What’s the buzz all about? Well, on Tuesday May 20, we celebrated World Bee Day by learning all about honeybees!

We shouldn’t fear honeybees. They don’t want to hurt us; they’re just buzzing around, looking for food! We should never run or swat at them. If we do, then they might feel threatened. Stay calm, and watch what they’re up to!

Turkey Jay was kind to loan us some of his bee keeping equipment. We passed around some propolis which is bee glue! The bees use it for sealing holes or cracks in the hive and will use it to seal dead animals or bugs that end up in the hive.

NatGeo Kids has an article all about honeybees. Check it out here!

Some Fun Facts…

• The worker bees are all female. They can be scouts (looking for a new home), nurse bees (helping to raise the young), caretaker bees (they clean up the hive), guards, foragers (out looking for nectar and pollen)
• The main purpose of the queen bee is to lay eggs. She has a long body so that she can lay the egg at the bottom of the cell. She has a stinger, but will not sting you.
• Drones are male bees and are the only bees who don’t have a stinger. They have bigger eyes and a big body and fly very fast. Their sole job is to mate with the virgin queen. They do this in the air on a “mating flight”
• The drones get kicked out of the hive in the fall as they would use up too many resources and are not needed.
• In the winter, the bees stay in the hive and keep warm by beating their wings and staying close together
• They are amazing pollinators and support our ecosystem and food production
• Honey lasts forever. It’s even been found inside tombs in Ancient Egypt!

We also played a Kahoot in class the next day to test our memory…

If you’d like to play, click on the picture below!