Mason Bees: Unsung Heroes of the Orchards
Teaching youth about the critical role pollinators play in our food production can lead to learning more about sustainability and stewardship.
Several years ago, I taught a unit on bees for an elementary-aged school garden club lesson. Bees are extremely important pollinators! One of every three bites of our food is due to pollinators (source).
Without bees, our food sources would be greatly reduced!
We need bees, as well as other pollinators.
Honeybees
We talked about honeybees as social bees, living together in a hive. The hive is a community, and all bees have a role. At the time, honeybee colonies were in trouble and declining. It was important to educate our youth about bees and why they are valuable to us.
There is a Queen bee — only one per hive — whose job is to reproduce.
There are hundreds of worker bees. These bees are all female! They are responsible for foraging, caring for the queen, and feeding the developing bee larvae (source).
