This time of year is perfect for fun hands-on honey bee activities to buzz deeper into their lives and learn more about them. Also, grab more ideas on my Honey Bees Unit Study page.
Bees are fascinating little creatures that fly even though they should not be able to,
They spend their days gathering pollen, making honey, and building amazing little worlds to store it in.
Today we are going to create and explore the various cells in a hive.
It is a great activity for all ages.
Some of your kids might need a little more help than others creating it but even toddlers as you can see here will enjoy exploring and building the hive.
Honey Bee Facts
First, look at some honey bee facts.
- Each beehive is made up of thousands of hexagonal thin-walled fragile cells.
- Bees create hexagonal shapes for their cells because the six-sided cells fit perfectly without leaving any space in between, circles would leave wasted gaps.
- The queen honey bee is about twice the length of a worker.
- Each hardworking little honey bee only makes about 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.
- The tiny tips of the antennae of a honey bee have more than 300 taste sensors.
- The ancient Egyptians and other civilizations used honey as food, medicine, and as a beauty treatment.
Next, add some of these fun books about bees to your nature study.
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.
Third, look at these 7 honey bee activities.
7 Honey Bee Activities
Besides, hands-on is the best way for learning to stick.
1. Make a Bee Sensory Bin.
Take a bee life cycle set and use it as a base for a sensory bin or put it out on your bee themed science shelf.
2. Learn about the different types of cells in a comb.
Visit BeeManiacs to learn a little more about the different cells of a honey beehive.
3. Taste honey straight from the comb.
You can grab honey from your local produce stand if you can’t taste it straight from the comb.
If you have a friendly beekeeper locally, consider planning a field trip to see how the process works firsthand.
4. Make honey slime.
DIY Honey Slime is a great sensory activity for your little beekeepers.
5. Honey bee play activity.
Littles will love this Beekeeper Dramatic Play.
6. Create a bee lapbook.
Look at the fun felt craft below.
7. Make a fun felt beehive.
Also, you’ll love these other bee activities.
Fun Bee Activities for Kids
- Make a Mason Bee Habitat
- Labeling Parts of a Honey Bee LEGO Fun Activity For Kids
- Fascinating and Fun Honey Bees Unit Study and Lapbook for Kids
Finally, look at this fun hand-on honey bee felt comb.
How to Make a Felt Honey Bee Comb
You will need:
- White felt
- 2 shades of yellow felt
- 3 shades of brown/tan felt
- Yellow and gold paint-optional
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Printout of a hexagon shape on cardstock
I found a hexagon on Google and reduced it to 20%.
You can make your hive cells any size that you would like larger or smaller. Print on cardstock so it’s a bit sturdier to use as a template.
Use a pencil to trace the hexagon for as many cells as you would like on the yellows and the two lighter browns.
Cut them out and trim them if needed by holding the template over the felt to make sure they will line up nicely.
Make a Felt Honey Bee Comb
You are going to assign one color for each cell- eggs and larvae, pollen, honey, and brood cells.
If you want to add a bit more detail to your hive use paint to add details.
Make “dripping” honey on some of your uncapped cells and paint other solids to represent the capped honey cells.
I did this with a mixture of yellow and gold paint.
For pollen cells, simply make yellow “pollen” dots by dipping the handle end of your paintbrush into paint and dotting the cells.
Allow the paint to dry fully.
Use the white felt to cut small eggs and a few small larvae.
While the paint is drying, cut out your beehive.
I did a beehive shape like you would see hanging from the limbs with Winnie the Pooh dipping his hand in.
You could make a man-made beehive frame or any other type you like.
I found a lot of great examples of different beehives in Bees a Honeyed History.
Finally, assemble the cells in your beehive.
In a real beehive honey cells are at the top with pollen cells below.
Then the pupae and egg cells, brood cells further down, and a peanut-shaped queen cell at the bottom which we made by using two hexagons together.
You can glue them down if you like but if you have younger children, I recommend leaving them loose so they can take them apart and rebuild it over and over.
Using bee figurines to play with and explore the hive.
The bee life cycle set from Safari Ltd. is perfect to demonstrate the different stages of bees you would find in the hive.
You can also create a little honey bee by twisting yellow and black pipe cleaners together and cutting them off at about 1” long, twist on a small piece of white pipe cleaner for wings.
Another great extension for this activity is heading outside to find flowers either in the garden or growing wild to investigate pollen firsthand.
