Background information

Learning goals: The aim of this activity is to get children thinking about the bees that visit their yards and what they are doing when they visit. Children begin by learning how to be safe around bees. Younger children will then go out into the yard and observe bees before participating in a guided role-play around bees, collecting pollen and nectar and returning to the hive. Older children will go outside to observe bees before conducting an experiment to find out what colour flowers bees like best.

Content information: Bees first appeared on Earth at least 80 million years ago. The ancestors of modern bee species lived alongside the dinosaurs - a time when giant pines, cedars, tree ferns and cycads were the main plants and the air swarmed with primitive insects, including oversized dragonflies and giant butterflies. During this time, the first flowering plants (angiosperms) appeared and a more effective way of pollination was needed, other than simply relying on the wind. The challenge was how to increase the chances of pollination and reproduction to ensure the success of future generations. The solution was to attract insects to assist with pollination. Over time flowers evolved a range of advertisements to attract pollinators, including bright colours, strong fragrances, interesting patterns and unusual shapes. They also developed sugar-rich nectar as a reward. Thus began the mutualistic relationship between flowering plants and bees and it was to change the appearance of the Earth forever. Now there are hundreds of thousands of species of flowering plants and they are the most successful land plants on Earth. Scientists have long chalked this up to the relationship between pollinators and their assistance in reproduction.

There are thousands of bee species that live around the world. The European Honey Bee is the best known as it produces honey, beeswax, propolis and royal jelly, which are all used in a range of ways. Interestingly, bees are the only insect that produces food eaten by humans. They are also the only animal that doesn't harm what it eats but actually enhances it.

Australia has 1,600 native bee species. Most of them are solitary and don’t store honey. Only 11 species of social bees make and store small amounts of honey for their own food.

While it is well known that bees produce honey; a lesser-known fact is that most of our other food sources also rely on bees, as conservative figures show that bees pollinate at least ONE mouthful in every THREE that we eat! The production of most fruit, nuts, vegetables, seeds and even livestock feed are dependent on the existence of bees, including Australian native bees.

When living things have relationships with other living things it is called 'symbiosis'. Bees and flowering plants have a mutually beneficial relationship whereby the bees assist with pollination and fertilization of the plant and in return collect nectar and pollen not only for themselves but also to feed their young. Bees have a number of specialised adaptations that make them particularly good at carrying large volumes of pollen. They can visit many flowers before returning to their hive, which increases the success rate of fertilization of the plants. Due to bees being excellent pollinators they play a pivotal role in farming, food production and the health of our ecosystems.

However, bees around the world, including in Australia, are in serious trouble. Overuse of pesticides and herbicides are causing bees to become more vulnerable to disease and pests. Modern agricultural practices and urbanisation are greatly reducing bee habitat and food sources. As a result, scientists are seeing a large decline in bee populations. This poses a threat not only for our food production but our environment as a whole, as flowering plants rely on pollinators to survive.

The good news is we can all do things to help ensure the survival of bees, such as:

Plant ‘bee friendly’ plants in clumps in your garden and let the vegetables flower. Bees love lavender, rosemary, sage, thyme, perennial basil, borage, grevilleas, bottlebrush and tea trees whilst Eucalypts provide pollen and nectar for their food.
Use no pesticides or herbicides in your garden. For ‘bee friendly’ pest management try companion planting.
Before you buy, ask if plants have been treated with pesticides toxic to bees.
Create ‘bee friendly’ garden signs for your front garden to advertise what a ‘bee friendly’ garden is.
Put stones in bird baths to stop bees drowning.
Buy fruit and vegetables that have been locally and sustainably grown.
Buy local honey.
For more information, go to: actforbees.org.

A summary of the issues faced by bees on a global scale is explored in this video:

NATURE | Silence Of The Bees | (https://youtu.be/dIUo3STj6tw?list=PL45E34E4712249C79)

Additional background information:

Ages 0 - 2

NOTE: This activity requires children to observe bees in the yard. In climates with frosts, many pollinators (including bees) are quiet over winter. They may also be quiet from mid-morning in really hot weather. In the tropics, bees are busiest in the dry season. Generally, a good time to observe bees is either in spring or autumn. You may find that there are other pollinators visiting your garden, including native bees. Use the Australian Native Bee ID Chart to identify native bees, and the Slugs And Bugs Identification Chart to identify other invertebrate pollinators.

