I recently spent a couple of hours with a group of local homeschooling families, sharing with the children a little bit about the honeybees. I had written a post on FB, inviting them to join me for one of the many events that Long Beach Beekeepers hosts, and so many of them expressed a general interest that I thought it might be worthwhile to plan something special with them. The date was set, and the fun began. We started off with a picture book about a beekeeper. Kids and grownups of all ages love a picture book. The Beeman (by Laurie Krebs and Valeria Cis) is a sweet intro to beekeeping, and there are plenty of books at the library to supplement, for kids who want to learn more (I'll post a short list soon). We then jumped over to inspect the observation hive, and all the kids, from toddlers to tweens, were absolutely fascinated by all the activity taking place inside! They crowded around, pointing and asking questions. After that, we played a game which required the children to run around gathering "nectar" with their "proboscis" from nearby "flowers" and depositing the nectar back at the "hive." Everybody had a blast, and then they all enjoyed some honey sticks from the LB Beekeepers. I hope that some of our new friends will stop by to see us at First Fridays (this Friday, 6-9 pm, Atlantic and Burlinghall, directly across the street from EJ Malloy's), at the South 40 hive next month (Nov 5, 8am, 2813 E South St, LB, 90805), or at the next club meeting(Nov 6, 10am).
I'd like to give thanks to Roberta Kato for inviting me to write this guest blog post, to Dick Barnes for trusting me with his bees, to both for all the encouragement, and to Carlos Angeles for allowing me to share the bees with his tribe. You are all the best! ❤️
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| Reading "The Beeman" |
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| Beating their wings to thicken the honey |
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| The observation hive |
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| Getting a close-up |
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| Gathering nectar |
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| Everybody doing their part to fill the hive with nectar |
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| Back at the hive, cells are filling up with "nectar" (water) |
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| Celebrating a good harvest. |
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| Parental "flowers" |
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| Honey sticks galore |
