Friday, October 2, 2015

Honeybees

Our local library has started offering monthly classes on different topics for homeschoolers. This month the topic was beekeeping. Despite Jayden's face below, we all thought it was pretty fascinating.
A beekeeping couple brought in honeybees, honeycombs, and a video for the children to watch.



Some interesting facts we learned:
1. The average lifespan of a summer honeybee is 45 days, as they literally work themselves to death. Winter bees live several months due to not exerting themselves since there is not much work to do in the colder months. The queen bee lives for several years, producing as many as 2,000 eggs a day.
2. All fertilized eggs turn into worker bees, which are female. All unfertilized eggs are males and are known as drones.
2. During their lifetime, worker honeybees produce approximately 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey.
3. The queen bee is fed royal jelly (a mixture of pollen which is chewed up and mixed with a chemical secreted from a gland) her entire life. She is fed by worker bees and is the only bee that eliminates her waste in the hive. Her waste is cleaned up by worker bees. All other bees leave the hive to get rid of their waste.
4. The main function of a drone is to mate with the queen bee. They do not produce honey or care for the hive. They have no stingers and are kicked out of the hive in the fall because they no longer serve any purpose.
5. Worker bees remain in the hive for the first 21 days of life.
6. Bees communicate by dancing.

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