The queen is about to make a lengthy visit to St Peter Chanel School as part of an education programme that comes with a sweet deal.
Principal Debbie Waldron said the school had been recently given a financial donation from Dunedin accounting firm Polson Higgs.
The gift was used to rent a beehive for the year.
For $365, the Green Island school received three boxes of bees, including a queen bee, and more boxes would be added as the 6000-bee colony grew.
The hive is rented from Murray and Heidi Rixon, of Mosgiel, who offer a beehive rental and management service.
For many school children, having a bee buzz about while they are eating their lunch can leave them paralysed with fear.
But those days are gone for pupils at the school.
Mrs Waldron said the hive was situated on school grounds, but away from the main areas used by pupils.
She described the hive as a great education programme with a sweetener at the end.
''It's a great way of showing the kids how bees take nectar and turn it into honey, and also how they pollinate other plants to help them grow.
''In the end, we get the honey from the bees. We're going to bottle it up and sell it at the school fair next year.''
Mrs Waldron said the pupils had been ''absolutely engaged'' in the study.
''It's great to see the kids accepting them and not fearing them - it's helped to dispel a lot of the fears that kids have about bees. It's made them a lot more aware.''
