ULEVEL: Grades K-3

SUBJECTS: Science, Language Arts, Math,and Social Studies

AZ ACADEMIC STANDARDS: 1AD-F3, 1AD-F2, R-F2, R-F3, R-F5, R-F6, R-F7, R-F8, W-F1, W-F2, W-F4,W-F5, LS-F2, VP-F1, VP-F3, 2M-F1, 3M-F1, 3M-F2, 5M-F2 , 1SS-F1, 3SS-F2, SC01-S1C3, SC01-S4C1, SC02-S1C3, SC02-S4C1, SC03-S1C3, SC03-S3C2, SC03-S4C1

To BeeOr NotTo Bee

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONStudents will do avariety of activities toshow the importanceof bees in the foodchain, and theimportance bees playin pollination. In theprocess they will learnhow honey is made.

OBJECTIVESThe students willmake a list of whatthey know about beesand what they want tolearn, so they willhave a betterunderstanding ofbees. They willbecome aware of theimportance ofpollination and how itis carried on. They willlearn about thecomplex socialbehavior and how theycommunicate. Theywill review and havean understanding ofbeehives and howhoney is made; theywill then realize thatthe bee is a goodinsect and that theyare important to oureveryday life.

ESTIMATED TEACHING TIME1 hour per day over a2 week period.

Arizona Grown Specialty Crop Lesson Plan

MATERIALSPictures of a bee with bodyparts labeled, cotton balls,samples of honey, drawingpaper, straws, patternblocks, plastic spoons,wax, paper, glue,chalkboard, chalk,resealable bags of food(crackers, cookies, nuts,grapes) hand lenses,honey in the comb, bugcage or jar, chart paper,wax paper, rice, foodcoloring.

VOCABULARYbee, beehive, flower, fruit,pollen, honeycomb, honey,wax, eggs, larvae, nectar,drone, queen, worker,colony, apiaries, andbeekeeper. (words definedat end of lesson)

RELATED LESSONSThose Busy, Buzz’nWorker BeesBuzzing Bee’s WardrobeDo The Honeybee Dance!How Busy are Bees?

SUPPORTINGINFORMATIONApiaries require an amplesupply of nectar and pollenand are usually kept wherenectar-producing plantssuch as clover oreucalyptus are abundant.Some beekeepers havemigratory apiaries andtransport their bees tosuitable forage. Apiaries

may consist of from 1 to 200hives, depending on the means ofthe beekeeper and the flowerresources available. Commercial beekeepers whomake their entire living from beesoften keep hundreds or thousandsof hives.Most North American beekeepershave standardized theirequipment, using boxes (calledsupers) that hold ten wood-boundcomb frames. The standard hiveis called the Langstroth hive, andits dimensions are thosedescribed by its inventor in 1851.Present-day apiculturists believethat the honey bee is anadaptable animal that can surviveunder a variety of situations andconditions.Most bees have specializedbranched or feathery body hairsthat help in the collection ofpollen. Female bees, like manyother hymenopterans, have adefensive sting. Some beesproduce honey from flower nectar.Honey bees and stingless beescommonly hoard large quantitiesof honey–a characteristic that isexploited by beekeepers, whoharvest the honey for humanconsumption (see Beekeeping).There are about 20,000 species ofbees worldwide. Some speciesmay not yet have beendiscovered, and many are either not named or have not been wellstudied. Bees are foundthroughout the world except at thehighest altitudes, in PolarRegions, and on some small

