates children about honeybees, inspiring them to cherish nature and become environmental stewards, aiming to create a happier, healthier planet, one bee and one student at a time.

Perhaps the most important thing that we can do to help the honey bees is to teach children to understand the role that honey bees play and to care about them.

Allison Gillespie
Hives in the City: Keeping Honey Bees Alive in an Urban World

Education Partner

We partnered with the National Geographic Society to produce a two-minute video that demonstrates the importance of honey bees.

At Sweet Virginia Foundation, our mission is to provide in-classroom instruction and host field trips to our honey bee sanctuary delivering a hands-on experience to students of all ages. Check out the video to learn more about these pollinators.
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Our Partners

We cannot accomplish our mission alone. A big thank you to our educational partners and donors.
Testimonials

People Say About Us

“Having the children involved in the various parts of the program from nectar, to the queen bee, drone bee, worker bee, touching and smelling honeycomb, and the fantastic travel observation hive to safely view the live bees up close…”
Nan Markham, Director

Epiphany Weekday School
Alexandria VA

“The information that was delivered was very age appropriate which kept the students engaged throughout the time. The students and teachers here at St. Mary’s can’t say enough about the wonderful learning opportunities that Sweet Virginia has to offer!”
Jessica Sewell, 3rd Grade Teacher

St. Mary's Catholic School
Alexandria VA

“The children wholeheartedly embraced the honey bee unit. They learned to work in groups, using their critical thinking skills to come up with theories on the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder and possible solutions.”
Robin Peacemanker, STEM Lab

Loudoun County Day School
Leesburg, VA

“With this hands-on Hive Alive program, our children, the next generation of honey bee guardians, learned a vital lesson—bees, flowers and people—we all need each other.”
Barbara Dennee, 5th Grade Teacher

PB Smith Elementary School
Warrenton VA

Community Flowers

"People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us."

- Iris Murdoch
If you’d like to volunteer on the farm getting sunflowers ready for delivery or help deliver the freshly cut flowers, just give us a buzz.

Join us at the farm for sanctuary days

Bring the kids to visit Sweet Virginia’s Honey Bee Sanctuary. Get a tour of the farm, including the hives, flower fields, and honey production area.
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