Stingless bee hives in schools
There are lots of opportunities for teaching and learning with stingless bee hives installed in schools. Being stingless, they are the perfect teaching bee for Queensland schools (and eastern NSW, as far south as Sydney). Apart from being the focus of general observations and discussions, a range of specific activities can be structured around the hive. Here are some examples:
Forager bee mark/recapture activities (see here for a Tutorial)
Mark/recapture is a great exercise for estimating the number of forager bees in a stingless bee colony, and easy to do in schools with a resident stingless bee hive.
Monitoring forager bee resource collection
Tallies of returning foragers with different resources can be created, and monitored over time. Some foragers return with pollen on the back legs and some with plant resins on the back legs. Others return carrying nothing at all, and many of these bees will be returning with nectar stored inside their bodies in their crop. Tallies of each of these three returning forager types can be made, and proportions of resource collection estimated. These proportions will vary over time of the day/year. Different types of pollen can also be seen, when different coloured pollen loads are being brought back to the nest.
There are lots of opportunities for teaching and learning with stingless bee hives installed in schools. Being stingless, they are the perfect teaching bee for Queensland schools (and eastern NSW, as far south as Sydney). Apart from being the focus of general observations and discussions, a range of specific activities can be structured around the hive. Here are some examples:
Forager bee mark/recapture activities (see here for a Tutorial)
Mark/recapture is a great exercise for estimating the number of forager bees in a stingless bee colony, and easy to do in schools with a resident stingless bee hive.
Monitoring forager bee resource collection
Tallies of returning foragers with different resources can be created, and monitored over time. Some foragers return with pollen on the back legs and some with plant resins on the back legs. Others return carrying nothing at all, and many of these bees will be returning with nectar stored inside their bodies in their crop. Tallies of each of these three returning forager types can be made, and proportions of resource collection estimated. These proportions will vary over time of the day/year. Different types of pollen can also be seen, when different coloured pollen loads are being brought back to the nest.