Step 1

Begin by explaining to children that they will be going outside to look at bees. Before they go outside talk to children about being safe around bees, for example:

Don't touch bees - keep your hands behind your back when watching bees.
Don't get too close - listen to adults and stay close to them when watching bees.
Stay calm - bees can get excited but if you can stay calm so will they. If a bee is flying near you, turn your back and walk away, don't run.

Take the children outside. If you have any flowering plants, spend time quietly watching any bees that may be around them. You could also invite children to think about what they are seeing by asking the following questions:

I wonder what we can see?
I wonder if we can see any bees?
I wonder what the bees are doing?
I wonder where the bees are going?
I wonder if we have any questions about bees?

Record any questions or observations children have about bees. You can also explain to children that bees like to eat the nectar that flowers produce so they will be eating as they move from flower to flower. They will also be collecting pollen which they will take back to the hive where it will get turned into honey that can be used to feed the baby bees (larvae).

Step 2

Once children have spent some time observing bees, explain that they will now participate in a role-play based on being bees. You might want to move children inside for the role-play if you have a lot of bees in the flowers in the yard; otherwise direct children away from plants with many bees. The role-play could go as follows:

Nominate a feature in the yard as the hive (e.g. rock, play equipment, etc.). Gather all the bees (children) at the hive.
The bees have woken up in the morning and are hungry. They leave the hive looking for nectar. They need to visit a few plants to get the nectar they need to start the day.
Now the bees are ready to collect some pollen. They need to visit many plants to collect enough pollen to take back to the hive.
Once the bees have collected enough pollen they can take it back to the hive where they drop it off.
The bees can now head back out to find more nectar and pollen.
Finally, at the end of the day, the bees head back to the hive for the night.

Allow children time to play this game for as long as they are interested.

Provocations

I wonder what we can see?
I wonder if we can see any bees?
I wonder what the bees are doing?
I wonder where the bees are going?
I wonder what bees eat?
I wonder where bees live?
I wonder what other insects we can see in our yard?
I wonder what other animals we can see in our yard? (e.g. birds, skinks)
I wonder if we have any questions about bees?

Possible lines of development

Being safe around bees: Use children's observations about the behaviours of bees and the Bee Safe! Factsheet to discuss how to be safe around bees. Create artworks that show children being safe around bees in your centre.
Parts of a bee: Use the Parts Of A Bee Flashcards to provoke discussion about bees. These questions can be used to discover areas of interest the group has about bees for future activities.
Other types of insects: Use the Slugs and Bugs Identification Sheet to identify other species that children observed during this activity.
Bees on the big screen: If you have access to a camera that can be set up outside, position this device near a flowering plant that attracts bees and record during lunchtime. Review footage and, if you capture any bees visiting the plants, show it to the children. Invite children to place their fingers in front of them and trace the bee's flight path as the video plays. If you are unable to capture a bee on video, consider using a clip like the following: BEES - Animals for children.
Before eating, spend a moment with children discussing where their food has come from, and in particular focus on the parts of the meal that were produced with the help of bees.
Explore more classroom resources about bees at Act For Bees.

Find out more about bees with this activity: Up Close With Bees.

Ages 3 - 5

NOTE: This activity requires children to observe bees in the yard. In climates with frosts, many pollinators (including bees) are quiet over winter. They may also be quiet from mid-morning in really hot weather. In the tropics, bees are busiest in the dry season. Generally, a good time to observe bees is either in spring or autumn. You may find that there are other pollinators visiting your garden, including native bees. Use the Australian Native Bee ID Chart to identify native bees, and the Slugs And Bugs Identification Chart to identify other invertebrate pollinators.

Preparation: For Step 2, you will need:

Access to a range of different coloured flowers. If you have limited flowering plants in your yard, you could bring flowering pot plants from home or invite families to bring in flowering pot plants for the experiment.
Paper to record your observations (or use this table).

Step 1

Begin by explaining to children that they will be going outside to look at bees. Before they go outside, talk to children about how to be safe around bees, for example:

Don't touch bees - keep your hands behind your back when watching bees.
Don't get too close - listen to adults and stay close to them when watching bees.
Stay calm - bees can get excited but if you can stay calm so will they. If a bee is flying near you, turn your back and walk away, don't run.

