Bees and Forests
Teacher Overview
Studentswilllearnabouttheimportanceofforeststohoneybeesandtheproductionofhoney,andhowbeeshelpplantsto
reproduce.
Learning Objectives
Studentswill:
1. Understandhowhoneyisproduced
2. Describehowbeespollinateflowers
3. Understandhowdifferentplantsmightbefavouredforhoneyproduction,particularlyLeatherwoodtrees
Background
Forestsplayanimportantroleinthebeeindustry(apiculture).Honeyproducersrelyonforestsastheyareanimportant
foodsourcefortheirbees.Manybeekeepersmovetheirbeehivesarounddifferentforestsaccordingtothefloweringtimes
ofthetreesintheforest.Besidesproducinghoney,beesplayavitalroleinAustralianagriculturebecauseofthepollination
servicestheyprovide.
Theactivities;thereare3activitiestouseinthislesson.Youmaychoosetoundertakeallofthem,oralternatively,choose
thoserelevanttotheobjectiveyouwishtoachieve.
Activity 1 – After the clip 1.
2.
3.
4.
1.
http://youtu.be/EDfeoA1HZ1s
Discusstherolesstudentsthinkbeeshaveinrelationtoplantsandpeople.
DiscusshowAustralia’snativeforestsandhoneybees:mightbeconnected.
WatchthevideoGoingBush1BeesandanswertherelatedquestionsonActivity1StudentWorksheet.
Studentspresentanddiscusstheiranswers
OnwhichcoastofTasmania–north,eastorwest–doestheannualLeatherwoodfloweringtakeplace?
2.
JulianWolfhagenisthepresidentofwhichassociationinTasmania?
3.
Apartfromhoney,namethethreefoodproductsmentionedbyJulianthatcomefromTasmania.
4.
JulianWolfhagenownsandrunsoverhowmanyhivesinTasmania?
5.
Whatdoessmokedotothebees?
6.
Whichtypeofbeehasbeenmarkedwithyellowspot?
7.
Howarethenewlyhatchedbeesdifferentfromotherbees?
8.
Juliansaysheprobablygetsstungaroundhowmanytimesonabadday?
9.
Leatherwoodhoneyissometimesdescribedasliquidwhat,startingwiththeletterG?
10.
Thenarratorsaysittakesabeehowmanykilometersofflighttomakeasmallspoonfulofhoney?
11.
InwhichcenturywasLeatherwoodhoneyfirstshippedoverseas?
Activity 2 – More about bees
Thisactivityexplainstherolebeesplayinpollination.Itexplainshowpollinationoccursandwhyitisimportant.
1.
Readthroughtheintroductoryparagraphsonthestudentworksheettogether,thencreateavocabularylist(for
wordshighlightedinthetext):
o
Nectar:asugary-sweetliquidmadebyaflower
o
Pistil:thefemalepartofaflower(includingthestigma,styleandovary)
o
Pollen:afinesubstance(whichlookslikepowderordust)producedbytheanthersofa
floweringplant
o
Stamen:themalepartofaflower(includingtheantherandfilament)
o
Pollination:thewaypollenfromthemalepartofaflowergetstotheegginthefemale
partofaflowertoformaseed.
2. Discuss.Watchthevideohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy3r1zlC_IU.Studentsthencreate
picturestories(withdiagramsanddialoguecaptions)aboutBeetiethebeeandpollination.
3. StudentspresentanddiscusstheirpicturestoriesaboutBeetiethebeeandpollination.
Didyouknowthatbeesareresponsibleforaboutathirdofthefoodweeat?Thisisbecausebeesarepollinators.
Pollinatorshelpfloweringplantsmakemoreplants.Weneedplantstosurvive.
Here’s how it works
When a honey bee lands on a flower, it uses its long-tube shaped
tonguelikeastrawtodrinkthesweetnectarcontainedinsidethe
flower.
Whilethebeeisbusydrinkingthisnectar,tinygrainsofpollenget
stucktothebee.
Thesegrainsofpollencomefromthepartoftheflower,calledthe
anther.Themalepartsoftheflowerarecalledthestamen.
Whenabeefliestoadifferentflowertogetmorenectar,someof
the pollen grains fall off the bee and on to the new flower. When
grainsofpollenlandonthefemalepartoftheflower,theymove
downthroughtotheeggs,whicharecontainedintheovaryatthe
baseoftheflower.Thefemalepartofthefloweriscalledthepistil.
Once the pollen reaches the egg a seed is formed! Seeds usually
form inside fruit and when the fruit is mature, it releases those
seeds.Theseedslandonthesoilandcreatenewplants.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/4i9qxh/sprouting_strawberry_seeds/
So the flower is helping the bee, but the bee is also helping the
flower. The plant provides nectar for the bees, help the flower to
reproduce! And this is what we call pollination. Without
pollination,theseplantswouldnotbeabletoproducefruit.
What happens inside a beehive?
Thisactivitydescribesthestructureofbeehivesandtheprocessofmakinghoney.Studentsaretoretellthestoryofhoney
productioninthehiveintheirownwords.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Readthroughtheintroductoryparagraphstogether.Discuss.Createavocabularylist(forwords
highlightedinintroductorytext):
o
Beehive:anestforbees
o
Honeycomb:astructurecontainingrowsofwaxcells(whichareshapedlikehexagons),
madebybeesintheirhivetostorehoney,pollen,andtheireggs
Watchthevideohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LDa3O-_pUU.
