Bees and Wasps Thematic Unit Study

Each homeycomb is made of many six-sided cells, fitted tightly together. A thick paper covering surrounds all the combs. It protects the nest and keeps out rain and cold.

A young mother wasp starts to build the nest and makes a comb, where she lays her eggs. The eggs hatch into grubs which she feeds every day. They have big sucking feet to hold them in their upside-down cells, for if they fall out, they have no way to get back, and they die.

But the grubs that are able to hold on, eat and grow big. They make paper caps for their cells and go to sleep as pupae inside. Later they creep out as worker wasps who take over the housekeeping duties from their mother.

As the family grows, they build more combs inside the nest. Then, bit by bit, they enlarge the paper covering of their nest by scraping paper off the inside and plastering it on the outside, and by adding new material. They catch insects and make them into a paste to feed the newly hatched grubs.

Near the end of the summer, the mother wasp lays eggs which grow into males, called drones, and females. The males and females mate. Then, when the cold weather comes, all the wasps in the nest die except the young females. They sleep in some cosy spot during the winter, and each one may begin a new wasp's nest in the spring.

Wasps live in their nests only in the summertime, and they do not use an old nest over again another year.

Wild honeybees live together and build their combs inside old tree trunks. People who raise bees build small houses, called hives in which the bees make their own combs.

All bees' combs are divided into six-sided cells like those of wasps, but they are made of wax. Many bees share in building them even from the very beginning. Worker bees make wax inside themselves out of the flowering nectar and pollen they eat, though no one knows how. They squeeze the wax through slots in their stomachs and chew the wax and mix it with saliva. Then each worker takes a turn at shaping the wax into cells.

There is only one queen bee in each hive and she lays all the eggs, one in each cell. When the eggs hatch, the worker nursemaids feed the grubs bee-bread and keep them clean. While the nursemaids are busy with the young bees, other workers fly busily back and forth from the fields of clover and the flower gardens. They collect nectar with their long tongues and make it into honey inside themselves and collect pollen in the "market baskets" on their hind legs. Still other workers pack the honey and pollen into storage cells for the bees to eat in the wintertime.

The male bees, called drones, do not collect food and have no stings to defend themselves. In the fall, when the mating season is over and the honey stores must be saved for the winter, the drones are driven from the hive to die.

The honey bee is not aggressive unless bothered. The honey bee is the only bee species that dies after stinging someone. It has a barbed stinger which actually pulls away from their stomach along with a poison sac after stinging. The reason that the honey bee dies after it stings is because of the abdomen rupture from when the poison sac was pulled free from their abdomen. So if you think that after you have been stung once by a bumble bee, the bee is going to die, you are wrong.

Hornets are a type of bee. They are aggressive when they go about their stinging and they sting in full-flight mode, which adds a whole lot more pain to their sting. You will definitely need to watch out for the hornet if you are messing around with bees, this is one bee that you do not want to get stung by.

One of the coolest things about bees is the fact that they produce some food humans like. Honey is a product made of the nectar that has been regurgitated and then dehydrated by honey bees. And yes, it is true that the bees do eat their own honey, in fact, one teaspoon of honey actually contains enough energy for a single bee to fly around the world! Honey is completely organic and it contains every single nutrient that a human needs to survive, including the water content. So it might do you some good to keep a jar of honey in your house or even in your car in case you might need it in an emergency.

While most bees prefer to be in a colony, it is not true that every type of bee needs to be in a colony. In fact, there are many bees that change their housing structures all of the time and they do not have a colony at all. Of course, these are the bees that you do not usually hear a lot about, though they are also interesting. Carpenter bees are one of the bees that do not need a colony and make individual holes to live in.

Make bee finger puppets. Place on each finger. Then sing this song:

Five little bees
Up in the trees
Busy, buzzing
bumblebees
First they go to a flower
Then they go to the hive
Then they make some honey
What a busy family of five!!

Materials:
Toilet paper roll
Markers/crayons
Construction paper
Scissors
Glue
Pipe cleaners

Directions:
- Color the paper roll like a bee (be creative with the colors).
- Cut out construction paper wings and glue them in place (it works best if they remain one piece an hourglass shape so that the middle can be glued to the bee's back).
- Cut one pipe cleaner into three equal sections, bend each section (the shape will be similar to a yoke), and glue them on the bee's underside to give it legs.
- Admire your quick and easy creation!

