Program Description
In this interactive workshop, students discover the important role of bees in pollination, as well as the dangers they face. Students learn about the lifecycle of bees, handle beekeeping tools, put together an empty beehive, and watch bees at work in the museum’s observation hive.
Consult this Educational Activity Kit for ideas to extend the learning — and the fun!
BUSY BEES EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY KIT
Curriculum Links
Ontario
Science and Technology
Kindergarten: Problem Solving and Innovating
Grades 1 to 4: STEM Skills and Connections
Grade 1: Life Systems: Needs and Characteristics of Living Things
Grade 2: Life Systems: Growth and Changes in Animals
Grade 3: Life Systems: Growth and Changes in Plants
Grade 4: Life Systems: Habitats and Community
Quebec
Preschool: To construct his/her understanding of the world
Mathematics, Science and Technology — Science and Technology
Elementary Cycle 1: To explore the world of science and technology
Elementary Cycle 2: To make the most of scientific and technological tools, objects and procedures
Teacher Tips
The Museum is a demonstration farm, complete with potential hazards. Please advise students accordingly and dress for the outdoors. To prepare for your visit, download the pre-visit information PDF.
Fees
$9.50 per student. Program allows a maximum of 29 students.* (Note: A minimum fee of $142.50 will be charged for groups of 15 students or less).
*Program includes free admission for the teacher as well as up to a maximum of 7 other adults. Please note that there is a mandatory minimum ratio of 1 adult for every 6 students. Any additional adults not included in the program fee will be required to pay the regular visitor fee at admission and will not be able to participate in the program. These requirements do not apply to groups with students who have special needs.
Reservations
Booking requests can be made through the School Programs Reservation Request Form.
You can also connect directly with our Customer Engagement Team:
Email: contact@IngeniumCanada.org
Phone: 613-991-3053 or 1-866-442-4416
Related Resource
The Canada Agriculture and Food Museum is home to an Observation Hive, where a colony of honeybees live. In this short video, the museum's beekeeper shares how she cares for the hive to keep the colony healthy. She also answers some of the most frequently asked questions from museum visitors.
Transcript
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Presenter: Hi, my name is Nadine and I'm the beekeeper at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum. |
The beekeeper is at the center of the screen and faces the viewer. She has curly brown hair that reach her shoulders and wears eyeglasses and a red polo shirt. The background is blurry. |
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Since 2011, there's an observation hive at the museum in which a colony of honeybees, a family of bees lives. |
The camera moves to the observation hive. It is located behind a large vertical window, cut into a wall. A second, lower horizontal window reveals a transparent pipe. A photo of field of yellow canola flowers covers the lower half of the wall. |
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In the colony there is one queen, there are thousands of worker bees, and during the summer, a few dozen drones or male bees. |
Close-up of the queen bee, identified by a white dot on her thorax. Close-up of a group of worker bees walking on the wax comb of a brood frame. The wax is beige brown. Some cells are empty, others are sealed with beeswax, creating slightly raised round shapes. |
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The hive contains four frames in which the bees store food, pollen, and nectar, and where the queen lays the eggs. |
Close-up of empty brood cells with workers moving around. A worker bee on the lower left has its head deep inside a cell. The bees are hairy, with striped brown-and-beige abdomens. |
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Visitors can observe the bees through a glass window on both sides of the hive. |
The camera moves away, focusing on a group of active bees. |
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I'm often asked questions about the colony and how I care for the bees. And today, I'm here to answer your questions. |
Close-up of a bee foraging on a purple flower with a yellow centre. The background is blurry. The bee is moving slowly. It is inspecting the center of the flower with its antennae and its tongue is out, sucking nectar. |
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I'm often asked if the bees can get outside the hive, and yes they can, and this is how. |
Close-up of a group of worker bees on a brood frame. The camera moves from left to right. The bees are busy. Some move their antenna, touching other bees. Others have their head inside a cell. |
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There is a tunnel, a tube that connects the observation hive with the exterior and the bees can move in and out at their will through the tunnel. |
The camera moves to the second opening in the wall, where a pipe connects the hive to the outside. The pipe is transparent and there are a few bees walking back and forth in it. The shot changes to a close-up view of the pipe. A bee moves quickly through it and enters the hive. |
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We can easily see the exit of the hive in the barnyard because it's identified by a sunflower. |
Close-up view inside the pipe. It is dark. The camera moves backward through the tube. Many worker bees move around in the pipe. The shot changes to an aerial view of the barnyard. A yellow sunflower illustration stands out on the red wall of the second floor of the dairy barn. Further down in the barnyard, there are farm machinery and metal fences. The camera zooms in on the sunflower. |
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Let's move to the next question. Do you feed the bees? Yes and no. During the summer, the bees go out and they gather pollen and nectar from flowers, and they bring it back to the colony. |
Close-up view of a bee foraging on a purple flower with a yellow core. The background is blurry. The bee is facing the camera. It has a hairy head and two large compound eyes. Its tongue is deep in the flower’s core. The camera moves away. The bee stops foraging and takes flight in slow motion. |
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Here we can see a bee returning with pollen on her legs. |
The camera moves back to the pipe. A group of bees move around in the pipe. A bee with yellow pollen on its back legs is holding on to the pipe upside down, showing its underside. |
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She will deposit it in one of the cells and then she'll return forage for more. To make sure they don't run out of food, we will add honey frames from fall to spring. |