SUPPORTINGINFORMATION (cont’d)oceanic islands. The greatestdiversity of bee species isfound in warm, arid orsemiarid areas, especially inthe American Southwest andMexico. Bees range in sizefrom tiny species only 2 mm(0.08 in) in length to ratherlarge insects up to 4 cm (1.6in) long. Many bees are blackor gray, but others are brightyellow, red, or metallic greenor blue.The honey bee communityconsists of three structurallydifferent forms—the queen(reproductive female), thedrone (male), and the worker(nonreproductive female).These castes are associatedwith different functions in thecolony; each castepossesses its own specialinstincts geared to the needsof the colony.Honey bees have become theprimary source of pollinationfor approximately one-fourthof all crops produced in theUnited States and some othercountries. The value of thecrops that rely on suchpollination has beenestimated as high as $10billion annually in the UnitedStates. Examples of fruitcrops that rely on honey beesare almonds, apples,apricots, avocados,blackberries, blueberries,cantaloupes, cherries,cranberries, cucumbers,pears, raspberries,strawberries andwatermelons. The seeds ofmany vegetables are alsoproduced with honey beepollination; examples includealfalfa, asparagus, broccoli,brussels sprouts, cabbage,carrots, clover, cotton,onions, radishes, squash,sweet clover, and turnips.Honey bees are the solesource of honey andbeeswax, a fine wax withunusual qualities. Honeybees also produce propolis, a

gummy substance made fromtree sap that has antibacterialproperties, and royal jelly andpollen for humanconsumption. Honey beevenom is extracted for theproduction of antivenomtherapy and is beinginvestigated as a treatmentfor several serious diseasesof the muscles, connectivetissue, and immune system,including multiple sclerosisand arthritis.Honey bees have manycharacteristics common to allinsects. Insects have a hardouter covering called anexoskeleton, rather than aninternal skeleton likevertebrates. The exoskeleton,which is made of a materialcalled chitin, helps to protectthe internal organs of theinsect and helps preventdesiccation (drying out). Inorder to grow, the insect mustshed the exoskeleton.Insects have three bodyregions: the head, thorax andabdomen. The head containsthe sensory organs, andappendages for ingestion.The thorax contains theappendages for locomotion,the legs and wings. Theabdomen contains the organsfor digestion andreproduction.There are two female castesof bees in each colony:workers and queens. Themost important one is thequeen bee. She is the eggmachine in the hive and canlay up to 2000 eggs per day, if there are enough workerbees to incubate them.Without a queen mother, thecolony would soon dwindle tonothing.Worker bees are responsiblefor all of the honey, beeswaxand pollinating activities forthe entire hive. In the middleof summer, their populationwill be as high as 40,000individuals. Why wouldbeekeepers want this? Hint:

one bee collects only 1/12 ofa teaspoon of honey!Drones are male bees (not acaste) and congregate inspecial flight areas looking foryoung queens with whichthey can mate. In the summertime, they will number up to1500 or so, but come fall, theworkers will drag them out ofthe hive to die. Since theycannot sting, they aredefenseless against attack bybirds, toads or skunks whichlove to eat bees.BEE COMMUNICATIONBees are very successful inbringing back large amountsof nectar because they areable to communicate thelocation and kinds of foodavailable. They do this by aseries of body movementscalled dancing. A returningforager bee lets the housebees taste the nectar, andsmell the scent of the flowerthat adheres to her. As shestarts to dance, the directionshe points to relates to thesun’s position at that time.Her body movements or“wags,” indicate the distanceto the food. By touching thedancer with their antennae,other bees can decipher suchmovements and odors, andmake a kind of road to theflower.When worker bees find food,they move in figure-eightpatterns to tell others wherethe food is in relation to thesun. For example, if the foodis located 45 degrees to theright of the sun, the bee faces45 degrees to the right andweaves a figure-eight pattern;the closer the food, thequicker and tighter themovements.Bees come to flowers to getnectar. As the bees searchfor food, they are dusted withpowdery yellow pollen. Theycarry grains of pollen fromone flower to the next. Thisallows the flowers to formfruits and seeds. A flower is abee “magnet.” Its scent and

color attract bees. To a bee,flowers glow with colors thatyou cannot see. A red flower

