Category Archives: Bees

Green Schools: Biodiversity: Now it is Brigid’s turn to tell Polly all about Bees; the important job they do and how they are endangered.

BeFunky_BeFunky_Watercolor_260.jpg

Polly the Polar Bear, has come to visit St. Brigid’s Greystones,

all the way from St. Peter’s in Bray.

She has come to visit Brigid the Biodiversity Bee

and has told her all about Polar Bears

and why they are endangered.

Now it is Brigid’s turn,

to tell Polly all about bees.

 

‘Well first, said Brigid,

‘it is important to know about the important job bees do:

Read all about the important job bees do HERE

You can read more about

that important job of pollinating flowers HERE.

Why are bees endangered?

Well you can find out the answer to this question

if you click on THIS LINK.

BeFunky_DSC01893.jpg

‘We’ve done a lot of good work,’ said Polly.

I think it is time,

I thought about getting back to Bray…’

Watch out 2nd Class, St.Peter’s,

Polly the Polar Bear is

on her way back to you 🙂

 

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

A Joint Project between St. Peter’s NS., Bray and St.Brigid’s NS., Greystones – Polly the Polar Bear and Brigid the Bee, tell us why their species are endangered.

But first the introductions:

Polly the Polar Bear is going to teach us

all about Polar Bears and how they are endangered.

Brigid, our Biodiversity Bee

is going to teach Polly all about bees

and why they are threatened.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Come and visit the Pollination Station

On the top lobby on the back stairs there is a display about bees and pollination. We call it the Pollination Station.

DSC01072

Included in the display is a pot of tulips. You can see the yellow pollen on the stamen.

The stigma is also very easy to see on the tulip flowers.

DSC01073

 

If you would like to read what we have found out about bees click on this link

or put the words ‘bees’ or ‘pollination’ into the search box on the top right corner of this page.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

A Mystery: Why are there less bees in the world?

A ‘Bee’ Mystery

Galápagos interlude 2
Creative Commons License Photo Credit: Max Westby via Compfight

In some parts of the world, for example

the USA,

the UK

and Ireland

honeybees are flying away from their hives and dying.

Empty hives are causing a lot of worry about some important food crops. Scientists are trying to figure out why bees are dying.

What makes this mystery really hard to solve is that bees are hard to study.

1. Most bees die away from the hive, so the scientists don’t have any dead bees to examine.

2. Bees have a natural life cycle and because if this when scientist return to a hive after even two weeks, about half the bees they studied on their first visit will be dead and they will be replaced by new ones.

3. Being a scientist detective is even trickier because, bees travel up to 3 kilometres away from their hive to find nectar from flowers. So that when bees become ill or poisoned, it is hard to know where the damage was done.

Scientists do have some ideas about what could be causing the bees to die.

1. They could be poisoned by insect sprays that people use to kill insects that are pests. Another name for these insect sprays are pesticides and insecticides.

2. We learned about overgrazing when we heard about what could happen if the Snow Leopard, for example disappeared from the food chain. See this link to find out. Overgrazing would mean the fields and meadows when the bees get their food would be destroyed.

3. Bees may not be getting enough food to be strong and healthy. This is also because the habitats where their food grows; meadows and fields and being taken over by building.

watching
Creative Commons License Photo Credit: Rick Harrison via Compfight

For example: Where we live around Greystones used be full of meadows, fields and forests. Now they are full of houses.

The hints that this happened are in the names of some of the estates.

1. So Heathervue was once a hillside covered in heather, whether the bees could collect nectar.

2. Perhaps there were cherry trees in Delgany before the houses in Cherry Glade  and Cherry Drive were built.

There are other reasons too, that scientists think that the number of bees is falling.

1. They think that tiny insects called mites feed on bees.

2. Others think that it is a virus or bacteria that is damaging the bee population.

Most of all it is important to protect the bee population because they pollinates so many plants that become food for the human race.

Bee the Bee!
Creative Commons License Photo Credit: Danny Perez Photography via Compfight

Research by the students in fourth class.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

A List of Fruit & Vegetables pollinated by bees.

We did some research today and found out which fruits and vegetables are pollinated by bees.

Vectored Vegetables
Creative Commons License Photo Credit: Nancy Regan via Compfight

This is the list:

Fruit:

Apple,Blackberry, Blueberry, Cherry,  Grape Kiwi, Lemon, Lime, Peach, Pear, Plum, Raspberry, Strawberry, Watermelon,

Vegetables

Beans, Chilli Pepper, Onion, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrot, Cauliflower, Celery, Cucumber, Red and Green Peppers, Tomatoes,

Other Important Crops

Sunflowers and Cotton (also Flax)

The Problem

There are less bees because of what people do.

People use insecticide to kill insects that are pests.

But insecticide kills bees too.

‘Overgrazing’ and building destroy the habitats where bees live.

 

We need bees, so that they can pollinate plants.

What would happen if there were no more bees?

Click here to see an interesting photograph!
Written and researched by Alexandra, Patrick, Stacey and Conor from 4th Class.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email