Bee talk

[beegee]

I gave a bee talk to a 1st grade class last week. The teacher does a honeybee unit every year and she asked me to come do a talk/demo. She spent a couple of weeks teaching the unit. I loaned her my posters etc. I took my coveralls, veil, smoker, brush, hive tools, and a nuc with some drawn comb and foundation. I took my projector and computer with the PowerPoint presenation and a handful of honey straws. The presentation went well and the kids were polite and attentive. Their questions are usually accounts of "my brother kicked abeehive once and got bit...", not really questions.
Out of 29 kids, only 3 had ever tasted liquid honey(and I'm in the rural south.) Biting the end off a honey straw, one little girl exclaimed,"It tastes like Honey-Nut Cheerios!" Two kids didn't like it(OK, it was Clover honey ;) ). I thought it sad that ony 3 kids had ever tasted honey, but was encouraged when 24 of the 29 raised their hands when the teacher asked,"How many of you would like to be a beekeeper?"

[Michael Bush]

Cool!

[honeyman46408]

beegee
My wife and I talke to elememtry kids in the spring ( she is retired from the local school system ) last year we did 26 classes 1st through 6th grade and we give each a tast of honey some of whitch don`t like it but over all it is a fun thing to do!!

Last week the club "did" the local 4H fun fair and we saw about 1000 kids we don`t have much time with each class so one of the things I try to teach is the differance between a BEE and a yellow jacket and not to throw stones at horntes nest:D

[Tia]

I've been asked by the Beaufort Historical Association to give a talk to kids about beekeeping in Colonial times during their "History Week" in October. I've done some internet research and the Texas beekeepers have a wealth of information and pictures I'm planning to use. Looks to me that except for the skep/box/hive thing, beekeeping hasn't really changed much in 200 years. If any of you have any great colonial information, I sure would like to hear from you. I'd like to really sell these kids on beekeeping.

[Michael Bush]

>we give each a tast of honey some of whitch don`t like it

Yea, but that generation of kids only seems to eat chicken nuggets and mac and cheese. It would do them good to get exposed to something else. smile.gif

[Butterchurn]

Working with young people is fun. I do enjoy it so. Sounds like your presentation went well.

The only way we can save beekeeping is to get children interested and involved.

Now many of those who said they want to be beekeepers may change their minds once they experience their first bee sting. Some will still be interested though and those are the ones we need.

The 10 year-old I'm working with is still very excited about her bees. They arrive Saturday. We will be installing her two packages. We will see how she does. I'm going to take it slow and easy with her. I'll be careful to pay attention to her anxiety level. We'll get her hooked, though. She seems so very motivated. I think if I handle the situation properly her excitement and motivation will overcome her anxiety.

Ron

[Dan Williamson]

>>we give each a tast of honey some of whitch don`t like it

As much as I love honey, I'm not really big on eating it by itself either. By itself it is sometimes too much for my tastebuds to handle. I love it with something else: Pancakes, dinner rolls, toast, english muffins etc. I eat about 6oz a week by myself.

Dan

[Lesli St. Clair]

>we give each a tast of honey some of whitch don`t like it

Yea, but that generation of kids only seems to eat chicken nuggets and mac and cheese. It would do them good to get exposed to something else. [Smile] While I agree with Michael that kids aren't too adventurous when it comes to food, I thought all kids liked pretty much anything sweet. Huh. Maybe honey on bread next time.

[Lesli St. Clair]

>we give each a tast of honey some of whitch don`t like it

Yea, but that generation of kids only seems to eat chicken nuggets and mac and cheese. It would do them good to get exposed to something else. [Smile] While I agree with Michael that kids aren't too adventurous when it comes to food, I thought all kids liked pretty much anything sweet. Huh. Maybe honey on bread next time.

[roger eagles]

Junk food must be it.Canada is rated no. 4 for fat kids.

[beegee]

My presentation starts with a picture of Pooh and Piglet drawing honey out of a hornet's nest. I tell them this is NOT how we get honey. The presentation develops using the cave drawings and present-day honey-gathering practices in primitive societies that haven't changed in thousands of years. Then I show various stinging insects that aren't bees and explain how the honeybee plays a vital part in our food chain. I was telling the class how a good alfalfa crop means good meat and milk, and a little boy raised his hand:"When you were talking about getting meat and milk from grass, I wanted to puke!" From the mouths of babes.... :rolleyes:
My whole perspective is that we are failing to teach kids critical thinking skills and I try to stimulate their imaginations to encourage thought and investigation.

[honeyman46408]

From the mouths of babes....

Some of the best questions we get are from the slow learners or mentaly chalanged kids may be they connect with me :D

Dan: when we let them taste it is on a piece of bread

[Chef Isaac]

I ould really like to teach and educate kids on honeybees and beekeeping. This has been a stimulating thought.

[honeyman46408]

Another thought;

I have given the same talk to SAMs (senior adult minestry)at our church with about 60 "old people" and the KIDS are a lot more fun.

