I’m not sure if anyone is nearby or interested but apparently there is a swarm
between the two gates of the allotments in kirtlington. I’m afraid it’s third
hand information so I don’t have any more details than that. I’m unable to go
and take a look as I am car less at the moment.
Best
Karen
e:karen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On 14 Jul 2021, at 22:25, Robin Colyer <robin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Thanks both – how interesting that you've recently tried this idea, Paul. It
was great to read the blog post.
Thanks for the activity suggestions, Zuzana.
Best wishes,
Robin
On Wed, 14 Jul 2021 at 14:28, Oxnatbees <oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Other OxNatBees posts about interacting with young kids:
ONBG at Sutton Courtenay School | Oxfordshire Natural Beekeeping Group
(wordpress.com)
ONBG at the Wolvercote School Naturefest | Oxfordshire Natural Beekeeping
Group (wordpress.com)
Back to school in Wolvercote | Oxfordshire Natural Beekeeping Group
(wordpress.com)
Zuzana reminds me of one particularly popular thing - getting the kids to do
a waggle dance!
Paul
On Wed, 14 Jul 2021 at 14:18, Zuzana Meryova <zuzanameryova@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Hi Robin,
Unsure what age group you will be working with but rather than telling and
showing do "doing". Let me explain. To make kids interested and learn they
must have fun. So for example I would tell them that bees must fly x (I
don't know the actual number) of minutes to collect one drop of nectar
followed by activity for kids running around nearby flowers collecting
nectar for 5 min. Then they would need to flap their arms/wings to
evaporate the water to make honey for 2min (again no idea for how long).
Perhaps have a honey comb so they can taste a spoonful of honey after all
the running.
Another activity could be looking for a home - swarming and searching for
suitable trees. Maybe have propolis to show them, it smells fantastic and
surly kids will like the stickiness.
They could make mini hives out of bamboo to take home?? And other similar
activities ...
On Wed, 14 Jul 2021 at 13:55, Oxnatbees <oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Robin
Technically, in theory, you could.
Is it a good idea, no.
As I found out last weekend - see the latest post on our blog,
oxnatbees.wordpress.com
It would be much easier, if the school is near, to have a field trip of
kids to the hives.
Paul
On Wed, 14 Jul 2021, 13:42 Robin Colyer, <robin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Bit of thought experiment here. My children's primary school has a 'field
to fork' topic and I've volunteered to go in to talk about bees and
honey. I'll take a few obvious props - bee suit, smoker (not that I've
ever actually used it) etc... But I'm just wondering what views there are
on the feasibility of taking some actual bees in.
Is this a non-starter, or is there a way to do it? It would be great to
give the kids a chance to actually see the bees in action.
For example, suppose I made a small ventilated (but otherwise sealed)
box, a bit like a nuc box, to hold, say, 3 top bars with developed comb,
with removable sides revealing glass windows, so the kids could see the
bees working away on the comb... Could I take combs out of a hive like
that for a day and put them back again afterwards?? Not brood comb I
guess... Is that remotely feasible? Or is it a disastrous idea from a bee
welfare perspective??
Would love to hear some thoughts on this.
Thanks as always,
Robin
