A couple of years ago, I decided to try my hand at raising honey bees! I had been thinking about it for a number of years and finally made the decision! It has been a fascinating adventure, and I am learning a LOT. Right now, I only know enough to know I don’t know very much!
Did you know:
Fun Facts About Bees for Kids
- Buzzing Brains: Bees are really smart! They can remember where flowers are and even count!
- Sticky Sweet Jobs: Bees collect nectar from flowers to make honey. It’s like their own special sugary treat! To turn nectar into honey, they place the nectar into the honeycomb, fan it until it is not so watery and then cover the honeycomb with wax to save the honey!
- Dancing Bees: When bees find a great flower, they do a special dance to tell the other bees where it is. This is called a “Waggle Dance!”
- Reluctant Stingers: Only female bees can sting, and they only do it to protect their hive. When honey bees sting, they die, so they sting only as a last resort.
- Male bees are called Drones and they do not have stingers. Queen bees have stingers, but it is very unlikely that a queen bee will sting.
- Hairy Helpers: Bees have lots of tiny hairs on their bodies that help them collect pollen from flowers. If you ever have a honey bee get caught in your hair, don’t panic! It sounds like they are VERY angry, but in truth they are just trying to get away. Try flicking her out of your hair. It’s a much more effective way than swatting!
- Honeycomb Heroes: Bees build their homes from wax, and they make it into hexagonal shapes called honeycombs.
- Busy Bodies: Bees are very busy creatures. They work together to keep their hive clean, safe, and full of food.
- Super Smellers: Bees have a great sense of smell. They can smell flowers from miles away!
- Fast Flyers: Bees can fly really fast. They can even beat their wings 200 times per second!
- Important Pollinators: Bees are very important for our planet. They help plants grow by spreading pollen from one flower to another. Since we have had bees at our house, I have found MANY more plants than I knew we had. Wild blueberries and raspberries to name a couple!
I hope this helps you find bees as fascinating as I do!