Name: ‘We need the bees to do what they do’
Uploaded: 2026-09-14T10:56:36+12:00
Duration: 4 min 19 s
Description: We spend the day at the bee garden project, where students are learning about the importance of bees to our ecosystem – and to the food we eat every day. Made in partnership with Woolworths New Zealand.

In an increasingly disrupted world, individuals and community organisations are working to make Aotearoa a little better every day. This series shines a light on them. Made in partnership with Woolworths.

A little better every day

Flat Bush Primary School teacher Sela Togiatu decided to introduce beehives to the school three years ago, when a student approached her holding a dead bee. “She was very upset. I think it really impacted her,” Togiatu says.

From a couple of beehives, the project has grown into a full outdoor learning experience at the south Auckland school, including a garden full of natives like mānuka.

The community rallied around to make the garden a reality, and part of that support has come from Woolworths, whose Growing For Good grants go to schools around the motu for environment-focused projects. The bee-friendly garden is exactly the sort of project the fund was designed for, says Woolworths’ Ryan McMullen.

“Seventy percent of the fruit and veg that we sell every day requires bees – that’s 200,000 crates a week, through our network, that would not exist without the bees.”

In this episode of ‘A little better every day’, we spend the day at the bee garden project, where students are learning about the importance of bees to our ecosystem – and to the food we eat every day.

Made in partnership with Woolworths New Zealand.


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‘We need the bees to do what they do’

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