Environment Group News

What follows here is a longer version of a speech given by the Environment Group on assembly about the history of the Bumblebee at Marist College Ashgrove. The speech culminated with the Environment Group presenting Head of College Mr Michael Newman with the first jar of Marist honey to be stored in Archives. 

Thank you to Kieran Donnelly in Archives for helping to narrate this history and the incredible photos. Thank you also to Ian Driver from A Green Soul who helped to establish the hives at Marist and for recently harvesting them.

The History of the Bumblebee at Marist College Ashgrove

The infamous blue and gold stripes of our bumblebee was born out of the original design of our ties from the College’s inception in 1940. A recent 2023 edition of The Ashgrovian gives a greater look into why and how Marist College Ashgrove has been associated with the blue and gold starting on p.23 - https://ashgroveoldboys.com.au/ashgrovian/TheAshgrovian2023Edition1WEB.pdf

This blue and gold striped design also extended to the Rugby jerseys of the time. These were later affectionately called ‘the bumblebee’ due to that iconic striped design, and because of how, on the field, Marist players would resemble the drive and unity of a buzzing hive.

Indeed, the bee is the perfect metaphor for our Marist values. In a 2023 Newsletter article, Head of College Mr Micheal Newman noted, “Bees are busy, industrious and hard-working. Bees swarm to support each other and work for the benefit of their hive. Bees are courageous and have a sting to defend themselves bravely.”

The main driver of the bumblebee legend seems to be Dave Robertson who during this time held many positions at the College including: Assistant to the Headmaster, Head of Foley House, Sports Master, and a manager of a number of Queensland Schoolboy Rugby teams. He also edited the Rugby Newsletter named the ‘Bumblebee Buzz’, the first edition of which is the archives’ oldest reference to the ‘Bumblebee’. 

It reads, “Traditionally everyone at Ashgrove except the 1st XV have worn the hooped jersey in town with great pride and spirit. It may not be the “flashest” jersey in town, but the beloved “bumblebee” is one of the hardest to beat. Let’s keep it that way in ’88. So come on you bumblebees, let’s see your sting on Saturday.” Words that still resonate today. 

Two more bumblebee artefacts that Archives hold that were shown on Assembly are: 1. A framed which is half a bumblebee / half a Firsts jersey and signed by Old Boy Wallabies. 2. A framed poem The Dream (The Flight of a Bumblebee) by Damian "Dib" Morgan published in 1998. It captures the spirit which lies beneath Ashgrove Rugby, centred on its famous symbol, the Bumblebee. 

The last stanza reads: 

It’s not about the boys that play the game at three fifteen

The spirit and tradition has built upon the dream

It’s all about the Bumblebees, the honour, and the pride

It’s all about the Ashgrove boys and knowing that they tried!

Across the College’s 84-year-span, that original bumblebee design has barely changed, and of course, is now proudly worn across sporting codes. The bumblebee tradition is even one that our Old Boy teachers participated in during their time at the College. 

Bumbles, Marist’s bumblebee mascot, seems to make his proper appearance in 2001. Since then, he has had a facelift or two and now is also connected to all facets of the College. 

That then takes us to 2009 when the concept of ‘the Hive’ was born. It was initiated by the Year 12s of that year and in particular by the boarders, led by school captain and boarder Jack Marshall. ‘The Hive’ was initially coined to refer to the senior boarding dormitory, Brother Terrance’ and still to this day, we can count on the Year 12 boarders to have the loudest voice in any war cry. 

It’s a timely reminder that in this Year of Connection, we all – student, staff and wider community alike – now form the hive of the college. That we work together to produce something pretty special. 

Which brings us to today. In 2022, the Environment Group launched the eight-house hives, which together with the Primary Hive meant that we literally brought the hives to the hive. This was a project initiated as a part of the Lord Mayor's Young Environmental Leadership Network, which then Year 10 students now in Year 12 Jack Lowe, Jack Edye and Ash Bishop led with their teacher, Ms Elizabeth Kenny, and supported by the Environment Group.

Earlier this year, we were able to harvest four of these hives and collected two jars of honey. Being 1/25 the size of a European bee, our native bees can only produce a very small amount of honey per year. That makes our honey incredibly rare and valuable. One of these jars we will raffle off for a Marist charity at the Mother’s Day Breakfasts which are coming up. The first jar however, the first jar of 100% of Marist honey produced by Marist bees pollinating Marist plants, we are going to put into archives.

A fun fact you might not know is that because of its unique chemical makeup, honey cannot spoil. In fact, archaeologists discovered honey inside the Egyptian pyramids dated 3,000 years old. And let’s not forget our First Nations peoples whose cave paintings from beeswax are dated at least 20,000 years old. 

So, we don’t know who might one day discover our honey or who in the meantime might gaze upon it in the Tower archives, but what we do hope to do is proudly extend the history of the bumblebee of Marist, and to signify that in 2024, there are those of us who tried to better our environment, those of us who believe that to be good Marists means that you need to care for all the creatures on the earth, right down to our tiny native bees.

It is in that spirit that we now hand over our jar of Marist honey to Mr Newman to be placed in the College’s archives.