BEES AND FORESTS

Activity 1 – After the clip

1. OnwhichcoastofTasmania–north,eastorwest–doestheannualLeatherwoodfloweringtakeplace?

2. JulianWolfhagenisthepresidentofwhichassociationinTasmania?

3. Apartfromhoney,namethethreefoodproductsmentionedbyJulianthatcomefromTasmania.

4. JulianWolfhagenownsandrunsoverhowmanyhivesinTasmania?

5. Whatdoessmokedotothebees?

6. Whichtypeofbeehasbeenmarkedwithyellowspot?

7. Howarethenewlyhatchedbeesdifferentfromotherbees?

8. Juliansaysheprobablygetsstungaroundhowmanytimesonabadday?

9. Leatherwoodhoneyissometimesdescribedasliquidwhat,startingwiththeletterG?

10. Thenarratorsaysittakesabeehowmanykilometersofflighttomakeasmallspoonfulofhoney?

11. InwhichcenturywasLeatherwoodhoneyfirstshippedoverseas?

Activity 2 – More about bees Didyouknowthatbeesareresponsibleforaboutathirdofthefoodweeat?Thisisbecausebeesarepollinators.Pollinatorshelpfloweringplantsmakemoreplants.Weneedplantstosurvive.

Here’s how it works

Whenahoneybee landsona flower, ituses its long-tubeshapedtonguelikeastrawtodrinkthesweetnectarcontainedinsidetheflower.

Whilethebeeisbusydrinkingthisnectar,tinygrainsofpollengetstucktothebee.

Thesegrainsofpollencomefromthepartoftheflower,calledtheanther.Themalepartsoftheflowerarecalledthestamen.

Whenabeefliestoadifferentflowertogetmorenectar,someofthepollengrains falloff thebeeandon to thenew flower.Whengrainsofpollenlandonthefemalepartoftheflower,theymovedownthroughtotheeggs,whicharecontainedintheovaryatthebaseoftheflower.Thefemalepartofthefloweriscalledthepistil.

Once the pollen reaches the egg a seed is formed! Seeds usuallyform inside fruit and when the fruit is mature, it releases thoseseeds.Theseedslandonthesoilandcreatenewplants.

So the flower is helping the bee, but the bee is also helping theflower.Theplantprovidesnectar for thebees,help the flower toreproduce! And this is what we call pollination. Withoutpollination,theseplantswouldnotbeabletoproducefruit.

What happens inside a beehive?

Watchthisclipinpairstofindoutwhathappensinahive:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LDa3O-_pUU

Abeehiveisaninterestingandverybusyplacebecauseeachbeehasaspecialjobtodoandeachbeedoesitverywell.Oncethebeearrivesatthehivewiththenectar,itdeliversittooneoftheindoorbees.Thenectarispassedmouth-to-mouthfrombeetobeeuntilthemoistureisthenectarisreduced.Thischangesthenectarintohoney.

But sometimeswhen the bee arrives back at the hive it drops the nectar straight into cells in thehoneycomb, withoutpassingitmouth-to-mouthtoanotherbee.

Thebeesfantheirwingstoevaporateandthickenthehoney.Whenthisisdone,thebeescapthehoneycombwithwaxandmoveontothenextemptyhoneycomb,tostarttheirworkalloveragain.Write3thingsthatyoulearnt:1.

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Activity 3 – About Tasmania’s Leatherwood honey

LeatherwoodhoneyisthehoneythatbeesmakefromthenectaroftheLeatherwoodtrees’flower.

LeatherwoodisthesinglemostimportantnectarplantinTasmaniaandisthesourceforabouttwothirdsofallthehoneyproducedinthestate.TheLeatherwoodplantisnativetoTasmaniaandisfoundinthewetterforestregionsthroughouttheWesternpartofthestate.AlargepartofthisareahasbeenWorldHeritagelistedbecauseitisrichinfloraandfauna.

Workinginpairs,searchtheInternettofindoutwheretheLeatherwoodforestsarefoundinTasmaniaanddrawwhereonthemapbelow:

AboutthebeesthatmakeLeatherwoodhoney:

HoneybeesarenotnativetoAustralia.Theywerefirstbroughthereintheearly1820’sabouttheconvictshipIsabella.Those

first honey bees adapted so successfully that other types of honey beeswere later introduced from Italy, Yugoslavia and

NorthAmerica.

1. WhatcountrydidthehoneybeethatmakesLeatherwoodhoneyoriginallycomefrom?

2. WhatdobeekeepersdoeveryyearinTasmaniafortheannualLeatherwoodflowering?

3. WhatmonthsoftheyeardoestheLeatherwoodfloweringtakeplace?

What do you think about bees?

1. Haveyoueverbeenstungbyabee?

2. Whatdiditfeellike?Whatdiditdotoyourskin?

3. Didyouknowhowimportantbeeswereforyouandtheenvironment?

4. Howhasthislessonchangeyourmindaboutbees?

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ThisworkislicensedunderaCreativeCommonsAttribution-NonCommercial4.0InternationalLicense.ForestLearningIs an initiative of Forest and Wood Products Limited and these resources have been developed by qualified educators and designed to assist teachers deliver the Australian Curriculum.