SUPPORTINGINFORMATION (cont’d)may seem blue or purple to abee. The flower looksdifferent to the bee becausethe bee can see ultravioletlight. People cannot see this type of light. A bumblebeegathers pollen as well asnectar when it visits flowers.The bee collects nectar in itscrop, near its stomach. Itcollects pollen on its hindlegs. Brushy hairs on eachhind leg form a sort of pollen“basket.” When the pollenbaskets are full, the bee fliesback to its nest. At the nest,the bumblebee shares thenectar and pollen with othermembers of its colony. Beesstore extra pollen and nectarin little wax chambers calledhoney pots. This stored foodis very important. It will beeaten by young bees as theydevelop into adults.As insects, honey bees passthrough four distinct lifestages: the egg, larva, pupaand adult. Completemetamorphosis takesbetween 16 and 24 daysdepending on the sex of thedeveloping bee. A queen beelays an egg in an individualwax cell. The egg hatchesinto a white legless larva onthe fourth day. The larvafeeds on royal jelly andbeebread until it reachesmature size and then spins acocoon around itself. The cellis capped with wax and thelarva transforms into thepupa. The pupa develops intoa mature adult bee inside thecapped cell. When fullydeveloped, the mature beechews its way out of the cell.Adult worker bees liveapproximately 45 days duringthe summer months.About one-third of the totalhuman diet is derived directlyor indirectly from insect-

pollinated plants. Anestimated 80 percent ofinsect crop pollination isaccomplished by honey bees.Honey bees are needed topollinate a variety of fruits,berries, vegetables, tree nuts,oil seeds and legumes. A1999 Cornell University studyreported that the direct valueof honey bee pollination isover $14 billion annually. Thisvalue only reflects the valueof increased crop yields andquality due to honey beepollination.Honey bees pollinate crops inall 50 states. In Arizona theyare big pollinators ofcantaloupes, honeydew andwatermelons.Honey bees are one ofscience’s greatest mysteriesbecause they have remainedunchanged for twenty millionyears, while the worldchanged around them.Pilgrims brought the firsthoney bees to North Americain the 1600s. By the 1850s,honey bees were found allacross the continent inCalifornia. Pioneers usedboxes to trap honey bees andthen released them so thatthe bees could be followedback to the hive. In 1852, ateacher and part-timebeekeeper invented themovable-frame beehive andthe honey business boomed.Throughout the year, honeybees face manyenvironmental hazards; heatwaves, freezing weather andhoney thieves, like bears andskunks. Beekeepers keep thehives protected from theweather and make sure theyare always near plenty offlowers and water.Beekeepers raise colonies ofbees for several products, themost important of which ishoney. Anyone who keepsbees is performing animportant ecological serviceas well, because many plantsare dependent on bees forpollination.

There are an estimated139,600 to 212,000beekeepers in the UnitedStates. The vast majority arehobbyist beekeepers. Anestimated 1,600 beekeepersare commercial beekeeperswho manage more than 300colonies of bees each.About one-half of commercialbeekeepers are migratorybeekeepers. They rent theirbees to farmers, following thepollination seasons of thevarious crops.Modern beehives consist ofwooden box-like sectionsstacked on top of each other.Each box holds 8-10 woodenframes, each containing athin sheet of wax foundation.The bees build their combson these foundationsprovided by the beekeepers,and therefore save time andeffort in honey making.Honey is stored in the combsin the upper parts of the hive.When the bees have filled thecombs in this upper sectionwith honey and covered themwith wax caps, the beekeepertakes them away to extractthe honey and sell the wax formany products.Worker bees are veryimportant; they must collectenough food to feed thecolony in warm weather andto store food for cold weatherwhen there are no flowers. Ahoneybee colony uses 50 to75 pounds of pollen eachyear. Once a worker starts tocollect food she does not livelong, only about 14 days.Some people may be allergicto bee stings and may requiremedical care. Stingers shouldbe scraped from the skin,because pulling or squeezinga stinger actually releasesmore venom. Once thestinger is removed wash thearea with soap and water.Apply an ice pack to help thepain and swelling.Thanks to the bees andflowers, we have a variety offoods.

GETTING STARTED Gather any books (A Child’sBook of Insects, Ants, andBees, Bees and Honey,Honey Bees), visual aids(Honey Bee, McGraw-Hill

GETTING STARTED (cont’dStudy Prints, or films: LifeCycle of the Honey Bee,Bioscience Series NationalGeographic Society that will help explain about bees).Make transparencies of a bee, beehive and flower,which can be found in theactivity section. Make copiesof any student activity sheetyou choose to use fromactivity section. Collectenough cotton balls, straws,spoons, hand lenses, plasticbags, for all students. Sendparent letter home requestinghelp with the different foodsnacks needed for tastingand smelling. Set up areawith extra space and putchart paper, drawing paper,glue, scissors, and crayons. Ifpossible buy honey in thecomb from a natural foodstore and bring to class forobservation.