Take the children outside. If you have any flowering plants, spend time quietly watching any bees that may be around them. You could also invite children to think about what they are observing by asking the following questions:

I wonder if we can see any bees?
I wonder what these bees look like?
I wonder what colours these bees are?
I wonder what the bees are doing?
I wonder where the bees are going?
I wonder what other insects we can see?

Record any questions or observations children have about bees. You can also explain to children that bees like to eat the nectar that flowers produce so they will be eating as they move from flower to flower. The bees will also be collecting pollen which they will take back to the hive where it will get turned into honey that can be used to feed the baby bees (larvae).

Step 2

Now, invite children to think about and respond to the following question:

I wonder if bees like some plants more than others?

Explain to children that they are going to head outside to find out what colour flowers bees like the best.

What you will need:

Access to a range of different coloured flowers. If you have limited flowering plants in your yard, you could bring flowering pot plants from home or invite families to bring in flowering pot plants for the experiment. When setting up the flowers for this experiment be aware of the sun. Try and choose a position for the flowers where they are all exposed to a similar amount of sun. Controlling this variable will help make the experiment fairer.
Paper to record your observations. You could create a table with all the flower colours you will be observing or use this one, adding in colours according to the flowers you have in your yard.

Instructions:

Head out to your flowers and spend 5 minutes observing what colour flowers are most popular with bees (and other insects). Remind students to sit or stand quietly while observing the bees and other insects - jumping around will repel the bees and other insects!
Repeat your observations at different times of the day. You could also record the weather (sunny, overcast etc.).
Children can take turns in recording your observations.
You could also take photos of the flowers with any bees or other insects visiting the flowers.

Once complete, talk about your results with children and discuss which colours appear to be the most attractive to bees and insects.

You could also invite children to create their own flowers of different colours and place them in the yard to see if the bees are attracted to them. You could use this Flower Template to create your flowers.

Provocations

I wonder if we can see any bees?
I wonder what these bees look like?
I wonder what colours these bees are?
I wonder what the bees are doing?
I wonder where the bees are going?
I wonder what other insects we can see?
I wonder if bees like some plants more than others?
I wonder how we could find out what colours bees prefer?
I wonder what colours bees can see?

Possible lines of development

Being safe around bees: Use children's observations about the behaviours of bees and the Bee Safe Factsheet to create signs for the playground about how to be safe around bees.
Bee-friendly gardening: Plan to plant seeds for pollinator-friendly flowers in your centre. Invite children to help you select the species you will be planting and the locations they could be planted around the centre.
Different types of bees: Use the images in the Australian Native Bee ID Chart to identify bees in your garden. Invite children to create their own bee artworks of the species that you have identified.
Parts of a bee: Use the Parts Of A Bee Flashcards to provoke discussion about bees. These questions can be used to discover areas of interest the group has about bees for future activities.
Bee puppets: Make bee finger puppets with this template: Bee Finger Puppet Template. Invite children to use their puppets to act out a bee visiting a flower and returning to their hives.
Watch bees in slow motion: Play the following clip on mute (the narration may not be interesting for younger children so you could turn the sound down), Bee pollen slow-motion flow. Play the clip again, but this time, invite children to stand up and pretend to be bees flying around the room.
Before eating, spend a moment with children discussing where their food has come from, and in particular focus on the parts of the meal that were produced with the help of bees.
Other types of insects: Use the Slugs and Bugs Identification Sheet to identify other species that children observed during this activity.
Explore more classroom resources about bees at Act For Bees.

Find out more about bees with this activity: Up Close With Bees.

Evaluation

Complete an analysis of learning listing evidence about:

Belonging	Finding something of interest
Communication	Expressing an idea or feeling
Exploration	Engaging with challenges and persisting when difficulties arise
Wellbeing	Being involved

Embedding into daily practice

Plant bee (and/or bird and butterfly) attracting plants in your yard or gardens at home - Gardening for bees.
Cut out the use of pesticides in your yard to attract more bees and other native animals to your yard.
Encourage your service, staff and families to purchase local honey.

Bees in the Yard

Summary

Activity Guides and Printables

Activity Details

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required