Bees!

So much has happened this week!

We were making letters in one of our centers. Flora found a new way
to use these pieces!

Thanks to all of our awesome parents for helping
us raise $40,000 through the Boosterthon! Because we received pledges from all 50 states
Mr. Gardner agreed to be taped to the flagpole!

In math, we are working on sorting! We sorted by:

gender

clothes

height

The Bee Ladies came today from Mama Beehive! We absolutely love when they come visit! Check them out here!

Here is a rare find! The Bee Ladies found a wild
hive in an old tree.

Modern day bee hive

This bee hive was used many, many years ago.
These hives are no longer allowed to be used.

The bee ladies do a great job of explaining the many jobs that bees have! All of the worker bees are girls.

These are the housekeeping bees. They are responsible for cleaning all the cells before honey is
placed or an egg is laid. The queen bee will check each cell before she lays an egg. 

The nurse bees take care of all the baby bees.
The baby bees are fed beebread.
**I'm so sorry that the picture is sideways. I edited it several
times and it is still sideways!!

The undertaker bee takes care of the dead bees.

The construction team builds combs for eggs and honey.

The attendants tend to the queen. She is so busy
that she cannot groom or bathe herself. This is
where the attendants come in handy! Ashley is our
queen bee! There is only 1 queen in a hive. If the queen
dies or another needs to be made for a new hive, the queen
decides which egg will be the queen. That baby will only
be fed royal jelly allowing her to become a queen. The
other babies are fed beebread.

The guard bee protects the hive from people and animals. For
example, if a bear comes in to try to eat the bees, she will
head butt him. If he doesn't go away after the 3rd time
she raises her "sword" to signal for other bees to come out and
sting.

The foragers go out to collect pollen, nectar and
water.

This bee comes back to tell others where the food is. The
bee dances to explain the directions.

The drones bees are male. Although they didn't explain this
to the kids, their only option is to mate with the queen. Drone bees
do not have stingers!

Great books about bees!

Oli was the beekeeper! The beekeeper uses smoke to calm the
bees down. This makes them think that a fire is nearby. They gorge
themselves on honey. This makes their bodies curve inward
making it hard for them to sting anyone.