For nearly a decade, the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum has been educating middle schoolers throughout the world through their science educational video series, Stem in 30. With an impressive 7 seasons and 66 episodes, this Emmy-nominated program is dedicated to informing students about intriguing developments and innovations in the aeronautic community through their interactive videos.

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Last January, the GW Apiary was honored to be featured in Stem in 30’s “Buzz the Tower: How Bees Influence Aviation” episode which highlighted the importance of the honeycomb structure in the aerospace industry and the current research being conducted on honey bees. We had the pleasure of meeting Jake Klim and Beth Wilson, the hilarious directors and writers of the show, when their crew set up camp in our apiary on a rainy January morning. In the video, Dr. Doebel, an Assistant Professor of Biology at GWU who is in charge of our apiary, is filmed opening up a hive and noting the contributing effects of pesticides on Colony Collapse Disorder. Additionally, our junior beekeepers, Allison Cameron and Farhana Alam, discuss their research on the effects of sublethal doses of pesticides on the memory of honey bees. Finally, our senior beekeepers, Camille Leoni and Fiona Lupi, describe the different flower species that best attract honey bees and other pollinator species.

 

You can watch Stem in 30’s “Buzz the Tower: How Bees Influence Aviation” episode on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1hZsZoUEB0&t=1385s. Our feature begins at 21:33 minutes into the episode.