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Because honeybees can sting, many children are scared of them from the start (like my kids)! However, you can teach your kids to appreciate the bees and to (hopefully) overcome their fear of them. Use these tips to help your kids understand why bees are so important to our ecosystems and why we should love and respect them.
Talk About Bees
While there are so many wonderful things to say about bees, sticking to the bite-sized fun facts is the best way to keep your children engaged in the topic. Here are a few facts to lead with:
- There are thousands of bee species in the world.
- Honeybees are the most prominent pollinators in the US.
- Bees see all colors except red, helping them find flowers to visit.
- Beehives hold nearly 50,000 bees!
- The queen bee lays all the eggs for the colony, which is about 2,500 eggs each day.
- The bee population is declining, and they need our help.
Observe The Bees Together
When you quietly and calmly observe bees together, your child will understand that they aren’t dangerous or scary to be around. In fact, watching bees in their natural habitat—collecting nectar and pollen—is an excellent way to learn about their role in the environment.
Be sure to explain to your child how important it is for plants to be pollinated, because without that, plants would not grow fruit. If none of the world’s plants grew fruit, what would we eat?!
Take Them to a Honey Farm
Taking your kids to a local honey farm is the perfect way for them to experience honey production firsthand. It’ll show them how hard bees work to produce the delicious honey we love to eat. They’ll love seeing the honeycombs and sampling fresh, raw honey. It’ll be an experience they’ll never forget!
Cook With Honey
Cooking with honey is a great way to tie everything they’ve learned about bees together! Make a few recipes that use raw honey together with your kids. Reiterate that bees are so important to our eco system. They are such hard workers, and produce the sweet and delicious honey we love to eat! So when they see them flying around, there is nothing to be scared of…they are just busy working hard for us!
Using these tips for teaching your kids to appreciate the bees will help to create more understanding and less fear of them. Our world wouldn’t look the same without bees, and it’s our job as parents to teach the next generation to protect the bee population.
Try these recipes that feature honey!
- Crunchy Honey Granola
- Honey Roasted Tomatoes
- Peanut Butter Cheerios Bars – Easy & Healthy Kids Snack
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