It’s not every day an 8-year-old gets a letter from Butch T. Cougar. Even more rare when he sends her honey and a WSU bee program t-shirt.
“She was so excited, she just got a huge smile on her face when she saw that,” Johna Lindell said about her daughter, Abby.
This all came about because of Abby’s interest in honey bees, which she poured into a second-grade project.
“I don’t really know why I like bees so much but I really do!” Abby Lindell said. “I knew right away that I wanted to do my insect project on bees because I really wanted to learn all about them.”
She’s always been interested in bees and their role in the world, Johna said. And her class had a non-fiction writing assignment, where the students had to gather facts about insects and their life cycles, and then write all about them.
The Lindell family loves to spend time outside in their yard in Redmond, said Johna, who along with husband Rian, is a WSU alum.
“We watch bees that come through our flowers,” Johna said. “We can get up close and it’s just been something that we focused on.
For Abby, that ability to view honey bees has had a huge impact.
“Whenever I see a bee I stop and look at it and say to myself ‘you are so cute!’” Abby said. “Then I think ‘Hmm, I wonder what this little guy is doing? Where is he going next?’ I love watching them go from flower to flower and then fly off to their home.”
After Johna posted pictures of Abby’s book on social media, a family friend who works at WSU talked to Butch. That’s how she wound up getting a personalized package from the WSU bee program.
Johna said her family didn’t even really know about the bee program here, but said they may take Abby on her first trip to Pullman and try to see some bees.
“It’s so great that the Cougs have bees and are doing research to help save them,” Johna said.
They’re making sure Abby will have bees around to enjoy when she becomes a Coug someday.