Student Research Page

What's the Buzzzzz?
Bee Buzzinezz

Are you a BEE student? If you don't have a copy of the TPW magazine, you may print a copy of What's the Buzzzzz?

Honey bees are busy pollinating flowers, making honey and helping grow a lot of your food! Apples, nuts, strawberries, tomatoes for spaghetti sauce and ketchup, broccoli -- all kinds of foods depend on bees! This is big business for farmers, plus all the products made from honey and beeswax! Bees have special jobs. How many can you name from this month's Keep Texas Wild?

	Bees have fuzzy bodies that catches pollen. Wasps have smooth bodies and aren't as good at pollinating. Bees have wide bodies and five eyes! (two big eyes and three little ones on their forehead).
	Honey bees and bumble bees have pollen baskets (corbicula) that collect pollen. Some of the pollen rubs off on other flowers, and some makes it back to the hive where it is mixed with nectar to make honey or special "jelly" to feed other bees.

Test yourself to see if you can name some of the special characteristics of honey bees.

Bees use honeycombs to store honey and little rooms for eggs to develop. The cells are hexagon shapes.

Bee Spit!

Or you may call it honey. Bees have a special "stomach" or pocket inside that makes the honey. They swallow nectar and spit out honey! They have a regular stomach, too, but honey doesn't come from there.

Flower Power!

Many flowers depend on bees and other insects, birds, bats and even wind for pollination.

These bluebells need bees or other pollinators to spread pollen from the stamen to the pistil.

Some flowers use color, smell or landing pads to attract bees and other pollinators. How do these flowers attract pollinators?

Test yourself to see if you can name the parts of the bluebell used for pollination.

In the News

Keeping It Wild!

How can kids help bees?

• Plant native flowers. To help you with plant lists for where you live, try our Learn About Texas kids' pages.
• If bees are outside, don't bother them. They won't sting unless they feel threatened. It takes trips to thousands of flowers to collect enough nectar for the hive, so they are very, very busy and don't like to be disturbed.
• Learn About Texas Insects so you can tell your friends.

Learn More!

• Bee Smart! What you didn't know about bees!