Bee talk 4/7/09 |
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"Meet the Bees" with Paul & Jean Lythgoe
Such a brilliant presentation given via powerpoint and 'hands-on' experience in the apiary on the life of bees. We began with a slide presentation on the life and behaviour of bees in the hive and were told of the various roles each type of bee had to play, the Queen, the workers and the drones as well as the construction of the hive. As well as honey Paul and Jean brought various by-products of the hive and talked about propolis, comb honey, beeswax and royal jelly passing around the products to let us feel and smell them. So we had learned about the bees, their behaviours, their products and how we extract honey from the comb and into jars and it was all so interesting and exciting. These little insects work happily away and we can partake of THEIR reward! After this, as the weather was fine, we gowned and went down to the apiary, where, I am glad to say, all the bees were busy and very well behaved with, as Paul would say, their bums in the air and face down, meaning they were very industrious! When we arrived at the hives, Paul smoked the hive and frame by frame was lifted out, ably assisted by Jean, whilst Paul looked for the Queen which he had marked earlier. This met the approval of our happy littlest visitor that day, William aged 6 who was particularly taken by the drones and all the work they did! The capped honey and wax was also pointed out and when we got down to the nursery layer Paul showed us the young developing in the cells. All in all it was a superb day which lasted a couple of hours before we returned to the house for tea and coffee.
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