I am a meber of the "old people" group :D

[Jim Fischer]

> ...a picture of Pooh and Piglet drawing honey
> out of a hornet's nest

That must have been the Disney-fied Pooh.

The original illustrations for the real A.A. Milne
Pooh stories (drawn by E.H. Shepard) showed the
bees in a fairly realistic tree, to my knowledge.

One thing that impresses the heck out of the kids
involves getting a bee to "eat out of your hand"
(ok, in reality suck up some honey out of your hand...),
and then letting a few of the (braver) kids try
it. If nothing else, they need to take away
the knowledge that bees are not going to sting
them without a very good reason. I must admit
that a few teachers have turned white at the mere
suggestion, so it may be a good idea to bring two
boxes - one with workers, one with drones. If you
chill them A bit in a cooler, they are much easier
to handle. Closing the drapes and dimming the
lights also helps, as it may help to keep the
bees from flying around.

[Hillbillynursery]

One of my daughters keeps drones as pets. She is 12. I try and bring her a few home each week. The longest she has kept one was 2 weeks before her little brother shook it to death in the plastic container she keeps them in. Most of the time my son which is 3 kills them in a few days. I keep telling my daughter she has to keep them put up where her brother can not reach but she wants them close to her.

[Chef Isaac]

great... now I have another use for drones!!!

I have figuared out that if I bring some drones home... my cats love to chase them!

[beegee]

The schools don't want observation hives or live bees. All it would take would be ONE "concerned" parent to freak about "potential" danger to an "allergic" child....

[BeeBear]

>> All it would take would be ONE "concerned" parent to freak . . .

Having a set of these "concerned" parents in my extended family, I can identify with this statement. "Overprotective" is an understatement. And of course they think that they're acting in the best interest of their kids. Based on the example that they see, the kids are unwilling to try or do anything that might have the tiniest bit of risk so they have very limited experiences.

If one of these types gets "on their high horse" about a bee presentation, it could more than undo the good of the session. Don't get me wrong; I am not suggesting that we cave in to this type of person and become just like them. I'm just trying to figure out how to make the presentations effective while minimizing the potential that some parent will go ballistic.

[ScadsOBees]

Hillbilly,
How do you keep drones (papa-bees) alive outside of the hive for 2 weeks?
I've tried (and my kids have), and they never last through the night, dying without explaination (losing the will to live outside the hive?). My kindergartener wanted to bring some to school, and he had to settle for mama-bees (any of the bees that sting) so he couldn't take them out and pass them around.

Nothing cuter than watching my 4yr old walking his "papa-bee on a string".

-rick

[Lori McAllister]

I think it is sad that this generation of kids for the most part don't get a chance to learn about bees and some of the other simple, but complex critters out there. Being the mother of 3 I have to say that my children are nuts about our 4 hives. My 5 year old can talk someones ear off about how the hive works and how to put the equipment together. Both our boys will sit right next to the hive and watch the bees coming and going for sometimes 30 min. just chattering away about the bees. I have had friends that think my kids must constantly get stung, but they have not been so far! Most folks think of yellow jackets when I mention bees.
Thanks to all of you who are willing to go out and give 'bee' talks!

[Pugs]

Lori,

What part of Oregon is Cheshire in? I've never heard of it.

Pugs

[Lori McAllister]

Pugs,
Cheshire is 12 miles west of Junction City and 20 miles northwest of Eugene. It is about 2 hours from Salem. Cheshire is one of those little places that if you blink while driving through you would miss it!!

Lori

[Pugs]

Thanks Lori,

That is an area I've never driven through. My parents used to live (if you can call it that) in Klamath Falls, and I have friends in Rogue River. So I've driven the I-5 coridor quite a bit and out of Eugene to 58 to 97 to K. Falls. I've never been in Junction City or Chesire though. I'll have to try the back roads more often.

Pugs

[Chef Isaac]

Lori: Do you have a bee club in your area? I am living in Eugene and I am astonished by how big the bee club is here and they are great. You should check it out. Let me know if you want more info on it. You should come to the next meeting.

[Lori McAllister]

Hi Chef,
Yes, I joined the Lane County Beekeepers Asso. last October and have made about 5 of the meetings
so far. Hope to make it to the meeting in May. I have learned a lot from some of the folks there!
You will know me if I am there, I am the only one that is 9 months pregnant!! tongue.gif

Lori

[GreenMountainRose]

What would work would be a Bee Bus/ bee exhibit. The bus drives up to the schools (paid visits!) or schools visit the exhibit, and only those kids who have had permission slips signed by parents enter the bus/exhibit. Inside the bus is the beekeeper's bee exhibit, and the observation hive could be set up behind a netted area if anyone is worried about escaped bees (double insurance for the beekeeper). I don't know what is the matter with an observation hive, however, as we have farm shows and dairy days around here, and no one is ever worried about bee stings. If the bee bus had a very high quality exhibit, schools would be glad to pay to have the exhibit made available to their students. Check your state educationals standards and make sure the exhibit offers opportunities for the students to meet the standards, and this new business will be golden.