I have some fun hands-on bee activities like an easy bee habitat. Also, grab more ideas on my Honey Bees Unit Study page.
Spring brings to mind many wonderful things like flowers, butterflies, birds, and of course those wonderful little pollinators bees.
You can’t let spring go by without at least a little unit study on bees.
I have some fantastic hands-on bee activities to try like this mason bee habitat you can make with your child to help support them and encourage pollination.
With the bee decline due to insecticides, pesticides, climate change and other harmful changes it is more important than ever that we give these important little pollinators a hand.
One way we can do this is by helping to create habitats for them to make a nest out of.
Mason bees like to lay their eggs in small openings and use mud or other resources to plug up the hole until the new bees are ready to emerge.
5 Mason Bee Facts
- Unlike other types of bees every female mason bee is a solitary queen and lays eggs, raising them without worker bees or drones.
- Mason bees lay their eggs in natural or manmade “tunnels” with the females toward the back to protect them from predators and males up front, who emerge first.
- The average lifespan for a Mason Bee is just four to six weeks.
- There are 140 species of mason bees in North America, and they are found in orchards and gardens.
- Mason Bees do not produce honey and they also lack the venom found in the stinger of honeybees.
Then, add some hands-on activities.
Hands-On Bee Activities and Books
Work on this Fascinating and Fun Honey Bees Unit Study and Lapbook for Kids.
Demonstrate the life cycle of a bee with this Safari Ltd Life cycle set and then have your child recreate it with LEGO, clay, in Minecraft or by drawing it out.
Make something with beeswax like this Fun Hands-on Apothecary Salve
Further, add Labeling Parts of a Honey Bee LEGO Fun Activity For Kids.
Have a taste test with a few local and/or specialty honey items.
Print and go over these Fun Bee Facts for Kids.
Watch this video on beekeeping and follow up with some fun dramatic play from Dream big Little One.
Also, add some books about bees.
8 Honey Bees Unit Study Resources & Books
Add some of these fun resources to your bees unit study or spring unit study.
One part science, one part cultural history, and countless parts fascination, Bees: A Honeyed History celebrates the important role that these intriguing insects have played in our ecosystem throughout the ages, and today.
Part history book, part handbook, and part cookbook, this illustrated tome covers every facet of the ancient hobby of beekeeping, from how to manage hives safely to harvesting one’s own honey, and ideas for how to use honey and beeswax. Detailed instructions for making candles, furniture polish, beauty products, and nearly 100 honey-themed recipes are included. Honeybees, which are critical in the pollination of popular US produce such as almonds, apples, and blueberries, are actually not native to the Americas. The honeybee that you see dancing from flower to flower in farms and gardens originated in Europe. The introduction of the honeybee began with European colonization of the Americas; before that, wild native bees, other insects, and some birds and mammals pollinated the native flowers of the continent. The honeybee’s ability to pollinate crops, produce honey, and be easily domesticated precipitated the growth in beekeeping all over America.
Follow the flight of a honey bee as she searches for nectar to sustain her hive and, along the way, pollinates flowers to produce seeds and fruits. Nature lovers and scientists-to-be are invited to explore the fascinating life of a honey bee.
Honey Bees are fascinating creatures which have been kept by humans for centuries. Now you can explore the life cycle of the honey bee without being stung. Watch as it grows from an egg, to a larva, and to a pupa before finally emerging as a mature adult.
Always a favorite when doing any kind of nature study, there are a few pages that cover different types of bees, common nectar sources, and bee anatomy. If you don't have this set already I cannot recommend it enough for nature studies.
One of the companion books to Nature Anatomy, the farm version covers all parts of farming, machinery, and crops but it also caught my eye because it even covers Beekeeping for aspiring beekeepers. It goes over bee terminology, parts of a bee, the parts of a hive, types of bees, flower parts, and beekeeper essentials. These books really put a lot of info into compact parts.
Why do beekeepers use smoke machines when collecting honey? Can a bee really sting only once? Why do bees "dance"? In concise, detailed text and abundant illustrations that range from the humorous to the scientific, Charles Micucci offers a wide-ranging and spirited introduction to the life cycle, social organization, and history of one of the world's most useful insects.
When the Magic School Bus turns into a beehive, Ms. Frizzle's class learns firsthand about how workers, drones, and the queen bees live together. Readers will be abuzz with knowledge as they discover how honeybees find food; make a comb, honey, and beeswax; and care for their young, all from the bee's perspective.
How to Make a Mason Bee Habitat
You will need:
- Clean metal can
- Lots of paper straws
- Scissors
- Sandpaper
- Paint
- Twine
Directions:
Wash and dry a can well, we used a green bean can from last night’s dinner.
You can leave your can as is or paint it to look like a bee, a colorful flower, or also add some color with patterned duct tape. We chose to give ours a bee-like paint job.
Before painting, rough up your can a bit by rubbing all over the outside with sandpaper this will help your paint adhere better.
Paint and allow your can to dry completely.
Grab a straw and measure the height of your can.
Then, cut one straw just under the top edge of the can. Use this as a guide and cut a bunch more straws of the same height.
Use only paper straws as plastic cannot breathe and won’t attract the bees. You can include straws of different diameters to attract a variety of bees and other insects.
Stuff the can full of paper straws so they fit tightly and completely fill the can.
Wrap twine around the top and bottom of the can and knot it tightly. Run a long piece of twine through both and leave a loop to create a hanger for your mason bee home.
Hang the bee habitat outside in a tree.
