Brilliant Bees Curriculum Resource Pack - Devon Wildlife Trust

‘Brilliant Bees’
A Curriculum Resource

This curriculum resource has been produced by Devon Wildlife
Trust with the kind support of Western Power Distribution.
www.devonwildlifetrust.org
Charity number 213224

‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Brilliant Bees – A Curriculum Resource
1. Bring a Buzz to your Curriculum Activities – Outline for a ‘Bee Friendly’ Activity Day 5
2. Curriculum Links for a “Bee Friendly” Day 7
3. Bee and Me Literacy Activities 8
4. Bee facts for Numeracy Activities 11
5. Hexagons 12
6. Scientific Research – British Bees 14
7. Life Cycle of a Bee 15
8. Anatomy of a Honey Bee 18
9. Make a Bee Mobile 19
10. Make a Paper Plate Bee 21
11. Recipes with Honey 22
12. Waggle Dance Game 24
13. Make a Bee Friendly Hotel 30
14. Make a Deluxe Bee Hotel 31
15. Marking out a Bee Garden 33
3

Background
“Bee Friendly” Day
Bringing a Buzz to your Curriculum Activities
There are over 250 species of bee in Great Britain, 24 bumblebees, the honeybee and numerous
types of solitary bee. Bees are a key species for pollinating flowers and plants, it is estimated that
the honeybee alone is worth in excess of £200 million to UK agriculture (BBC article March
2011). However, many of these species have declined in number over recent years, causing
concern amongst conservationists and economists alike.
Bee friendly day
The “Bee Friendly” day has been created in order to introduce school children to bees and how
valuable they are to other plants and animals. Children will learn about the different species of
bee that exist in the UK, have the opportunity to understand about their life cycle, play the
“waggle dance” game, meet a beekeeper*, plant bee friendly seeds, and make bee homes. There
will also be a variety of activities designed to stimulate students within curriculum topics such as
Science, Art, Literacy and Numeracy across the age ranges. Schools will be able to choose from a
range of activities depending on the age and ability of the students taking part.
Making a
Bee Hotel *
Planting in
grounds
or pots*
Waggle
dance
game*
Beekeeping
Making
honey
Cooking
with honey
Practical
PE
DT
Survey
Science
Distances Shapes
(hexagons)
“Big
numbers”
Art
Life cycle
Research
different species
Paper
* indicates SEAL links plate bees
Make “junk”
(empathy, teamwork,
communication etc)
bees
Curriculum Links for a “Bee Friendly” Day
Numeracy
Bee
mobiles*
Write a story
“Life without
Bees” *
5
Weight
Hexagonal
patterns
Assembly
Introducing the world of
bees (DWT)
Literacy
Read a story for
inspiration – “ Bee & Me”
Elle J. McGuiness
Respond with
key words to a
clip from bee
movie*
Poetry about
bees

Outline for the day
“Bee Friendly” Day
Bringing a Buzz to your Curriculum Activities
This is an example programme, there are many possible variations based on the curriculum links
diagram.
9:00 Assembly - All students are introduced to the world of bees and the aims of the day.
(DWT Education officer)
9:30 – 10:00 – First activity:
KS1- Bee movie clip / story. Literacy activity responding to a world without bees
KS2 – The science of bees – different bee species, making honey and life cycles, how bees have
been used in history.
11:00 – 12:00 – Second activity
Break
KS1 – PE Waggle dance game. Introduce students to the waggle dance and play the
communication game.
KS2 – Literacy activity. Poetry / story-writing about life without bees.
1:00-2:00 – Third activity
Lunch
KS1 – DT / Art. Half the group making Bee Hotels or Cooking with Honey recipes while the
others create Bee Mobiles, Paper Plate Bees etc.
KS2 – Waggle dance activity
2:00 – 3:00 – Fourth Activity
KS1- Plant a bee friendly plant. Practical activity to change the school grounds to be more bee
friendly.
KS2 – DT – making bee hotels, planting bee friendly plants
3:00-3:10 – Plenary time. What have we learned?
Close
6

