Honeybees Lesson Plan
Homeschool honeybee lesson with FREE download!
Online Virtual Learning
Today’s lesson is about honeybees! Every honeybee has a job. Worker bees can be janitors who’s job is to clean the hive; others are nurses who take care of the brood; and some are foragers and are responsible for gathering pollen to make the honey. Working together honeybees are highly organized, yet their brains are about the size of a sesame seed. Learn how their jobs divided and conquered, how they learn to execute them and how humans take honey from a beehive without getting stung!
Looking for more educational resources, check out our Education section of the website!
this post may contain affiliate links
Time needed: 1 hour.
Honeybee Homeschool Online Lesson Includes:
- How Hives Are Organized
video
- How Humans Take Honey from a Hive
short video
- Honeybee Word Search
free download, printable worksheet
- Honeybee Vocabulary
learn the lingo!
- Honey Tasting
suggested hands on activity!
How Do Honeybees Get Their Job?
How Do Humans Take Honey Without Getting Stung?
Honeybee Word Search Free Printable
Honeybee Vocabulary
Abdomen – rear section of bee that contains the stinger and other organs.
Antennae – sensors on the bees head that are used to smell with.
Barb – pointy thorns that stick out of the stinger making it hard to remove.
Bee Dance – used to show other bees where nectar/flowers are.
Beekeeper – someone who cares for and raises bees.
Colony – a group of bees living together.
Compound Eye – large eye with many sections which enable a bee to see all around.
Drone – Male bee whose only job is to mate with the queen.
Hive – a bees home, where it lives with other bees and produces honey.
Honey – food produced by bees.
Honeycomb – area where honey is stored, also called cells.
Insect – an animal with an exoskeleton, 3 body parts and 6 legs.
Larvae – second stage of bee, grub like stage, eats beebread.
Mandibles – plier like jaws that are part of the bees mouth.
Nectar – the sweet juice produced by flowers, gathered by bees and turned into honey.
Nurse Bee – the bees that take care of the eggs, larvae and pupas.
Pollen – small spores from a plant that appear as a dust and are necessary for plant reproduction.
Pollen basket – area where bees carry the pollen on their bodies (hind legs).
Pollination – the act of transferring pollen from one flower to the other.
Proboscis – combined area of tongue and mandibles.
Queen Bee – the only bee that produces eggs.
Scout Bee – the bee that goes out and looks for flowers/nectar.
Spiracles – holes in the sides of bees which they breathe through.
Swarm – when a new queen leaves the hive with other bees to start a new hive.
Thorax – the middle section of the bees body, where the legs are connected.
Wax – produced by bees to make the hive cells.
Worker Bee – guards hive, gathers nectar, makes honey, repairs hive and cleans it. All workers are female bees.
Hands On Activity: Honey Tasting!
Why would honey taste different?
Nectar is collected from many different flowers and native plants, which can differ greatly based on location- it’s no wonder that honey tastes so different and the color varies. The thickness of honey also changes year to year depending on the weather!
Try sampling different types of honey and see how they taste different. Which one is your favorite?
You can often find honey samplers at Trader Joes or your local health food store, and here’s a few available on Amazon.
What other ideas do you have to teach kids about honeybees? Let us know in the comments so others can add those to their lesson plan too! It takes a village! Thank you!