PROCEDURES1. Make a chart listing whatstudents know about bees,what they don’t know, andwhat they would like to learn.a. Is a bee an insect?(Insects have 6 legs and 3body sections. Insects usuallyhave antennae and wings aswell).b. Show bee transparencyand review parts of the beeand their names. Studentsexplore structure of the honeybee body and make Bumblebee mobile (see activitysheet).c. Review basic body partsand discuss the importanceof various body parts ofworker bees and how thesefunction for hive survival.Students may constructworker bee models usingvarious classroom/household

materials and art supplies toreinforce lesson.2. Why is pollinationimportant? (Pollen istransferred from the stamen(male part) to the pistil(female part). It sets things inmotion for fertilization to takeplace so seed or fruit can beproduced). If there was nopollination, no seeds or fruitswould be produced.a. Students pretend cottonballs are bees, roll the balls inflowers to collect pollen,make paper flowers, placeflowers on mural for bees tovisit, and learn about pollenand nectar. The students thenpretend they are bees(sucking fruit juice throughstraws) using their proboscisto obtain nectar to makehoney. 3. Students learn how pollencan be transferred from oneflower to another by way ofinsects and wind.a. Prepare three bowls ofinstant rice using the threedifferent colors of foodcoloring in the water. Spreadeach color of rice out onwaxed paper to cool andkeep grains from stickingtogether. Once dry, placeeach color of rice in largeplastic bag. Divide class intoteams of 4 - 5 students. Giveeach team newspaper tocover work area, hairbrush torepresent a bee, a handful ofeach color of cooked rice.Have students place thebristles of the brush in color“A” of rice then into color “B”of rice. What happens to rice(pollen) when the brush (bee)moves from one pile to theother. Next, have studentsblow on the color “A” pile inthe direction of the color ofthe “C” pile. What happens?Are the colors mixed? Whichmethod wasted more rice(pollen)? 4. How do bees know whereto go to get food? (Beescommunicate with each otherby dance).

a. Brainstorm with studentsways animals communicate;for example dogs bark, frogscroak, and crickets chirp.Explain that beescommunicate throughdancing - they wiggle slowlyor quickly in a figure eightpattern to tell others wherefood can be found. Draw beedance pattern on the boardand invite volunteers todemonstrate the movements.(Round dance when food isclose goes round and round,first one way and then theother). (Waggle dance ifflower is more than 100 yardsaway. The bee dances a halfcircle in one direction, turns,and runs straight whilewagging her abdomen. Thenshe dances a half circle in theother direction to form afigure-eight). Divide the classinto small groups and take toa large play area. Give eachgroup a bag of food and askthem to secretly hide thetreats. Have groups taketurns communicating toothers where food can befound by wiggling slowly orquickly in figure-eightpatterns- the closerclassmates are to the foodthe faster the dancemovements.b. Review how bees tell eachother where food is located,why bees dance quickly andwhat are other ways animalscommunicate.5. How are hives made andwhat function do they have?A hive is made of hexagoncells. Cells are used forraising bees, storing pollenand honey.a. Students discover that ahoneycomb is made of wax,learn how bees hang inchains while makinghoneycomb cells, give waxscales to their paper bees,and work together as a classto build a paper hive.6. Buy honey in the comb andbring to class. Examinehoneycomb with hand lenses.

CURRICULUM DESIGNAnna S. OgleGrade 2Picacho SchoolPicacho, Arizona

Explain that the comb is builtby honeybees out of waxwhich is secreted from theirbodies. In the cells of thehoneycomb, nectar collectedfrom flowers is deposited andeggs are laid.a. Let the children look at,feel, smell, and taste thehoney and the beeswax and

PROCEDURES (cont’d)describe their observations.Also talk about the size and shape of the cells in thehoneycomb.b. How does the beeswaxfeel? How does it taste? Arethe cells the same shape?What shape are they? Are allcells the same size?7. Using pattern blocks havethem draw beehives bytracing around the hexagonalshapes. Make a number ofshapes put together anddisplay in classroom.8. Research the ways inwhich honey is used. Set upa field trip to a grocery store.Have students work in groupsor pairs and see how manyproducts they can find thatcontain honey. Back in theclass room, discuss andgroup findings. If you cannotgo to a store have studentsbring in different items anddiscuss or graph these items.9. Bring in different kinds ofliquid honey (at least three)taste and observe color andflavor of honey depending onthe nectar source visited bythe honey bees. Discusswhich is the favorite honey ofthe class and which honeymight be produced in thestate.

