Tour Time: 2 hours (shorter tours also available upon request) Objectives: To bring the amazing world of the honeybee to the forefront of education through hands on activities and explorations. To showcase the relationship between humans and honeybees. To feature the honeybee as an integral species in our food web. To explore the honeybee and other pollinators as a keystone species in Earth's ecosystem. The tour begins with students observing live, working colonies of honeybees in our active observation hive. With the help of our experienced tour facilitator, they will learn about the amazing biology of the hive, find the queen bee, see eggs, larva, pupa, drones and workers living naturally. This is followed by learning beekeeping principles. The students can handle beekeeping equipment as they open a commercial hive that contains honeycomb, but does not contain bees. Next, the honey extraction process is demonstrated and students view our honey pouring facility and candle making room. Students are encouraged to use our antique extractor from the 1920's and compare it to the efficiency of modern equipment. Now, it is time to see an actual, live commercial colony of bees! Outside, students enter our safe, covered observation area to watch a beekeeper handle a live colony just steps away. The beekeeper will point out various aspects of the hive, honeybee and beekeeping. Everyone will be amazed at the truly gentle and social behaviour of these tiny insects. [Note: The beekeeping demonstration is weather permitting] Following that amazing presentation, the students enter our Discovery Room to continue learning about honeybee biology and the remarkable and epic relationship between humans and bees during the teacher's workshop of choice. Each tour includes a workshop session within the 2 hour tour time. The workshop lasts for 30-60 minutes, depending on the content. The remainder of the tour time is devoted to hands-on activities and information about honeybees. We offer you a choice of workshops for your class. See below for currently offered workshops. If there is specific information that you would like covered in a workshop for your class, please don't hesitate to contact us with your request. We will do our best to provide the content that you would like. Grades K-7 Workshops Beeswax candle making - Students learn about how bees make wax and then learn techniques for rolling candles. Each student will roll with flat and embossed wax. Each student can make their creations from the equivalent of one sheet of wax. (Extra charge of $3 per student) Mason bee house building: Students learn about the ecology of wild mason bees (lifecycle, role in pollination, appearance, habitat, characteristics) and the importance of creating bee habitats. Students build the mason bee house and take it home for painting or decorating. They are also provided with an instruction sheet on maintenance and care of the bee house. (Extra charge of $3 per student. Grades 3 and up only, please) Plant Lifecycles - The Pollination Game: Students learn about the process of pollination, the role of honeybees and the relationships between flowers and a variety of pollinating animals including hummingbirds and moths. Students play a game to reinforce the process of pollination and strategies of flowers to attract pollinators and the role of pollinators. OR Put your green thumb to work and plant your very own sunflower to take home! Students learn about the importance of the symbiotic relationship between plants and bees. (Extra charge of $3 per student.) Beekeepers are Busy - Students learn all about the lives of beekeepers. How do seasons affect beekeepers? What techniques and tools help keep the bees happy and healthy? Honeycomb Construction - Building like a Honeybee: Students explore geometry as they learn about properties of different shapes and that only one - the hexagon - is ideally suited for the honeycomb. Students manipulate shapes, experiment with filling spaces with different shapes and build a class honeycomb. (Grade 2 and up only please.) Culinary Arts - Exploring the process of producing, extracting, and filtering honey before it gets to the kitchen. Great for culinary arts students, this workshop will teach students about how to safely use honey while cooking, and why honey is healthier - and tastier! - than sugar. (Extra charge of $3 per student. Great for older students.) Adaptation - Students learn all about how all organisms, great and small, adapt to their environment, with special attention paid to honeybees. Activities available for groups of all ages. Classification of Insects - Students learn how a dichotomous key functions and then complete a hands-on activity, creating their own keys to identify insects. (Grades 2 and up only please.) Wasp Nest Disection - Subject to availablity. Compare the homes and lives of honeybees and wasps in this awesome hands-on activity. Students disect an inactive hive and explore the characteristics of insects. (Grades 3 and up only please.)