Planting in
grounds
or pots*
Waggle
dance
game*
Beekeeping
Making
honey
Making a
Bee Hotel *
DT
Science
Life cycle
Research
different species Paper
plate bees
* indicates SEAL links
(empathy, teamwork,
communication etc)
Practical
PE
Cooking
with honey
Survey
Curriculum Links for a “Bee Bee Friendly” Friendly Day
Distances
Art
Make “junk”
bees
Numeracy
“Big
numbers” Weight
Bee
mobiles*
7
Write a story
“Life without
Bees” *
Shapes
(hexagons)
Hexagonal
patterns
Assembly
Introducing the world of
bees (DWT)
Literacy
Read a story for
inspiration – “ Bee & Me”
Elle J. McGuiness
Respond with
key words to a
clip from bee
movie*
Poetry about
bees

For Key Stage 1:
Literacy Resource “Bee & Me”
By Elle J. Mcguinness - Andrews McMeel
ISBN 0740777343
Synopsis of story…
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Bee and Me Literacy Activities
“When a young boy discovers a bee trapped in his
bedroom he hides for fear of being stung. But when
the amiable bee frantically explains all that bees do,
the boy comes to understand how good things come
in different packages.”
Activity
Start the students thinking about how they feel about bees. Are they afraid of them? Why? Why not?
Read the story with the students and take time to discuss what the bee is like, what it does and how the
boy’s attitude towards the bee changes during the course of the story.
Follow up – Using the blank outline of a bee shape, the children can write or draw the words that they
think best describe the bee, what it does and how they feel.
Ask children to share what they have written / drawn and describe how they feel about bees after the
story.
N.C. Links
Knowledge, skills and understanding
Speaking
1. To speak clearly, fluently and confidently to different people, pupils should be taught to:
• choose words with precision
• organise what they say
• focus on the main point(s)
8

Listening
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Bee and Me Literacy Activities
2. To listen, understand and respond to others, pupils should be taught to:
• sustain concentration
• remember specific points that interest them
• make relevant comments
• listen to others' reactions
• ask questions to clarify their understanding
Group discussion and interaction
3. To join in as members of a group, pupils should be taught to:
• take turns in speaking
• relate their contributions to what has gone on before
• take different views into account
• extend their ideas in the light of discussion
• give reasons for opinions and action
Key Stage 2
Literacy resource – Bee Movie DVD
Use Chapters 13-15 (or 13 and 15 for short version) (Timings 1:02-1:17)
Synopsis of the story prior to clip
“Barry the Bee is a drone but wants to be a “jock”. He
realises that humans take their honey and campaigns to
legally stop them getting it. He wins but does not realise the terrible consequences of his actions. We join
the story as it begins to unfold…can they find a solution before it is too late?”
Activity
Before watching the clip, ask the students to consider what the world would be like without bees. What
do they think bees do for us?
Ask them to watch the video clip really carefully and write down words that describe what they see and
how bees affect the world around them.
Take feedback and develop key words from what the students have gathered from the clip. Ask students
to write a response – a story or poem etc… to describe a world without bees or how important they are.
9

N.C. Links
Knowledge, skills and understanding
Speaking
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Bee and Me Literacy Activities
1. To speak with confidence in a range of contexts, adapting their speech for a range of purposes and audiences, pupils
should be taught to:
• choose material that is relevant to the topic and to the listeners
• show clear shape and organisation with an introduction and an ending
Listening
2. To listen, understand and respond appropriately to others, pupils should be taught to:
• identify the gist of an account or key points in a discussion and evaluate what they hear
• ask relevant questions to clarify, extend and follow up ideas
• recall and re-present important features of an argument, talk, reading, radio or television programme, film
• identify features of language used for a specific purpose [for example, to persuade, instruct or entertain]
• respond to others appropriately, taking into account what they say.
Group discussion and interaction
3. To talk effectively as members of a group, pupils should be taught to:
• make contributions relevant to the topic and take turns in discussion
• vary contributions to suit the activity and purpose, including exploratory and tentative comments where ideas are being
collected together, and reasoned, evaluative comments as discussion moves to conclusions or actions
• qualify or justify what they think after listening to others' questions or accounts
• deal politely with opposing points of view and enable discussion to move on
• use different ways to help the group move forward, including summarising the main points, reviewing what has been said,
clarifying, drawing others in, reaching agreement, considering alternatives and anticipating consequences.
10

‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Bee Facts for Numeracy Activities
1. How many flowers must honey bees tap to make one pound of honey?
Two million
2. How many flowers does a honeybee have to visit to gather a load of pollen?
1500 flowers
3. How far does a hive of bees fly to bring you one pound of honey?
Over 55,000 miles
4. How large an area does a honeybee have to cover to collect a load of pollen?
Approximately 12 square miles
5. How much honey does the average worker honeybee make in her lifetime?
1/12 teaspoon
6. How heavy is a load of pollen?
Approximately 10 mg
7. How fast does a honey bee fly?
About 15 miles per hour / 24 kilometres per hour
8. How much honey would it take to fuel a bee's flight around the world?
About one ounce
9. How long does a worker honeybee live?
Approximately 42-45 days in peek season
10. How long have bees been producing honey from flowering plants?
10-20 million years
11. You have to go through approximately one tonne of honey to gather approximately
20 lb. of bees wax. Approximately 9 kg
12. How many sides does each honeycomb cell have?
Six
13. Honeybees make flakes of wax no larger than a pinhead.
It takes 500,000 flakes of wax to make one pound of bees wax. Less than 1/2 kg
14. How many kilograms of honey do bees have to consume to make one kilogram of bees wax?
Eighteen kilograms of honey, almost 40 lbs. of honey
15. How many wings does a honeybee have?
Four
16. How many Honey Bees are there in a hive?
In a strong hive there are 70,000 - 100,000 Bees in a hive
11

‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Hexagons
Bees make honeycomb using hexagons.
What patterns or pictures can you create using only hexagons?
12

‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Hexagons
13

Mining Bee
(Andrena haemorrhoa)
Early Bumblebee
(Bombus pratorum)
European Honeybee
(Apis mellifera)
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Scientific Research – British Bee Species
Nigel Jones Nigel Jones
Iofaesofa
Larces
Pictures from Creative Commons on Flickr
Photographers credited
14
Red Mason Bee
(Osmia rufa)
Leaf Cutter Bee
(Megachile willghbiella)
Here are just a few of the 250+
species of bee that live in Great
Britain.
Nigel Jones
Can you find out more about
just one species and tell other
people about it through a poster,
presentation or leaflet?

Max XX
2. The workers feed
the growing larva…
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Life Cycle of a Bee
15
1. The Queen Bee lays
eggs in the individual
chambers.
Chantal Foster
3. …until it is fully
grown.
(All images from Flickr Creative Commons.
Photographers credited)

4. The workers then
seal the chamber
with wax.
Chantal Foster
6. …they finally emerge
through the wax as a
newborn Bee!
All images from Flickr Creative Commons.
(Photographers credited)
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Life Cycle of a Bee
16
Max XX
5. The larva turn into
pupa inside the
chamber (this one is
a Queen) until…
Max XX

‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Life Cycle of a Bee
Now, have a go at drawing your own life cycle for a honey bee.
The cells are drawn for you!
1 2 3
4 5 6
17

Add these words to the correct arrows…
Head
Antennae
Sting
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Anatomy of a Honey Bee
Eye
Hind Leg
Middle Leg
Pictures from Creative Commons on Flickr
18
Striving to a goal
Foreleg
Thorax
Abdomen
Wing

You will need…
Yellow, black and white card
What to do… for bees…
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Make a Bee Mobile
Sellotape
Twine / string
Scissors
1. Roll a length of the yellow card –
the best size is approximately the same
as an empty toilet roll. Sellotape or
glue in place to create the body.
2. Cut strips from the black card and
glue onto the main body for the
stripes. You will also need to cut
antennae and a sting to attach.
19
Cardboard
tube
(optional)
Glue
Two
sticks
Side view
Side view

for mobile…
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Make a Bee Mobile
3. From the white card, cut a
circle, just smaller than the end of
the roll. Add tabs so that it can be
attached. Draw on a face and
attach antennae to make the head.
4. With the remaining white card,
cut out wings and glue them to the
top of the roll.
Front view
Top view
Tie two sticks together to form a
cross. Leave a length of extra string
attached - this will be used to hang
the finished mobile from the ceiling.
Attach the individual bees onto each
of the points with twine or string.
You can add a flower from the centre
for added decoration.
20

You will need…
What to do…
Tissue paper
One pipe
cleaner
(for sting)
1. Turn the plate over
and paint yellow
(leave to dry)
2. Paint on
black stripes
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Make a Paper Plate Bee
Googly eyes
Paper
plate
21
3. Stick
on eye
Yellow and
black paint
Paint brush
4. Make wings from tissue paper
and stick to underside of bee.
5. Use pipe
cleaner for sting

