This page is credited in full to Dave Cushman who created it. His voice is expressed in black colour text and any additions or comments in blue belong to myself. Credit: Dave Cushman’s website.
PH.
Simple questions to establish the range of knowledge about honey bees and beekeeping that exists in ten year old children. The answers may vary a little in your geographic region according to race of bee.
No. Question Formal Answer
1, When did you last see a bee? Any Answer is correct
2, What colour was that bee? Honey bees in Ireland are generally dark brown or black. Italian bees have an amount of yellow or orange in their colouring.
3, How many legs has a bee? Six (6). Take a look at the diagram.
4, How many wings has a bee got? Bees have a fore wing and hind wing on each side of their body. When the bee is flying, the fore and hind wings clasp together… see the diagram.
5, Where do bees live? In hives when they are being cared for (in straw skeps before wooden hives were invented). In cavities in old trees or walls when they are in the wild.
6, In what season of the year are we likely to see the greatest number of bees flying? Summer
7, We say bees “buzz”, how do they make that sound? By the very fast movement of the wings, about 200 to 250 times per second.
8, Where do bees get food? From Flowers and Plants.
9, How do they get that food? By sucking up the Nectar, which is in the flowers. The bee’s tongue is called a Proboscis. (Pro-boss.kiss).
10, Have bees any enemies? Yes.
11, If you think they have, could you name them? Birds, badgers, wasps, small animals, and humans, sometimes.
12, In your opinion, how long might a bee live? The Queen bee might live up to 5 years. ?The male bee, which is called a drone lives a few months. ?The female, or worker, bee lives about six weeks in the summer, but up to six months in the Winter time. The three types are on the diagram.
13, Why are some people afraid of bees? They are afraid of stings.
14, Are you afraid of bees? ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ as the case may be.
15, Do you think bees are of any value to us human beings? Yes, bees are very valuable. They pollinate many crops. ?Some scientists believe that if the bees disappeared from the earth that human beings would also disappear in 100 years or so.
16, Why do you say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’? Same as No. 15 above.
17, How do bees manage to survive during the cold of winter? Bees cluster together to keep themselves warm. They do not sleep or hibernate as some people think.
18, Do bees and wasps belong to the same family? No… Bees are ‘Apis’ family and wasps are ‘Vespa’ family.
19, What months of the year are we most likely to see wasps? In the months of August and September.Remember, children are sometimes stung by wasps In September when they return to school after the Summer holidays.
20, Are Bumble bees bigger, smaller, or the same size as honey bees? As a general rule the Bumble bees we see around are bigger than the honey bees; but yes, there are various sizes of Bumble bees too.