Bees, please!

Last week, we learned all about bees and pollination!

We read a great book about bees, titled, Are you a Bee?.

In the book, we learned that worker bees tell each other where the flowers are by dancing!  We had to try this for ourselves.  

This first dance tells the other bees that the flowers are located very close to the hive.

This dance tells the other bees the direction of the flowers from the hive.  If the flowers are towards the sun once you leave the hive, you would begin the dance facing the sun.  If the flowers were away from the sun, you would face away from the sun as well.  Bees are so smart!

Don't forget to waggle while you dance!

(Ask your child to show you the waggle dance!)

We read some other great books about bees as well.

A great pollination experiment can be done with cheeseballs and starburst.  The nectar (starburst) is at the bottom of the bowl.  To get to the nectar, you have to go through the pollen (cheeseballs).  

Your hands tend to get sticky with pollen, just like bees!

We also had a visit from Erin Rupp, from Pollinate Minnesota, who taught us even more about honeybees.

She brought with her a live hive of bees for the students to view up close.

Erin also brought beekeeping suits for us to try on.  So cute!

To end the week, we pollinated flowers of our own.

Buzz, buzz, buzz!

We visited flowers, collected nectar and pollen.

Then, deposited the pollen into the hive.

What a week!  Next time you see a bee, say "Thank you!" for all they do!