Create an At-Home Honey Bee Adventure

Are you the proud owner of one of these amazing boxes? First off, thank you for supporting honey bee education initiatives in schools!

And now, what should you do with all this cool stuff? There are hours of fun and educational activities inside, and we’ve got lots of ideas to help you get the most from your box.

Dive into more bee adventures! Find the page numbers for each corresponding guide activity.

Before you dive in:

  1. Make sure to download The Thing About Bees reading guide!
  2. Learn more about planting and growing your seeds.
  3. Take learning on the go with our Honey Bee Audio Story.

Click on a page number to jump to the content or scroll down to dive in!

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Page 4 - Beekeeping Tools

After exploring the Hidden Picture beekeeping activity, watch this video with our Executive Director, Nona Evans, to learn about beekeeping tools!

Page 5 - Festooning

Watch festooning up close as bees link up their bodies to measure the spaces where they’re building honeycomb.

You can tell this is one of Nona's favorite jobs! These bees are JUST starting to size up this frame.

Notice these festooning chains - some bees create a ladder and others create a "U" shape.

Little bees hanging on to each others legs while they build comb on a new frame.

Bees attach to one another measuring the distance to the bottom of the frame. You can see the color of new wax in this photo. When it’s really new, it’s white. As bee feet move back and forth over it begins to yellow a bit.

Page 7 - Watch bees in action!

Page 8 - Spot the Queen

There’s only one queen per hive, and whenever she moves, her attendants move with her. When it’s time for a new queen, the workers choose a larvae that is just a few days old. They feed that larvae extra royal jelly which allows her reproductive organs to develop. That makes her larger than worker bees.

Queen honey bees don’t wear crowns, so how can you tell which one she is? Here are a few ways to spot the queen in a colony.

  1. Look for a long, pointed abdomen
  2. Look for a bee with a shiny black spot
  3. Look for the largest bee

DID YOU FIND THE QUEEN?

Page 8 - See more cool hive photos

This frame has two plates of new comb that is pure white. There is a little bit of honey stored at the top of the larger plate.

This is a swarm of bees. They were attracted to this swarm box…but decided to build their hive under the box instead of inside it. It’s a great chance to see how bees build in nature. We call them “honeycomb saucers”

Check out these bees landing on the hive with full pollen baskets or "pollen pants".

Page 11 - Waggle Dance

Join Phineas and Ferb as they show us the Waggle Dance. Share your best waggle with #GiveBeesAChance in social!

Page 15 - How to Beautify Your Community

Since human activity has a huge impact on bee colony health, we’ve got to do our part to keep the magic alive! Luckily, you can support bees and other pollinators while beautifying your neighborhood and community. Grab your gardening gloves, and let’s get to work!

Page 16 - Upcycled Craft Activities

Explore activities similar to the Pollinator Puppets in our Kids Club!

Page 19 - What Some Food Choices Would Look Like in a World Without Bees

See photos of what your grocery store and a picnic would look like in a world without bees. What would you miss the most?