Column • Kids’ Corner
Bees and orange juice
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By Loreena Thiessen
id you have orange juice for breakfast? A banana in your cereal? An apple for a snack? Do you know that bees make it possible for you to have these fruits? And cereal? And vegetables? How do bees give us food? Bees’ food is the nectar of flowers. As bees travel from flower to flower to drink nectar they get covered in sticky pollen. Pollen is the fine sticky powder found on the stamens of a flower, the delicate stems in its center. The bee carries the pollen from one flower to another, fertilizing nearby plants. A new plant grows from the fertilized plant seeds. Because of their furry bodies, bees are perfect pollinators. Bees pollinate fruit and vegetable crops, and the grain crops for both people and animals. Without pollination plants would disappear and we would go hungry. Another valuable job of the bee is to make honey. We add honey to sweeten our food or cup of tea. Honey also has important minerals like calcium and magnesium to keep our bones healthy. Some studies show that honey can help stop a cough and maintain memory, fight allergies and arthritis, and keep muscles strong. Beeswax is another product of bees. Beeswax is used in making candles, in modeling clay and tempera paints. Every hive has three types of bees. Each one has a specialized job. Only one bee is the queen. Her job is to lay eggs. Most of the bees in a hive are worker bees. When they’re young their job is to clean the hive, make royal jelly to feed the
36 The Messenger • July/August 2022
queen and larvae, and receive nectar from the field bees. When they’re older they fly out to collect nectar, pollen and water. A very few bees are drones, the male bees. Their job is to mate with the queen and help her make eggs. Bees help us in so many important ways. How can we help bees do their vital work? In our gardens and back yards, we can help bees by planting a variety of flowering plants. Bees will find them, sip their nectar, and pollinate plants nearby. We can also help them by not putting insecticides on our garden plants and field crops. Insecticides that kill harmful insects will also endanger bees. Climate change affects bees too. A too-warm climate can make flowers bloom early before the bees are out, giving less food for bees and for us. Less pollution means more plants can grow. More plants means more food, and more habitat for earth’s creatures. Why should we care for creation, the world around us? In Genesis 1:1–31 we read how God created all of the earth and its inhabitants. All of it belongs to God. Read Deuteronomy 10:14. In Genesis 2:15 God commands people to take care of his creation. We are all connected. By taking care of the earth and its creatures we respect God who created it.
Activity: plant a flowering plant Need: one plant (choose from zinnia, daisy, aster, Queen Anne’s Lace), one sixinch pot with potting soil or a garden spot, water, spade. Do: plant the plant in an outdoor garden, flower bed or pot. Watch it grow and bloom. Take note of any visitors, like a bee. Take a photo of the plant. Share with your family. The Messenger Evangelical Mennonite Conference 440 Main St., Steinbach, MB R5G 1Z5 Publications Mail Agreement #40017362
