Many schools are adding gardens to their yards to teach students about pollination and plant life in a more enjoyable way. If your school has a garden, you can make those visits even more fun and educational by adding leafcutter bees!
Whether this project is for a science class, school-wide, or for homeschooling, here are a few reasons why caring for and observing leafcutter bees is a great way to teach kids about pollination.
Kid-Friendly Bees
Interactive projects that involve animals and insects can be a challenge for schools, as they have to make sure their students are free from harm. However, it does not get much safer than leafcutter bees! Unlike honey and bumble bees, which are more aggressive and territorial, leafcutter bees are docile in nature and rarely sting. This is perfect for younger children, who can observe the bees, take note of their behaviours, and roam freely in the school garden without getting hurt.
Leafcutter bees aren’t known to cause acute allergic reactions, making them a low-risk and school-friendly option. On the rare chance a student is stung, teachers and parents will not need to worry about administering medication or emergency trips to the hospital.
A Fun and Educational Experience
Teaching kids about the actions and behaviours of bees is a lot more interesting when they can see for themselves! If you are a parent or guardian homeschooling your kids, you can involve the whole family in your leafcutter bee project. This will give you something fun to do together while keeping your kids more engaged in their schoolwork.
Including leafcutter bees in a school project will allow students to observe how leafcutter bees build nests, how they interact with plants and flowers, which flower varieties they are drawn to, and more. If you pair in-class lessons with these interactive trips to the garden, your students will get a more well-rounded education on the subject of pollination while still having plenty of fun!
Here are a few project ideas to make observing leafcutter bees more enjoyable:
Choose Plants For the Garden: Let your students choose some plants and flowers to put in the school garden, focusing on the ones leafcutter bees are drawn to the most. This is a fun way to teach kids about the connection between bees and plant growth. You can even spark an interest in gardening by letting them care for their chosen plants!
Decorate the Bee House: Before you mount the bee house and release the super pollinators, you can have your students decorate it with paints, stickers, photos, and other fun decals.
Overwintering: At the end of the growing season, you can teach your students how to properly overwinter leafcutter bees with a real-time demonstration.
Example Activity Questions About Leafcutter Bees
Once your leafcutter bee project is nearly over and it is time to overwinter the bees, teachers can do a final question-and-answer portion about what their students learned. Some example questions include:
- How long does it take to fill the tubes with eggs?
- What type of leaves are leafcutter bees using to line the tube hole?
- Did you see any bees flying with leaves under their bellies?
- Have you seen any bees on flowers?
- Can you find cut leaves in the garden/schoolyard?
- Are there any flowers the bees go to more than others?
- …and more!
Introduce Your Students to Pollination with Kind Bee Farms
If you want to get your school excited about pollination, teaching your students about leafcutter bees is a great way to pique their interest!
At Kind Bee Farms, we raise healthy and hardworking leafcutter bees for sale from our farm in Saskatchewan. If you would like to get a box of bees and a bee house for your school, contact us today to learn about our ordering dates.