Honey Bees and Their Environment
In this lesson, students learn how honey bees construct their hive, and how they communicate with each other. Students study the "Get the Buzz on Honey Bees" classroom map to practice using a scale to measure the distance between two locations.
OBJECTIVE
Science Objective: Students learn about hive construction and how honey bees dance to communicate
Geography Objective: Students become familiar with a U.S. map and understand how to calculate distance using a scale, while locating states where honey bee pollination is highest.
MATERIALS
Student Reproducible: Lesson Activity 4, Honey, I’d Love to Dance (PDF)
Student Glossary (PDF)
REPRODUCIBLES
DIRECTIONS
Lesson Steps:
- Ask students: Where are bee hives usually located? (In hollow trees or other sheltered places.)
- Ask students: What do you think is the primary building material inside the hive? (Beeswax.) Explain that the interior of the hive is made from wax secreted from the worker bees’ abdomens. The bees chew the wax to make it pliable and build one or more large vertical combs.
- Each comb consists of hexagonal wax structures called cells. Tell students that the size of the cell is linked to its function: those that are about 0.20 inches across are used for raising worker bees; and those that are about 0.25 inches across are used for rearing drones. Both kinds of cells are used for storing pollen and honey.
- Tell students that honey bees communicate with each other by dancing. After a honey bee has found food she returns to the hive. While she dances on the honeycomb, other bees use the receptors on their feelers and legs to feel the dance. By tasting the nectar she’s carrying, the other bees can tell what type of flower she has visited. Make copies and distribute Lesson Activity 4. Provide the class with copies of the Student Glossary, for reference.
ARTICLE
UNIT PLAN
