Learning Intentions:
- To know the life cycle of a honey bee.
- To write an information sheet on the life cycle of a honey bee.
Step 1: Activity overview for parent, carers and pupils
This activity has a short video clip approximately three minutes long. There is also a two page document, which you can either download or copy, to support Activity 1.The main activity can be completed offline.
Step 2: Introduction to the activity and additional information
A honey bee is a flying insect known for its ability to collect nectar from flowers and produce honey. There are three types of honey bees in a hive: queens (egg-producers), workers (females who don’t produce eggs), and drones (males whose main duty is to find a queen).Watch the video below to see the life cycle of a honey bee.
Honey bees, like most insects, have a four-stage life cycle.
- eggs
- larvae
- pupae
- adult bees
The eggs are tiny, and laid individually in each ‘egg cell’ in the honeycomb. Eggs are only laid by queen bees, one per cell. Most eggs grow into female worker bees, but a few are also male drone bees.
Soon after the queen lays the eggs, the eggs hatch into larvae. The larvae are tiny but hungry. They will eat over a thousand meals a day! Their first food is ‘royal jelly’ but soon after they are fed ‘bee bread’, a mixture of pollen and honey. Worker bees take care of the eggs and larvae, until the larva turns into a cocoon.
Workers cover the cells with a thin layer of beeswax and then they turn into pupae. The pupa undergoes a huge transformation (also known as metamorphosis), and within a couple of weeks, the adult bees chew their way out of the cells and join the rest of the colony.
Step 3: Tasks to carry out for this activity
Activity 1
Draw a diagram of the life cycle of a honey bee.
Remember to include as much information as you can for each stage.
You can use the template below to help you or create own.
Once you have completed the task you can email anything you create (photos, documents, screenshots etc.) directly to your teacher or directly upload it to any of the available places in Step 6.
Step 4: Look over the success criteria for this activity:
Success criteria #1: I know the life cycle of a honey bee.
Success criteria #2: I can write an information sheet on the life cycle of a honey bee.
Step 5: Extension and follow on activities/challenges (optional)
Activity 2
Find out what the word ‘metamorphosis’ means and what other insects go through this process?
Step 6: Click on the relevant link below if you have any work to upload to your online areas
J2e Google Drive OneDrive Seesaw