We’re sitting down with our beekeeper Melina to learn more about our bee friends and how they play an important role in our environment. She even has some funny fun facts to share and will show us how we can help the bees in our community.

Hi Melina! I understand that you are an expert when it comes to honey bees.

Hi there! Hehe, I don’t know if I’m an expert, I just love learning about them and what they mean to our environment.

What are some of the things you learned?

Well, honey bees help flowers and other plants grow, which helps them make seeds for fruits and vegetables like apples, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, and lots more for us to eat.

Also, the bees that look for flowers are girls, and they are known as worker bees who collect pollen, help feed the other bees, build and protect the hive, and make honey. They can even circulate and clean the air by flapping their wings 200 times per second!

Wow, that sounds like a lot of work.

It is, which is why I like bees. They’re one of the hardest working insects on the planet.

So, what exactly is pollen?

Pollen is used to make seeds and grow more plants. It’s already on the plants and flowers, but it needs help getting to the right places to work. That’s where bees fly in to help!

How does that work?

When worker bees land on a flower, pollen sticks to their bodies, and when they fly away, pollen is carried to different parts of the flower that the bees land on. They can visit 50-100 flowers in one trip!

Without bees, we can lose all the plants that they pollinate, and humans and animals could go hungry. It just shows how anyone in the world, even the smallest of things, can make a huge difference.

That’s very true. Did you always like bees? I get a little nervous when I think about their stingers…

No not always. At first, I didn’t like bees because I was afraid of getting stung too, but I learned that they get scared of us; more than we do of them!

Most people wave their arms and try to shoo them away, but that only makes them buzz around more. Instead, I stay perfectly still and they fly away. Being calm and kind always leads to a better result over anger or force.

Wow, I didn’t think of it that way. I love learning something new!

Plus, bees usually use their stingers if they feel like others are bugging them too much.

The more you take the time to learn about something that seems scary, there’s a chance it can turn into something friendly.

Do bees have a way of telling each other where to find the best flowers?

They dance!

Really?!

Haha yes! They communicate through movement.

To share information, they perform a “waggle dance” and move their bodies in a figure-eight to show the other bees where to look.

Is there anything that we can do to help the bees?

Oh yes, and it’s both easy and fun!

We can plant some of their favorite flowers like lavender and sunflowers so they can find the food they need. I have my own plant guide that tells me which are best.

Thank you so much for sharing about bees, Melina. We’ve learned a lot more about these friendly insects. And we wish you happy planting!

Thank you so very much!!

Learning new information can lead to big words. Here are some words that Melina used during her interview:

Role – a person or thing that plays a part in a situation

Expert – a person with knowledge about a subject or topic

Pollen – powder found on flowers that helps grow seeds and other plants

Circulate – to move around

Pollinate (Pollination) – carrying pollen from one part of the plant/flower to another

Result – a conclusion; an end

Communicate – to talk; sharing information, news, or ideas