EVALUATION OPTIONS1. Go back to chart frombeginning and determinewhat the class has learned,what they need to review andsee if what they thought theyalready knew was right.2. Ask students to discusstheir most interesting activityand why they liked it.

3. Keep a science journal ofeach activity. Have studentspair up and read to eachother comparing journals.4. Write a story to see if theirattitudes towards bees arethe same or different. Do theythink bees are good or bad?5. Role-play the importanceof pollen gathering and howbees communicate.6. Record five things eachstudent learned about bees.Make a class book with allfindings and have studentsillustrate the book.

EXTENSIONS ANDVARIATIONS1. Discuss where honeycomes from and how doanimals and people usehoney.2. Study the parts of a flowerand their names.3. Invite a beekeeper to yourclassroom.4. Students observe andcompare simulated beedances. Observe backyardbees to see which flowers thebees prefer and themovements they make. Shareobservations withclassmates.5. Capture a bee in a jar andlet children observe for ashort while before letting it go.Talk about the sound the beemakes. When does it makethe buzzing sound?6. Invite a farmer to discusshow bees (and other insects)affect crops.7. Encourage students andtheir families to visit localbeekeepers to watch bees inaction.8. Collect books, poems,videos, art and music thatrelate to bees. Discuss howliterature portrays bees. Is itgood, bad, scary orindifferent?9. Write a Haiku poem with abee theme.

RESOURCES

Cole, Joanna. An Insect’sBody, William Morrow & Co.,1984.Carle, Eric. The Honeybeeand the Robber: A MovingPicture Book, PutnamPublishing, 1981.Grove, Sandra Ford and Dr.Judi Hechtman, CrawlingCreatures, Creative TeachingPress, 1997.Hoberman, Mary Ann, AHouse is a House for Me,Viking Penquin, New York,1978.Lobel, Arnold, The Rose inmy Garden. GreenwillowBooks, New York, 1984.National Honey Board, TheHoney Files, Longmont, Co.,2001.National Honey Board, TheHoney Files: A Bee’s Life;videotape, produced byNational Honey Board, 2001.Once Upon A Gems Guide,Lawrence Hall of Science,University of California atBerkeley, 1996.Pascoe, Elaine, How andWhy Insects Visit Flowers,Creative Teaching Press,2000.Westley, Joan, Insects andOther Crawlers, Ideal SchoolSupply, 1999.Insect Lore Products, P.O.Box 1535, Shafter, CA 93263,1-800-LIVE-BUG (distributeslive insects)McGuffee, Julie, Hands onCrafts for Kids,www.craft4kids.comConsult your state and localbeekeepers association, stateFarm Bureau, cooperativeextension, cals.arizona.eduand other organizations.

EDUCATORS’ NOTES

This Arizona Grown Specialty CropLesson Plan was paid for by a grantfrom the Arizona Department ofAgriculture’s Office of Marketingand Outreach.

A Beekeeper’s Equipment

A Beekeeper’s Equipment Answer Key

Learning Log

4. Did I do a good job?

Name__________________________Date __________________________Activity ________________________

1. What I did:

2. What happened:

3. What I learned:

Vocabulary Words:Bee:A social 4-winged insect often kept in hives for the honey that it produces.

Beehive:A hive for bees: resembling a dome- shaped beehive.

Beekeeper:A person who raises bees.

Flower:blossom; a shoot of a higher plant that is specialized for reproduction.

Fruit:The usually edible reproductive body of a seed plant.

Pollen:Tiny particles in the anthers of a flower that fertilize the seeds and usually appear asfine yellow dust.

