Bees! Thousands of them! Jade's family are all beekeepers (amongst everything else they do!). They look after the bees and collect their honey off them. They're just finishing off their honey harvest at the moment (if you wanted to find out more about purchasing their honey, you could check their Facebook page - DT's bees). Jade's Dad (Daryl) told us all about bees. He told us about how they start out as little eggs, and then hatch into larvae, and then adult bees. We thought it was funny that there were no 'kid' bees - imagine that, no bee school, no bee teachers! Daryl told us that it was the girl bees who did all the work collecting the honey while the boy bees (the drones) stayed at home. And we found out that the boy bees don't have a stinger! We heard how many bees live in a hive, and that each hive can only have one queen bee. The queen bee is the mum of all the bees in the hive. She is bigger than all the other bees, and she doesn't have any stripes. Daryl told us what happens when the queen bee is getting too old, and how the hive gets a new queen - ask your child about this bit, we all found it fascinating! Daryl made an amazing see through bee hive so that we could see all the bees at work. There was a little grill on the side so that the bees could get fresh air, and we could see their tiny bee-legs poking out when they walked across it! We found out that bees have to do lots of collaborating (working together) and lots and lots of māhi (hard work). We found out that the bees all have responsibilities in the hive, and that they help each other. We also heard that the bees share. There is lots that we can learn from bees! The Mānuka teachers were super impressed with how well the Mānuka children listened, and how much they remembered through the day from Daryl's visit. A huge 'thank you' to Daryl and Corina for taking time out of your day to come and share your knowledge with us. If you (or your child!) have any further bee questions, please comment on this blog post. Daryl has generously offered to check back and respond to our questions! Ma tini ma mano ka rapa te whai. By many, by thousands, the work will be accomplished. Many hands make light work. Unity is strength. This Discovery Friday topic fits with our school-wide, year-long focus on 'be the best you can be.' We'll be writing up our community 'rules' and expectations around the things we learnt from the bees.
Inviting parents and whānau members into our learning community fits with our NPDL (New Pedagogies for Deep Learning) focus on Learning Partnerships. If you would like to share your knowledge or skills with us on a Discovery Friday, the door is always open! Comment below, or email us on [email protected].
3 Comments
Susan Jackson
2/23/2019 11:12:16 pm
Wow I would so love to go back to school as a child as learning is so interesting and exciting!!
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Adele Staples
3/10/2019 04:48:40 pm
Fantastic discovery Friday idea. Leo came home drawing diagrams and told me all about "why a bee transforms'.
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Moira McKendry
3/10/2019 06:33:30 pm
Hi there Adele,
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