Kelli S. Hewett
Hilltop Montessori School teacher and beekeeper Cindi Stehr
Hilltop Montessori School teacher and beekeeper Cindi Stehr, right, checks on the school’s beehives with students Maryanna McGowan, left, and Moses Toby.
U.S. 280 is better known for brake lights than tranquility, but just off the congested corridor, bees are cultivating calm and honey — and a growing community of beekeepers.
At Hilltop Montessori School in Mt Laurel, preschool teacher Cindi Stehr tends 11 beehives that sit near the carpool line. She’s quick to admit she’s “not a honey eater.” What keeps her invested isn’t the sweetness — it’s the science and the students.
“I like the science behind the bees,” said Stehr, who has bees at home in the Star Lake neighborhood of Hoover. “I like learning about all of the ways that you can make more bees, make more beehives — I like all of it.”
Her 3- to 6-year-old students get a front-row seat. Stehr rolls in an observation hive so children can watch worker bees move in and out, identify parts of the hive and understand what a beekeeper does.
“They’re very, very proud of the bees; they love the bees,” Stehr said.
Hilltop student Maryanna McGowan, 7, has been tending to bees at her home apiary for nearly half her life.
Kelli S. Hewett
Beekeeper Cindi Stehr
Cindi Stehr holds a bee smoker and a hive tool, essential equipment she uses to inspect and maintain the school’s beehives at Hilltop Montessori. Bee smokers, left, are used to calm honey bees by emitting smoke, minimizing defensive behavior during hive inspections. Hive tools, right, help the beekeeper separate bee boxes and loosen frames.
“It’s fun, but it’s really hard work,” Maryanna said. “My mom did it and I just liked them, too. I like getting the honey — I like to scrape off all of it. That’s my favorite part.”
Students help jar honey and turn wax into lip balms and soaps to sell for fundraising. Each year, they even choose a new name for their honey brand.
Stehr’s work also extends beyond campus. She mentors veterans through the national Hives for Heroes program and donates a yearlong beekeeping mentorship to Hilltop’s annual auction.
“I’m in it all the way,” she said.
Medical sales representative Hunter Hall of Highland Lakes manages 15-20 colonies. His bee journey took shape about nine years ago on 50 acres of family land in Talladega County.
“The more I learn, the more I realize what an awesome creature they are,” said Hall, who bottles his own honey, called The King’s Bees.
Working a hive requires patience and intention, he said. He had to adjust to their tempo in a calmer way than he began.
“I have to go a little bit slower,” Hall said. “It’s so many things that I can apply to my personal life, business life. They work together. Everybody has a role in the hive. So same thing in a business organization. It’s working together, working on common goals and going on each other’s strengths.”
Kelley Frederick of the Shelby County Beekeepers Association said bees are far more than insects to most beekeepers.
“They are like our family,” said Frederick, who also teaches the SCBA’s seven-week beginner beekeeper class. “They’re like our pets. We spend hours when we work our bees. There’s some solitude in that. And it’s almost spiritual.”