I honey comb:A mass of six- sided wax cells built by honeybees in their nest to containyoung bees and stores of honey.

Eggs:Laid by a queen bee, this is the first stage in the life of a honeybee.

Larvae:Hatched from the egg the queen bee lays, the larvae will pupate and eventually turninto an adult insect.

Nectar:A sweet liquid given off by plants and used by bees in making honey.

Wax:a yellowish plastic substance produced and given off by bees and used by them formaking the honey comb.

Colony:A population of plants or animals in a particular place that belong to one species.

Apiaries:A place where bees are best kept; a collection of beehives.

ANSWERS TO THE TRUE/FALSE QUIZ

1. TRUE -Bees (and all insects) have two large 2.TRUE - Bees and their relatives actually havecompound eyes on either side of their heads and three four wings. gh Before s a bee leaves the hive, andhookssimple eyes on top of their head. With the compound her wings bile fl o she has has greater lift andeyes, bees see a mosaic picture; the simple eyes strength while flyisng. When entering the hive again,distinguish light from dark, she will un-hook her wings so that they will not take up

so much space.

3. FALSE - Bees collect nectar (the sweet sugar sap 4. TRUE - Worker bees live only six weeks during flowersmake) and pollen (the powder that pollinates the summer; they literally kill themselves with work.flowers). Sugars in the nectar are converted into

In old bees, the wings and other body parts becomehoney, and the protein-rich pollen, is mixed with frayed and tattered as they wearout.honey and is made into bee bread.S. FALSE - Bees, while related to wasps and hornets, 6. TRUE - Smoke causes bees to gorge honey, are gentler,live in tree hollows, make wax combs and filling their stomachs and making them heavy. It gather only nectar andpollen. Wasps and hornets also masks any of the alarm odor that the guardbeesmake their homes of paper, mud or live underground, release when disturbed. Instead of exciting moremake no honey or wax, sting more readily and prey bees with the release of this odor, smoke distractson other insects. potential stingers.7. FALSE - A close examination of the sting barb of

a honeybee shows that it has tiny hooks on it. When A. TRUE - Since flowers and bees evolved togetherstinging a person or animal, the hooks catch in the 60 million years ago, each has eloped specialskin and as the bee tries to fly off it pulls out its functions for their mutual benefit. For bees, one suchentire stinging organ, thus killing it. Wasps and special feature is their hind legs, which serve as ahornets have smoother sting barbs, which will not press and basket to collect pollengrains.snag; they can therefore sting a person repeatedly.9. TRUE - Honeybees are not native to the New

10. TRUE - Bees, unlike many insects, have refinedWorld. The first recorded introduction of bees was to color vision. Not only do they see blues and yellowsMassachusetts by Puritan colonists in the 1630's. but also the invisible ultra-violet light. They cannotthey were needed to pollinate the recently introduced however see red, which appears as black to them. appletrees!11. TRUE - Research has shown that bees can 12. FALSE - One of the principle losses of beedistinguish one, two, three, four, five and many petals hives worldwide, is the improper and careless use of onflowers. 'they can also find their hive in a row of insecticides toxic to honey bees. Pleas befive or six. considerate next time you use any of these products.

14. FALSE -honey comes from flower nectars.When a bee visits a flower, she sucks up the sweet

13. FALSE - Bees and all insects have six legs and sap with her long tongue into an inflatable sack, ,three body pans(head, thorax, abdomen). Spiders, called a honey stomach. When it is full, the bee mites and ticks, calledarachnids have eight legs and returns to the hive, regurgitates the drop of nectartwo body parts (no thorax). into the honeycomb, and evaporates out the water by

fanning. Nectar is about 110% water while honey isonly 17%.

15. TRUE - Since honeybees and flowers co-evolved(see #11), a special feature of many flowers to attract 16. TRUE - The heart of insects is a long vein.pollinating bees is to have markings invisible to all which travels along the top of the abdomen.but bees. These marks, called nectar guides, position Openings in the vein allow the free-flowing blood to the beeso it will pollinate the flower, while enter the heart and be pumped towards thewingsrewarding the bee with sweet nectar and protein-rich and headpollen.