Pooh: Hmmmm…..I have a rumbly in my tummy… you know what that means!!! Time to find something sweet to eat. Look at those bees! They are making me some delicious honey!

Bears love honey and I’m a Pooh Bear

Yum Yum Yum Yum*Slurp Slurp Slurp

Slurp*Yum Yum Yum YumTime for something

sweet to eatWinnie the PoohWinnie the PoohWilly Nilly Silly Old

Bear

Christopher: You silly old bear, do you know where honey comes from Pooh? Pooh: Of course I know where honey comes from Christopher Robin. Honey comes from the bees! Christopher: You’re right Pooh!

Pooh: Christopher Robin… will you tell me more about honeybees? Christopher: Sure thing Pooh. Do you know what bees have to do to make honey? Pooh: Well… not exactly Christopher Robin.

Christopher: Bees have to pollinate. Do you know what pollinate means Pooh? Pooh: Does it mean to taste the honey Christopher Robin?

Christopher: No silly, pollinate means that the bees take the nectar out of flowers. They use their long tube like tongues called proboscis like a straw to suck the nectar out. It is stored in their stomach to be brought back to the beehive

Pooh: But Christopher Robin, if the nectar is in the honeybee’s stomach, how can I eat it? Christopher: Well Pooh, when the worker bee goes back to the beehive, the other bees will suck the nectar out of its stomach using their mouth. Those bees are called house bees.

Pooh: But Christopher Robin how does something from a flower become yummy, gooey, delicious honey for me to eat? Christopher: Pay attention Pooh, this could get confusing… Pooh: Okay Christopher Robin.

Christopher: The bee’s chew on the nectar enzymes to break them down from complex sugars to simple sugars. This makes the honey more digestible and less likely to grow bacteria.

Pooh: Oh bother…

Christopher: Then the bees spread the nectar throughout the honeycombs in the beehive. In the honeycombs, water evaporates, turning it into thick syrup. The bees will fan the honey with their wings to dry it. Once the honey is at the right gooeyness, the bees seal off the honeycomb with wax to store the honey for later

Pooh: I love the gooeyness. Christopher: Yes Pooh, I know you do. Pooh: Christopher Robin, how do honeybees make their beehive to store the honey in?

Christopher: Honey bee hives are made of six-sided tubes, which are the shapes for optimal honey production because they require less wax and can hold more honey. Honey bees construct hives by chewing wax until it becomes soft, then bonding large quantities of wax into the cells of a honeycomb.

Pooh: Wow Christopher Robin… Bees are so fabulous. But, Christopher Robin, if I eat from the beehive everyday will they still have enough to survive for winter? I want to make sure I don’t take it all on them, because if they stopped making me honey… that would be bad!

Christopher: Well Pooh, don’t worry. Bees can make hundreds of pounds of honey a year! Pooh: Wow that is a lot of honey. I would sure love to eat all that honey! How much honey do they actually eat though Christopher Robin?

Christopher: Bees only eat about half of what they make, so don’t worry Pooh, they have all the honey they need

Pooh: Christopher Robin, You’re a really great teacher, I know so much more about honey bees know. Christopher: Well that’s good Pooh, I am glad you learned something new.

Pooh: Christopher Robin, can we eat honey now? Christopher: You silly old bear. Of course you can.