=You can also glue on plastic jiggly eyes for the bee's eyes, but they sometimes have trouble sticking to the rounded surface=

Ingredients:

1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon honey
1/3 cup non-fat powdered milk
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons toasted wheat germ
unsweetened cocoa powder, for toothpick coating
76 almonds, sliced thin

Directions:

Prep Time: 20 mins, Total Time: 20 mins

1 In a mixing bowl, mix peanut butter and honey.
2 Stir in dry milk powder, sesame seed and wheat germ; mix well.
3 Lay wax paper on a cookie sheet.
4 Using a teaspoon, shape and scoop up 1 tsp of peanut butter mixture into oval shapes, to look like bees.; place on cookie sheet.
5 Dip a toothpick into cocoa; press gently across bees to make the stripes.
6 Stick 2 almonds slices into each side, for wings.
7 Chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

2 cups creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
3 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup real semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon shortening
sliced almonds
chow mein noodles

Combine peanut butter and margarine in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Reduce speed to low; add powdered sugar. Beat until well mixed. Stir in graham cracker crumbs by hand. Shape rounded teaspoonfuls of mixture into 1 1/2-inch ovals.

Place onto wax paper-lined cookie sheets.

Combine chocolate chips and shortening in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH for 30 seconds; stir. Continue microwaving at 10 second intervals, stirring until mixture is melted and smooth (10 to 30 seconds). Cool slightly (2 to 3 minutes).

Place chocolate in small plastic resealable food bag. Cut very small tip from one corner of bag.

For each honey bee, pipe 3 chocolate stripes on each oval; insert 2 almond slices in each side for wings. Insert 2 chow mein noodles in head for antenna; insert 1 short chow mein noodle for tail. Dot with chocolate for eyes, if desired.

Refrigerate until firm (at least 30 minutes). Store refrigerated.

TIP: Substitute disposable pastry bag for plastic resealable food bag.

TIP: If dough is too soft, stir in additional powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency.

Preview here

I was absolutely fascinated while researching this topic of these intelligent, versatile and highly sensitive creatures and have finally settled on presenting the information in language that can be geared towards older or younger students. The language and terminology as is is thus suitable for around Grades 4 and 5. With discussion and explanation it is suitable for younger learners. Older learners will be able to study the information and complete the activities with a minimum of assistance. The Activities, Comprehension and Revision exercises are ranged from young learners to older learners.

To cover all elementary age groups I have also included crossword puzzles, wordsearches, lesson plans, crafts and activities for the range Pre-K upwards. Particularly for the kindergarten/grades 1-2 age groups I have included bee/honey thematic printables that can be used in a classroom theme or Homeschool room setting. Simple honey recipes are sure to delight any child (and adult), while riddles, songs and fingerplays, Bee Games complete the early learning thematic unit.

Preview here

Print all pages onto cardstock. Laminate for durability and protection. Cut out calendar number (date) blocks. Cut out calendar Month Strips.
Use pieces for Thematic Calendar Activities.

Use the link below to download your Days of the Week word wall cards also :)

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Print the pages either in color or black and white. Have your child write the missing numbers in the correct cells to create a number pattern.

Download also the bee-themed counting sheets and tokens from the link below.

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Print onto cardstock. Laminate for protection and durability. Cut out & use as sight cards

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Print 2 copies of this page onto cardstock. Laminate for protection and durability. Cut out cards, place all cards face down. Pick one card and turn it over face-up. Choose another card. If they match take both cards out of the stack. If they don't match put both cards face down into the stack and try again. Time Yourself each time.

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Here is the Beehive. (make fist with one hand)
But where are the bees?
Hiding away where nobody sees,
Watch them come creeping out of their hive...
1,2,3,4,5 ( pop out fingers as counting)
Bzzzzzzzzzzzz (wriggle fingers around)

Thank you SquidAngel Janiece for blessing this lens
Thank you SquidAngel iijuan12 for blessing this lens
Thank you SquidAngel DarcieFrench for blessing this lens

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