Close-up side view of a brood frame. A bee on the left fans its wings. Another bee cleans its hair with its two front legs. The camera moves away. A dense group of bees move around on a brood frame. The camera moves slowly from right to left. Some bees are on top of others. |
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To add a frame, I first need to take the observation hive out. |
The camera pulls back. The beekeeper stands in front of the hive wall. She opens the wall, revealing the observation hive. It consists of four rectangular frames, stacked on top of each other. The frames are covered with bees. A second pane of glass serves as a wall to the hive and prevents the bees from getting out. |
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Now to do so, I must first close two little doors…one that stops the bees from leaving the observation hive and the other one that stops them from coming in the museum through the tube. |
Zoom in on the beekeeper’s hands. She turns a black plastic handle clockwise. The camera moves to the plexiglass trap doors, revealing a small portion of a round hole in one of them. The camera moves up, showing the second plexiglass trap door and its black plastic handle. |
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The hive is placed on a little cart and transported outside, to a secluded place away from visitors. |
The beekeeper and a co-worker each hold on to a handle on both sides of the observation hive and lift the hive out of the wall. They slowly lower the hive into a cart. The camera follows them outside. The beekeeper pulls the cart by its front handle, while her colleague pushes against the hive to move the cart forward. Red straps secure the hive in the cart. They move in slow motion on a paved road. There is a green space in the back, with flowers, bushes, signage and a red post fence. |
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Now before I open the hive, I must first prepare my smoker. Now depending on how they behave, I may or may not have to smoke them. |
The beekeeper is crouching next to a white plastic container filled with straw. She is holding a grey metal smoker. She slowly closes the lid. Smoke is coming out of the smoker. The camera zooms in on her hands. She presses the bellows of the smoker. Small clouds of smoke puff out of the smoker's spout. |
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Before I remove a frame, I must first find the queen. I don't want to remove her by accident. The queen has a white dot on her thorax which helps visitors find her amongst the other bees. The white dot also tells us that the queen was born in 2021. Queens born next year will be identified by a yellow dot. |
Close-up of the bees. The camera settles on the queen. She moves slowly among the bees. A white dot on her thorax and her long abdomen makes her stand out among the worker bees. The camera follows her as she moves up on the frame. Some bees get out of her way, others climb on top of her. |
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Now all I have to do is remove the frame and replace it with the one full of honey. Almost done! Now let's close the whole thing up and the beehive is ready to go back to the museum. |
Side view of the beekeeper removing the glass panel that closes the observation hive. She is wearing a white bee suite with a veil. The sleeves are pulled back. She is not wearing any gloves. The beekeeper uses a hive tool, a flat metal short bar, to pry open the glass wall. The beekeeper is crouching down, facing the observation hive. She uses the hive tool to loosen the bottom frame before pulling it out of the hive with her hands. The camera moves to the side. The beekeeper is standing up. She replaces the glass against the frames of the observation hive, closing the hive. The camera moves slowly up and down as the beekeeper performs the action, revealing the entire hive. The beekeeper and her co-worker, both wearing bee suits, pull the cart and the observation hive up a slight slope. One is pulling the handle, the other is pushing against the observation hive. |
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Now the only thing left is to open the two doors. We can see that there are many bees who came back from foraging and they're ready to go back inside the hive. As I open the two doors we can see them sneak back in. |
Zoom in on the trap doors. The beekeeper pushes the observation tightly in place, inside the wall. The camera moves to the pipe. The pipe is full of bees with yellow pollen on their legs. The camera follows the pipe, revealing more bees. Zoom in on the bees in the observation hive. A bee faces the window. It has yellow pollen on its legs. |
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Now do bees sleep during the winter? No, they don't, they stay active all winter. |
Close-up view of the wax comb with capped and uncapped brood. The wax is brown-yellow. The capped cells are slightly raised and paler. A bee is deeply immersed in a cell. Only the end of its abdomen sticks out. Another bee inserts its head and thorax into another cell. |
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They gather in a cluster with a queen at the centre, they eat honey, and they vibrate their wing muscles to produce heat. |
New shot of a group of bees on one of the frames in the hive. The camera focuses on a bee clinging to the frame, with its legs and flapping its wings in slow motion. |
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On nice winter days, the bees leave the hive for their cleansing flight. After holding it in for weeks, even months, they finally go out and they can empty their intestines before quickly going back inside the hive. |
Series of quick, close-up shots of bees in the observation hive and bees moving around quickly in the pipe. |
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There you go! I hope that you enjoyed learning about the museum's bees and that I have answered all your questions about their care. See you next time! |
Close-up view of the wax comb. The wax walls and the hexagonal shape of each cell are clearly visible. The brownish-beige wax that forms the cells is thicker between the prisms, giving off the impression that the cells are round rather than hexagonal. A bee is well inserted in a cell. Only the tip of its vibrating abdomen sticks out. Another bee walks across the wax comb. The camera moves slowly from left to right. Side view of a group of bees on a wax frame. A bee moves on the comb, climbing over another bee. The screen turns green. A white circle interspersed with green spoon shapes appears upside down, then spins around to reposition itself correctly. |
Program Details
- View all programs at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum
- View other programs related to Agriculture
- View other programs for: JK - Grade 4 (Ontario) or Preschool - Elementary Cycle 2 (Quebec)