“To Bee or Not to Bee,” a play that explains the plight of honey bees in a kid-friendly way, buzzed into John W. Decas Elementary Friday afternoon.

Written and performed by members of the Piti Theatre Company of Shelburne Falls, the play kicked off a weekend of activities designed to raise awareness for the imperiled pollinators.

“Bees are essential not only for the health of cranberry bogs, which Wareham has so many of, but for all crops,” said Susan Kooperstein. An Onset resident, Kooperstein helped bring the weekend worth’s of events to town in a bid to raise awareness honey bees and their declining population.

From 2006 to 2007, U.S. beekeepers lost 50 percent of their bees and since then have struggled with annual losses possibly resulting from chemicals and habitat loss.

In the play, Piti Theatre Artistic Director Jonathan Mirin plays a farmer facing the collapse of his own bee hives. Through songs and audience interaction, he told students a tale of how industrial agricultural practices, might harm bees.

Kristin Matathia, a second grade teacher at Decas and beekeeper herself, said the play offered a valuable message for students.

“Without bees there would be no food,” said Matathia, a beekeeper for six years. “This is teaching kids just how important bees are.”