1. Honey Cornflake Cups
Serves: 12
Ingredients
90g butter
90g sugar
1 tablespoon honey
120g cornflakes
Method
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Recipes with Honey
1. Melt the butter, sugar and honey in a saucepan until sugar is dissolved and mixture is frothy.
2. Pour the mixture over the cornflakes until all the cornflakes are coated.
3. Place 12 large patty cake cups on a tray and spoon the mixture
into the cups. Put the tray into a 150°C (Gas mark 2)oven for 12 minutes or until slightly golden.
4. Once out of the oven leave cups on the tray to cool a little and harden. Keep in an airtight container.
2. Honey Biscuits
Makes about 30 biscuits
Ingredients
175g/6oz. plain flour
75g/3oz. white granulated sugar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g/4oz. butter or margarine (not low fat spread)
1 large tbsp clear honey
1 tbsp milk
22
u m a m i (Flickr)
Perecca (Flickr)

Method
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Recipes with Honey
1. Warm honey and milk together and allow to cool.
2. Add bicarbonate of soda and beat with fork until frothy.
3. Cream the butter and sugar. Add frothy mixture and then the sieved flour.
4. Roll into small equal balls (about 3 cm diameter), place on greased baking tray and press
slightly with a fork.
5. Bake on middle shelf for about 10 minutes in preheated oven (180°C/Gas 5), until golden.
6. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
3. Honey sausages
Serves 4
Ingredients
20 cocktail sausages
1 ½ tablespoons of honey
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
3 teaspoons sunflower oil
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180 °C/Gas 5
2. Separate sausages and place in a roasting tin
3. Drizzle over oil and roast for 30 mins
4. Carefully drain off any excess oil
5. Pour the honey and sesame seeds over the sausages, ensure that they are evenly coated.
6. Return the sausages to the oven for a further 5 mins.
23
Annie Mole (Flickr)

Background
The Game
The aim of the game is for the students to have an idea of
how teamwork is the most important aspect for the life of
a colony of bees and that good communication plays a
vital role in that success. It will also provide the
opportunity to consider how much work bees do to
create honey and give an introduction to the idea of
pollination which can be followed up in the classroom.
The game has been designed to have a number of layers
which can be added for increased complexity and to reveal
more about the life of honeybees.
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Waggle Dance Game
24
Honeybees use a unique form of
communication known as the
“Waggle Dance” to inform others in
the colony where there are good
sources of nectar.
Walking in a looping pattern, and
waggling their bodies informs other
bees of both the direction and
distance required to find the food.
For a simple video showing the dance
visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-
7ijI-g4jHg

Setting up
At least two “hives" need to be set up with roles allocated within each.
“Flowers” will also need to be paced, out of sight of the hives so that
students will not be able to see them directly. (flowers can simply be pots
of water with something to mark where they are)
Game 1: The race for the honey (simplest)
You will need:
At least two teams
and a base (hive) for
each.
Playing the game:
Sources of nectar
hidden on site
Pipette for each bee
sent out.
Measurable collecting
pots (test tubes)
The key to this game is the non-verbal communication required to explain where
the source of nectar is. Before the game begins it is important for the students to
discuss how they will communicate the information in their team as once the game
starts there is no verbal communication allowed!
Choose 3 “scouts” to go out from the hive (more if a large area / group) These will
need to be the ones who are confident in their communication skills. Give each one
a pipette for collecting their “nectar.”
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Waggle Dance Game
25

Once the scouts have found the source of nectar, they collect some in their pipettes
and return to the hive to deposit it into the honeycomb (tubes). Without speaking,
they then use their agreed method to direct the next group to the nectar.
If there are a number of sources, one will clearly run out after some time and scouts
will need to find and communicate new locations.
The game can be set for a time limit or quantity of honey collected. The winners
being those who either complete their quota or collect the most in the time given.
Follow up:
There is a good opportunity for evaluation of communication and team skills to
follow the game where students can reflect on their own participation and the
success or otherwise of the team.
There can also be reflection on what they have learned about the life of bees and the
process of collecting the honey. (leading into the idea of pollination if wanted)
Game 2: Introducing pollen
To extend learning about bees and the role they play as
pollinators, a layer of complexity can be added to the
game. For this, you will need something to represent
pollen (such as the school bean bags pictured) and a
different receptacle for each team playing.
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Waggle Dance Game
26
Suggested set up

