Eagle Scout Donates Bee Observatory To Massapequa HS Class

Massapequa High School’s Go Green class, a health education elective that focuses on sustainable living, will be enhanced this year thanks to the effort of junior Matthew Horne. As a community service project, the Boy Scout constructed an observatory bee hive that will be used in the spring so students can observe bees constructing and operating a honeycomb.

Horne, with the help of six volunteers, constructed the wood and plexiglass observatory for his Eagle Scout project and donated it to the school. That, and a table he built for the classroom, are valued at about $900. He said work on his project began in June.

Health educator Michael LaBella, who teaches the Go Green class, said that the observatory will hold about 5,000 bees and is a self-sufficient system.

“It’s a great asset for the classroom,” he said. “It brings a real-life aspect to the class, which is the purpose of the agricultural-based course.”

Go Green students maintain a greenhouse and an adjacent garden in the school’s courtyard. The table that Horne built is being used to hold two large bins of compost and earthworms. The worms turn the compost into soil, which will then be used for fertilizer in the garden.

Horne, a member of Boy Scout Troop 776, took the Go Green class last year, and now is LaBella’s teaching assistant for the course. He said he wanted to complete a project that would benefit the school, and knew that the bee observatory and compost table were desired items to enhance the Go Green curriculum.