Eddington 6th Grader Featured On National News Program For Love Of Bees

Eddington 6th grader, Elizabeth Downs, has had an interest in bees since she was little. It started as an off-shoot of helping a neighbor in his garden but grew into much, much more.

Now in her 6th year of tending to bees, Elizabeth has gone from one hive to nine and is a respected member, "al-bee-it" a young one, of Maine's Bee-keeping community.

Her youth and her passion have captivated many, not only in our state but also nationwide. Last year, folks from the national news show, CBS Sunday Morning reached out to do an interview with Elizabeth.

The piece aired this past Sunday and instantly inspired folks to reach out.

Here's the story, in case you missed it.

I caught up with Elizabeth and her mom, just a couple of hours after the story went public, at an Open Farm Day at Hart Farm in Holden. Elizabeth was there doing outreach, doing what she usually does: talking to people about why she thinks bees are awesome.

I asked her what she thought about the process of being interviewed for a national news story.

"I was kind of surprised that it was for so long because it was for a day and a half. Most interviews are only about 30 minutes long. But I was excited because I'm spreading the word to other people that it's important to have bees. More people need to realize that."

She really didn't seem to be phased by the fact that she had just appeared on a program that's been on the air for over 4 decades and has about 5 million viewers!

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"I didn't really care how big of a deal it was. I just want to spread awareness about bees because they just need that."

As she explained to those who were visiting the farm all about her setup and what life as a beekeeper was like, I asked her what she hoped the viewers of the show took away from her segment.

"I hope that more people are inspired by beekeeping. I'm young. I started at 6. But you don't have to start at a young age. There are many ways to help. You can plant flowers. Don't spray pesticides. You don't have to become a beekeeper and I want to spread awareness about that."

"Bees are starting to die off and so we need to realize how important they are."

Last count, less than 24 hours after the piece aired, Elizabeth's mother, Rachel Downs, said her daughter's Facebook Page "Eeez Beez" (which Elizabeth's parents run) had added almost a thousand new members.

"It's actually been kind of amazing, really. We never expected this to happen, but she's kind of turned into an advocate for bees, so it's been really cool to see how people have kind of welcomed her into the bee community."

Rachel says the family is in full support of her daughter's passion, as long as she keeps enjoying herself.

"I keep checking in with her to say 'Are you still enjoying this? Are you still having fun?' because I think that's the biggest thing. If she stops having fun with it, then it's useless."

"There have been some adults that she's mentored that are new to beekeeping, that she's helped along the way. And she's not afraid to speak up."

Elizabeth sells the honey she collects from her 9 hives, and puts the money she earns to good use.

"With my honey, when I get the money from it, it either goes to my bees or other charities. My most recent donation went to the mural in Downtown Bangor. I helped fundraise money to get him [artist Matt Willey] here."

Willey even let Elizabeth help paint a part of his masterpiece, The Good Hive.

"I did the stem of the flower on the clover."

Elizabeth hopes things like the mural and the television piece help get the word out that people should care about what's happening to bees across the world.

"I believe that if we don't all help, they're going to die...The population of bees is going down. If we don't have bees, we won't have food. And we need food. "

Rachel says her daughter is passionate about her mission to inspire and inform people about bees, she says Elizabeth remains really humble, to the point where she doesn't seem to realize just what an impact she is having on people.

She says she's in awe that her 11-year-old is helping to spread the buzz, far and wide, inspiring folks to take action.

"Almost speechless. I'm like 'Elizabeth, you're like saving the world!' and she's like 'No I'm not, Mom.'...We follow her lead...She never really seeks anything out. It's more or less they seek her out."

Elizabeth has spoken to many groups about bees...

"I'm still trying to inform the youth about bees and I'm still trying to get more youth interested in beekeeping because it's very important."

And this busy little bee has got big plans for the future.

"I would really like to be the state Apiarist and I would really like to have this bee school where it teaches other people how to bee keep. You can be young, you can be old."

Look out world! This kid's a mover and a shaker.

Here's hoping her passion and dedication help others to be more conscious of the world around them, particularly the bees.

Keep up the good work, Elizabeth!

While bees are awesome, some of these big bugs are just plain frightening!