Egg Carton Bee Craft Materials

Egg carton

Black and yellow paint or markers

White pipe cleaners

Googly eyes

Glue Scissors

Instructions:

1. Cut out one cup from the egg carton.

2. Use markers or paint to make black and yellow stripes on the outside of the cup.

3. Cut pipe cleaner in half and fold to create a wing shape.

4. Once the egg carton is dry, push pipe cleaners through so they stick up like bee wings.

5. Glue on eyes.

Buzz like a Bee

By Earl the Squirrel (with help from Kelly Michienzi)

Spring is a wonderful time of year to learn about bees, especially with World Bee Day coming up on May 20. Did you know most of the food we eat grows because of bee pollination? If you enjoy cucumbers, avocadoes, cherries, blueberries, apples and many other delicious fruits and vegetables, you can thank bees. Pollination begins when bees land on flowers to collect nectar and pollen to eat. They have a long, straw-like mouth called a proboscis that collects their food. As they move around a flower, yellow pollen grains attach to their legs and bodies and travel with them to the next flower. After pollen travels from one flower to another, plants can create new seeds. Some bees also make honey. I have heard honey is a delicious, sweet treat.

There are around four hundred species of bees found in Virginia. One type of bee we often see in Virginia is the Common Eastern Bumble Bee. Did you know that a bumble bee can live underground? Holes dug by rodents are good places to build their hives and keep their eggs safe. Bumble bees are amazing because they can beat their wings 130 times per second! How fast can you flap your arms?

Bees are amazing insects, and they need your help. Here are tips on how everyone can help bees:

1. Do not spray pesticides on your lawn or garden. These dangerous chemicals hurt bees, butterflies, and other important insects.

2. Plant native plants at your home like Purple Coneflowers, Joe Pye Weed, goldenrods and asters. Bees cannot see the color red. Bees like flowers that are purple, violet, and blue.

3. Support local beekeepers by buying local honey.

Bee Crossword Puzzle

Across

(2) A type of fruit pollinated by bees.

(5) Yellow grains needed for pollination

(8) Sweet, sticky food made by bees.

(10) Sweet liquid in a flower that bees eat.

(11) A large bee that is common in Reston.

(12) Bees can flap these up to 130 times per second .

Down

(1) A place where bees live, lay eggs and store honey

(3) A flower this color attracts bee.

(4) The month when we celebrate World Bee Day.

(6) A color bees cannot see.

(7) Mouthpart of a bee is called a_________.

(9) The beginning of a bee’s life cycle.

4. Allow a patch of yard to go wild. The plants that grow can provide food for the bees.

5. Leave dead tree stumps or logs in your yard to give bees safe places to nest.