B For Beekeeper

Whenever we read, Busy Buzzy Bee in our Harcourt Trophies reading series, we try to get someone to talk to our first graders about beekeeping.  This year we were very fortunate to get Bill Waddell to bring one of his hives, his beekeeping suit, a smoker, and a sample of honey.  The students were able to handle and observe a honeycomb.  Two students were able to try on the beekeeper bonnet.  All of the students were able to sample some honey.  They were fascinated by all the bees in one hive, and tried to find the queen.  They were more amazed to know that Mr. Waddell only brought a small portion of his bees with him.  He shared a YouTube video in which he was featured; Bee For Beekeeper.  There are two parts to the video.  Check it out.

Mr. Waddell goes all over the world with his bees. He has been to the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.  I ran into him at the NC Zoo back in the fall.  I bought two bottles of honey from him. When I realized that he lived in the city next to me, I asked if he knew a former neighbor who was also a beekeeper.  Throughout our conversation, I realized that he and my neighbor came to another school where I was an assistant.  He said that he would be happy to come talk to our first graders. 

Our first grade classes wrote about worker bees and queen bees.  Their writings are displayed in the hallway.  I think I'll add some of the pictures that were taken during our guest speaker's visit to the display.