ExtensionExercise:Studentstopresentanddiscusstheirpicturestoriesaboutthebeeandhowthey
makehoney.
Studentsfeedback3thingsthattheylearntfromthecliponhowbeesmakehoneyandwhathappens
insideahive.
Watchthisclipinpairstofindoutwhathappensinahive:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LDa3O-_pUU
Abeehiveisaninterestingandverybusyplacebecauseeachbeehasaspecialjobtodoandeachbeedoesitverywell.
Oncethebeearrivesatthehivewiththenectar,itdeliversittooneoftheindoorbees.Thenectarispassedmouth-to-mouth
frombeetobeeuntilthemoistureisthenectarisreduced.Thischangesthenectarintohoney.
But sometimes when the bee arrives back at the hive it drops the nectar straight into cells in the honeycomb, without
passingitmouth-to-mouthtoanotherbee.
Thebeesfantheirwingstoevaporateandthickenthehoney.Whenthisisdone,thebeescapthehoneycombwithwaxand
moveontothenextemptyhoneycomb,tostarttheirworkalloveragain.
Write3thingsthatyoulearnt:
1.
2.
3.
Activity 3 – About Tasmania’s Leatherwood
honey
ThisactivityprovidesforfurtherinquiryintotheproductionofLeatherwoodhoney.ItisbestdoneinconjunctionwithActivity1.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Readthroughtheintroductoryparagraphsforquestion1together.
Workinginpairs,studentssearchtheinternetforthedistributionofTasmania’sLeatherwoodforestsandplottheir
distributiononthemap.
Studentstocontinueworkinginpairstoanswerquestions3and4.
Inpairs,studentstopresentanddiscusstheiranswers.
LeatherwoodhoneyisthehoneythatbeesmakefromthenectaroftheLeatherwoodtrees’flower.
LeatherwoodisthesinglemostimportantnectarplantinTasmaniaandisthesourceforabouttwothirdsofallthehoney
producedinthestate.
TheLeatherwoodplantisnativetoTasmaniaandisfoundinthewetterforestregionsthroughouttheWesternpartofthe
state.AlargepartofthisareahasbeenWorldHeritagelistedbecauseitisrichinfloraandfauna.
Workinginpairs,searchtheInternettofindoutwheretheLeatherwoodforestsarefoundinTasmaniaanddrawwhereon
themapbelow:
AboutthebeesthatmakeLeatherwoodhoney:
HoneybeesarenotnativetoAustralia.Theywerefirstbroughthereintheearly1820’sabouttheconvictshipIsabella.Those
first honey bees adapted so successfully that other types of honey bees were later introduced from Italy, Yugoslavia and
NorthAmerica.
1.
WhatcountrydidthehoneybeethatmakesLeatherwoodhoneyoriginallycomefrom?
2.
WhatdobeekeepersdoeveryyearinTasmaniafortheannualLeatherwoodflowering?
3.
WhatmonthsoftheyeardoestheLeatherwoodfloweringtakeplace?
Your Thoughts!
Thisactivitycanbeusedasastudentself-evaluation.Itwillencouragestudentstothisabouthowourmindscanbechange
bywhatwelearn.
-
Getthestudentstoanswerthequestionsontheactivityworksheet.
-
Discusstheiranswers:Hadthestudentsthoughtabouttheimportanceofbeesbefore?Howmightthislessonhave
changedtheiropinionaboutbees?
1.
Haveyoueverbeenstungbyabee?
2.
Whatdiditfeellike?Whatdiditdotoyourskin?
3.
Didyouknowhowimportantbeeswereforyouandtheenvironment?
4.
Howhasthislessonchangeyourmindaboutbees?
Sources:
Leatherwoodhoneyfacts:
http://fennerschool-associated.anu.edu.au/fpt/nwfp/leatherwood/lw2.html
http://www.tasmanianbeekeepers.org.au/beekeeping-in-tasmania/
http://www.smh.com.au/national/a-billion-bees-on-the-move-in-tasmania-20120105-1pn3d.html
http://www.tasmanianbeekeepers.org.au/new-page-3/
http://www.beebeauty.com/leatherwood-story/
http://www.smh.com.au/national/a-billion-bees-on-the-move-in-tasmania-20120105-1pn3d.html
http://www.geocities.ws/southernbranch/beekeepersad.pdf
BeesfirstintroducedtoAustralia
http://honeybee.org.au/education/wonderful-world-of-honey/
Beesaspollinators
http://nativeplants.msu.edu/about/pollination
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/4094061.htm
Beemaskforstudentstocutout:
http://kidsgrowingstrong.org/sites/default/files/downloads/beemask.pdf
Howbeesmakehoney:
http://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/question300.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHRsYtWM4jI
http://honeybee.org.au/education/wonderful-world-of-honey/how-bees-make-honey/
http://miniyummers.com/how-do-bees-make-honey-for-kids/
http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/how-do-bees-make-honey.html
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