Busy Busy Bees

Are you looking for new things to do with your kids? (Especially free or inexpensive things?) Check out your local parks! Many of our local parks offer free nature programs for kids throughout the year. There is a pretty big variety of events: story times, nature walks, holiday events, animal encounters, nature activities.

One of the ones we went to was about honey bees. The park has their own honey bees; they collect honey and sell it at the event. They also sold honey sticks there. If you've never had honey sticks, think of a Pixy Stick. The wrapper is wax and you bite/cut the top off and suck out the honey that is inside. The boys had a blast!

There was a station where they could see a honeycomb and the bees. 

Another station where they could look at an empty bee hive box. They learned about how the bee keepers wear special hats with netting and use smokers to get the honeycombs out of the hive. They also learned that besides making honey, bees help spread pollen to lots of different kinds of plants, which helps the plants grow food we eat (like apples, grapes, etc.).

Higgins' favorite part was the play station that showed the different jobs of the bees, including a vacuum for the worker bees to clean up the hive. 

And finally, a station for the kids to press out the honey into a jar that they could take home (aka buy).

Bernardo and Grandma pressing out the honey

For some bee themed crafts, check out my Fingerprint Bee Hive and Toilet Paper Bee posts!

BEE FACTS:
Bees have 4 wings and 6 legs.
The buzzing sound comes from the bees wings.
Bees smell using their antennas and taste with its tongue and front legs.
Many people think bees are yellow and black, but there are some that are green, blue or red!
One hive can have up to 70,000 bees living in it!
The queen bee is the biggest bee in the hive. She lays the eggs. She can live up to 5 years.
Other female bees are worker bees. They live up to 8 weeks when working.
Male bees are drones. After mating, they die.
Once a honey bee stings you, it dies. Only girl bees have stingers.
Bees live all over the world, except where it is very cold.
Bees go through 4 stages of growth: Egg, Larva, Pupa, Adult.
If a bee finds pollen, it does a dance to tell the other bees where it is.