Bees

 


Bees are the workers of the animal kingdom. Many plants are pollinated by them and many animals rely on these plants for food.  

Bee numbers are in decline and we need work hard to conserve these interesting and vital creatures.  Everyone can play a part by planting wildflowers in their gardens and window boxes!

There are three types of bee:

  • the queen, who rules the hive and lays the eggs
  • smaller female worker bees who make the honey
  • male drones.  

Did you know that only female bees have a sting?

Fun fact: In hot weather bees hover above the nest and beat their wings to circulate air and keep the hive cool, working like a ceiling fan!

World Bee Day is 20th May every year - the perfect excuse to spend time learning about these fascinating and essential insects.

 

Bees

Bee Colouring Pages
We have a simple bee colouring page for younger children and a lovely more detailed picture for...
Bee Crafts
With their bright yellow and black stripes, bees are fun creatures for crafting activities with the...
Bee Printables
Here's a fun collection of printable activities for kids, all themed around bees, ready to...
Bee Puzzles
Have some fun with these bee-themed puzzles - perfect as a little extra activity for a bee or...
Bee Worksheets
Practise your times tables, work on handwriting skills with younger children, write a story about...
Life Cycle of a Honey Bee
Read about the life cycle of the honey bee below, or scroll down to access our printable resources...

Books About Bees

Picture Books:

  • Ant and Bee – Angela Banner
  • I Like Bees, I don’t Like Honey! – Sam Bishop
  • Bees in the City – Andrea Cheng
  • Bee: Nature’s Tiny Miracle – Patricia Hegarty
  • Bee and Me – Alsion Jay
  • First Day at Bug School – Sam Lloyd
  • Omar, the Bees and Me – Helen Mortimer
  • The Bumblebear – Nadia Shireen

Non-Fiction:

  • Why Do We Need Bees? – Katie Daynes
  • The Bee Book – Charlotte Milner
  • Bees: A Lift the Flap Eco Book – Carmen Saldana
  • The Book of Bees – Piotr Socha

Chapter Books:

  • Zinnia and the Bees – Danielle Davis
  • The Secret Life of Bees – Sue Monk Kidd
  • Why I’m Afraid of Bees – R L Stine (Goosebumps)
  • The Bee Maker – Mobi Warren

For the Grownups:

  • The Bees by Laline Paull
  • The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

 


Making Honey

  • To produce 450g (1lb) of honey, bees have to fly about 88,500 km (55,000 miles)! A foraging honey bee may visit up to 100 flowers per trip.
  • Honey bees have to work very hard. Each honey bee will produce only about 0.5g (one twelfth of a teaspoon) of honey before it dies! Imagine how much work went into the teaspoon of honey you put on your toast in the morning!
  • Bees collect sweet nectar from flowers, usually travelling less than 6km (4 miles) around their hive. The nectar is combined with an enzyme in the bee's mouth. When the bee returns to the hive, the nectar is passed from bee to bee, further mixing with more enzyme, until it becomes "honey" and is dropped into the wax cells of the honeycomb.
  • The mixture is a bit liquid, so the bees flap their wings over it to reduce the water content. When it is ready, the bees cap the cells with more wax.
  • If the honey isn't stolen - perhaps by a beekeeper - it will be used as winter food for the colony.

Making honey - all about the honey bee


Magical Honeycombs

  • Young worker bees have glands that secrete beeswax, which is gathered up by other worker bees ready for use. As the worker bee gets older, their supplies dry up and they go out on foraging duty.
  • Older worker bees use the beeswax to construct the cells of a honeycomb, either for storing honey or for receiving eggs laid by the queen bee. Wax is also used later to "cap" the cells during the pupa stage of the life cycle, and to keep any stored honey safe for winter survival.
  • The cells of a honeycomb are hexagonal. Nature is amazing! Honey bees have found the perfect way to store the most amount of honey with the least amount of wax, with no gaps and maximum strength!

Magical honeycomb!


More Creatures...

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