Newtown High School freshman Zosia Teraszkiewicz says she is working on her Eagle Scout project in honor of her “bee mentor,” local bee keeper Jeff Shwartz.

“I really looked up to him for just everything,” Zosia said.

Before Shwartz died last fall, Zosia said, he worked with her, her brother, Thaddeus, and their mother, Kelly Teraszkiewicz. The trio liked helping Shwartz with the Victory Garden bees.

“He called us his crew,” said Zosia.

Zosia is not a stranger to bees. In a recent e-mail, Zosia, who is a member of Troop 970, wrote, “In 2017, my brother and a couple of his Scout friends decided to work on their Salesmanship and Entrepreneurship Merit Badges. While working on these badges they decided to create a product and market it. Since then, one of his partners has gotten too busy for the business and the other went away to college. So I jumped in and am helping him continue to sell our bee decals. Thaddeus is already an Eagle Scout and I am hoping to join him in the next year or two [by] becoming a part of the first wave of ‘girl’ Eagle Scouts.”

The bee decals are available on their website, familybeekeeping.com, which explains, “We are both Scouts. Thad’s Eagle project was putting bees at a local sanctuary, and Zosia is working on her (bee-related) Eagle project now. Zosia also takes care of bees at a community garden that donates food to the homeless. We noticed that there aren’t a lot of beekeeping gifts available. We also loved the idea of the family stick figure stickers (say that five times fast). Put the two together... and there you go! There’s our idea for the beekeeping decals.”

A portion of the sales of the decals supports beekeepers, according to Kelly Teraszkiewicz.

During a recent phone interview, Zosia said that for her Eagle Scout project, she wants to install a memorial area at the Victory Garden in honor of Shwartz.

“We’re trying to get the bench right now,” said Zosia.

She is also planning to create signs to educate others about bees and pollen and to install bees.

“Jeff just loved to educate people... and he wanted to teach people about the benefits of insects, animals, and all creatures,” Zosia said.

Thaddeus, a junior at NHS, shared that for his Eagle Scout project, he installed bee hives at Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary after fundraising and working with Sandy Hook Elementary School students to paint the beehives.

Zosia said that since a young age she, too, has always liked bees.

“I want to teach people that they don’t want to sting you, and they won’t sting you if they don’t have to,” said Zosia. Later she said, “There are so many benefits to honeybees... So, I really want to help open [people] up to the idea that honeybees are a good thing.”

She started working on her Eagle Scout project around January and she hopes to have it completed within the next year. According to Kelly Teraszkiewicz, bees are being donated by Bee Commerce in Newtown and further fundraising for the signs and other project-related expenses is being completed through the Backyard Beekeepers Association of Weston, which Shwartz directed. Zosia said if she raises more money than she needs for her Eagle Scout project, the money will go toward the Backyard Beekeepers Association and the Victory Garden.

Her fellow Troop 970 Scouts have been helping her with her project, according to Zosia. She said she has been a member of the group for about three years.

“I think the troop really helps me try a ton of new things. There are a ton of different merit badges that I have been working on,” said Zosia. “All the girls are so nice in our troop, and we love to help out in our community.”

More information about the Backyard Beekeepers Association is available online at backyardbeekeepers.com or to donate go to byba.wildapricot.org/Donate?fbclid=IwAR06A40SO-erRarlTNLPT0q5OBqTAQVgoGMhfwppLbH7pIoiKLtu1gMKjbc.