Playing the Game:
The race for the honey still applies, however students need to visit more than one
of the flowers to collect the nectar. As they do so, they remove one of the
“pollen” items, depositing it at the next flower visited. To keep it simple, they can
only pick up and deposit once on a visit.
At the end of the game, honey quantity plus successful pollinations (number of
pollen in their container) determine the winners.
Game 3: Enemies at the Hive (Most complex)
This can be added as a layer onto game 2 or played as an extension of game one,
depending on how much you want to include in it.
Honey bees have a range of enemies who attack the hive for the larvae or honey.
Amongst these are Mice, Hornets, Ants and notably the Death’s Head Hawkmoth
which can mimic the actions and smells of bees to such an extent that it can get
into the hive without being attacked. In defending the other attacks, bees will use
their stings and therefore die.
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Waggle Dance Game
Adding enemies in the game makes the task of collection harder and increases
participation and team work giving more to talk about at the end of the game!
(See Enemy Cards sheet)
Steve’s Wildlife wwarby Shearwater Trevor H
27

Playing the Game:
Same rules apply for the “Race for the Honey” or “Adding pollen” games, however,
this time specific roles will need to be given within the hive and some students will
need to be “enemies”. (one enemy will be added to the game every 5 mins so not
many are needed)
Roles in the hive are –
Workers - to go out and communicate where the nectar is
Guard – to defend the hive
Drone – to care for bee larvae.
Adding Enemies
The game carries on as normal, however after 5 mins (or less) the enemy is added.
This needs to be done randomly as each enemy causes a different level of harm. So if
using a pack of 10 cards there should be 4 ants, 3 Mice, 2 Hornets, 1 Death’s Head
Hawk Moth. Once the card has been selected and the enemy is known they go to
attack the hive.
Defence
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Waggle Dance Game
To defend the hive, the guards must sting (touch) the enemy – after which they die.
Each enemy requires a different number of stings to be defeated, however, the
hawkmoth perfectly mimics a queen bee and can simply walk in and eat the honey
(you may want to limit it to one container)
Defeating an ant takes 3 stings, a mouse needs 5 stings and a hornet takes 7. Once
dead, the guards become larvae and one pipette of honey will bring them back! They
then become a drone and drones are promoted to guards.
28

wwarby
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Waggle Dance Game
Trevor H
29
Shearwater
Steve’s Wildlife

For the Bee Hotel you will need:
Piece of drainpipe
(Or other round
container)
String
1. Cut the pipe and
bamboo canes to the
optimum length 150mm
2. Fill the pipe with
the canes so that it is
packed full
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Make a Bee Friendly Hotel
(Optimum
length 150mm)
Bamboo
canes
Hacksaw
(Cut the canes below a node so that it
is sealed at the end.)
3. Tie the pipe tightly so
that it can be hung up.
(Orientate in a south –
east direction)
30

You will need:
Wood for frame - length can vary
Logs / blocks of wood for drilling
Bamboo canes, wood screws
What to do:
1. Build the frame for your hotel.
Measurements can differ
according to the size of your
wood.
2. Cut lengths of bamboo
cane and drill holes
into the logs / wood.
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Make a Deluxe Bee Hotel
A luxury model stirebukkerbruse
31
Tools:
Hacksaw, Saw, Drill, Screwdriver
Caution needed. – Preparing timbers
and drilled logs beforehand may be
appropriate for younger students

3. Fill the frame with the wood and bamboo canes – ensure that it is tightly
packed so that the contents do not become loose or fall out.
4. Locate the hotel on a sunny wall, facing south or south east.
5. Watch to see
who comes to visit!
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Make a Deluxe Bee Hotel
Picture Esk
32
Pictures from Creative Commons on Flickr

You will need:
Original design and planting guide can be found at Bee Happy Plants http://www.beehappyplants.co.uk/
A stick / post
Some rope / string
Bee friendly
plants
Optional – boards to mark
the boundaries (equal lengths)
Soil /
compost
A spade
‘Bee Friendly’ Day
Marking out a Bee Garden
33
What to do:
2. To make it more ‘Bee’
focused, use the frame of the
circle to create a hexagon.
Making the edges with board if
wanted.
1. Mark a circle using the
post and string. Dig out
the edge with the spade to
make it clear.
3. Fill with soil / compost and
plant with nectar-rich flowers.
(see website) To extend your
bed to look like a honeycomb,
create further hexagons along
the edges of the original.