Bee All You Can Bee!!!!

Science says that a honeybee can't fly. It's wings are too small and its body is to heavy. However, the bee doesn't know that, so it just does what God wants it to do and flies from flower to flower. We should be like the bee. We shouldn't worry about what others(or ourselves) say and just do whatever God designed us to do.

This week we visited Peace Bee Farm in Proctor. It was an awesome trip. I love insects! Bees are fascinating to me. They are one of God's wonderful creatures that make life better and possible for us. They pollinate flowers which results in the fruit we eat and they make yummy honey for us to eat. If you love honey, you might not want to learn exactly what it is and how the bees make it. Just let that be a secret of the bees.

On our field trip, our homeschool group met with beekeeper Richard Underhill. He is a bee expert. The kids, and adults, asked lots of questions and he answered all of them. We got to see the "hives" or boxes where the bees live. It was cold that day, but the bees were out. Mr. Underhill said that bees only fly when it is about 50 degrees out, so he knew the temperature by the actions of the bees. There was a large group of bees on the ground. They aren't usually on the ground so they might have found this particular soil full of nutrients they needed. Next, we looked at a display bee box. It was way to cold to open up a real box. Bees are cold natured and they keep the hive at 95 degrees year round. Opening the box would have cooled the hive. The display box was very interesting and had pictures in it that looked like what you'd see if you opened a real box. The kids took turns trying on beekeeper equipment. They all looked so cute in their beekeepers hat.

Then we went into the processing building. There we were showed how they uncap the honey and get it out of the frames. The wax is saved and melted into candles. The honey is bottled and sold. Each child was given a straw with honey in it to try. They loved this. Finally, Mr. Underhill took us to some special bee boxes that are used to raise new queen bees. Everyone had a good time and many took home bottles of honey and candles as well. We all know so much more about bees now. We will build upon that knowledge when we discuss bees again in our summer Botany coop.