Learning About Bees for Preschoolers

It’s best to teach kids about the ecosystem, and therefore bees at a young age. Not only is it good information for everyone to know, kids will have fun while learning. This article discusses the importance of learning about bees for preschoolers and also includes 20 interesting bee facts for preschoolers.

Benefits of Learning About Bees for Preschoolers

It’s Fun

Learning about bees is fun!  There are so many interesting things about bees.  Children love learning about the different jobs in a bee colony and how honey is made.  See below for some great bee facts for preschoolers.  

Learn About Our Ecosystem

There are a lot of things that preschoolers can learn from bees. As little as they are, bees play a huge role in our ecosystem.  There are many flowers, fruits, and vegetables that we all enjoy thanks to bees. 

By learning about how bees affect the ecosystem and the food we eat, kids will gain knowledge about the world around them.  

Hands on Experience

There is no doubt that kids will find the world of bees very fascinating. Learning about bees for preschoolers can also be a fun, hands on event.  You can take the kids outside to the garden to see how pollination works.  

Preschoolers would really enjoy learning about solitary bees by watching, or even making their own mason bee house.  Making a bee watering station would also be a fun and easy project for younger kids. 

Bee Facts for Preschoolers

• Bees have 5 eyes. Their 2 large eyes are called compound eyes, while their 3 smaller eyes are called ocelli.  
• Bees can fly up to 15 miles per hour.
• Honey bees are the only insect to produce food eaten by man.
• Honey bees live in colonies that are composed of 3 different types of bees – the Queen, workers, and drones.
• The honey bee’s wings stroke 11,400 times per minute and are responsible for making their distinctive buzzing sound.
• Honey bees produce beeswax from 8 special glands on their abdomen.
• A male honey bee is called a drone.  Drones have no stingers and do not collect nectar or pollen.
• In the summer, a worker bee will live for only 6 weeks.  In the winter, a worker bee can live for 6-8 months. Queen bees can live up to 5 years.  
• During a worker bee’s lifetime, she will produce just 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey.
• Honey bees perform a waggle dance to communicate and show the direction of a food source.  
• Bees have 2 stomachs – one for eating and one for storing nectar and water.  
• Bees cannot see the color red.
• Worker bees collect pollen and nectar from flowers.  In one collection trip, a single bee will visit 50 to 100 flowers.
• Honey bees must eat 17 lbs of honey to produce 1 lb of beeswax.
• One honey bee colony can contain 60,000 bees.
• While honey bees get all the attention, mason bees are actually better pollinators.  Mason bees have a 95% pollination rate.  
• A bee’s sense of smell is 100 times more powerful than a human’s.  
• If stored properly, honey never expires. 3000 year old honey was found in an Egyptian tomb that was still perfectly edible.  
• Bees use the sun to help them navigate.
• Honey bee pollination accounts for ⅓ of the food we eat. 

Bee Activities for Preschoolers

For preschoolers, learning about bees can be a lot of fun.  See some of the activities below for ideas.

Reading

Reading books to kids is a great way to teach them something while also keeping them interested and entertained. There are several books about bees that would appeal to preschoolers.  

The Honeybee by Kristen Hall and Isabelle Arsenault uses beautiful illustrations to tell the story of one year in the life of a bee.

Give Bees a Chance by Bethany Barton teaches kids why we should love bees, not be afraid of them.

I am a Bee by Rebecca and James McDonald teaches young children about the role of bees in our ecosystem in a simple and fun way.

Crafts

My preschooler really enjoys doing crafts at school. It’s also a bonus when the craft is educational too. See below for some fun bee crafts for preschoolers.

I really like this bee craft because it teaches kids about the bee’s life cycle in a fun way.

This craft incorporates bubble wrap to make a cute beehive.

Not only is this bee planter adorable, it’s also useful! And the flowers you grow in the planter may even bring bees to your yard.

Observe

A great way for kids to observe bees is to install a solitary bee house.  Solitary bees, such as mason bees and leafcutter bees are ideal for young children to observe because of their docile nature.  

Learn About Solitary Bees Here

Summary

Learning about bees for preschoolers is fun and educational. There are a lot of bee facts for preschoolers that they would find very interesting. Reading books and doing crafts are also great ways to teach kids about bees. To get an up close experience with bees, get a solitary bee house for mason or leafcutter bees.