WARREN CO SWCD

Education connection

  • Home
    • About
    • Contact Us
    • Board Supervisors
    • Staff
    • NRCS
    • Volunteer Opportunities
  • Events
    • EQUIPMENT NEEDS SURVEY
    • Urban Chat: Runoff Reduction Methods
    • Earth Day Tree Planting
    • Pond Clinic
    • Rain Barrel Workshop
    • Mental Health First Aid
  • Services
    • Agriculture >
      • Land Preservation
      • Cover Crops
    • GIS/Mapping
    • Property Owner Assistance >
      • Drainage, Erosion & Pond Assistance
      • Soil Testing
      • Water Testing
      • Stormwater Basin Inspections
      • Backyard Conservation >
        • Ohio Native Plants
        • Rain Gardens
        • Rain Barrels
        • Composting
      • Illicit Discharge Detection Program
  • PERMITS
    • Earth Disturbing in Warren County >
      • Earth Disturbing Permit Application
    • Floodplain Management >
      • Floodplain Determination Request Form
      • Flood Applications, Forms & Documents
  • Education
    • Education Ambassador
    • Programs >
      • Classroom Programs
      • Youth Programs
      • Community Outreach
    • Virtual Classroom
    • Program Loan Portal
    • HS Envirothon >
      • Envirothon Grant Program
    • Educator Workshops
  • Caesar Creek Collaborative
    • Meet the Collaborative
    • Our Work
  • Blogs
    • Conservation Connection
    • Education Connection
    • Development Digest
  • Camp Canopy Scholarship

8/22/2017

Happy National Honey Bee Day!

0 Comments

Read Now
 
Picture
 Buzz buzz buzz!  Hearing the sound of a honey bee buzzing can elicit a range of responses, from caution of their stinging self-defense to excitement at seeing their strikingly contrasted yellow and black bodies flitting from flower to flower.  Honey bees are hard working pollinators, animals that move pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower allowing for the production of seeds and fruits.  Many favorites, from apples to almonds, are almost exclusively pollinated by honey bees!

Here are some fun facts about honey bees from the American Beekeeping Federation:

Honey Bee Facts
  • Approximately one third of all the food Americans eat is directly or indirectly derived from honey bee pollination.  Some crops pollinated are cucumbers, almonds, carrot seed, melons, apricots, cherries, pears, apples, prunes, plums, pluots, seed alfalfa, cantaloupe, seed onions, avocados, kiwi, blueberries, cranberries, etc.
  • There are three members of a honey bee colony:
    • Queen - mother to all the bees in the colony; she is a fertile female.
    • Worker - an infertile female that performs the labor tasks of the colony, including feed preparation, guarding the hive, feeding the queens, drones and brood, and heating and cooling the hive.
    • Drone - the male that starts out as an unfertilized egg.  Its only purpose in the colony is to mate with a virgin queen.  They live to mate with the queen, but not more than one in a thousand get the opportunity to mate.
  • On average, a worker bee in the summer lasts six to eight weeks.  Their most common cause of death is wearing their wings out.  During that six to eight-week period, their average honey production is 1/12 of a teaspoon.  In that short lifetime, they fly the equivalent of 1 1/2 times the circumference of the earth.
  • The peak population of a colony of honeybees is usually at mid-summer (after spring buildup) and results in 60,000 to 80,000 bees per colony.  A good, prolific queen can lay up to 3,000 eggs per day.
  • Drones fly on United Airlines.  This is a corny joke amongst beekeepers because of the way queens and drones mate.  When a queen is five to six days old, she is ready to mate. She puts out a pheromone scent to attract the males and takes off in the air.  The males from miles around smell the scent and instantly volunteer in the mating chase, which is performed in the air.
Basic Beekeeping
  • Basic beekeeping simplified is having:
    • New, viable queens
    • Feed (natural or artificial)
    • Good, sound equipment
    • Disease-free hives (good medication program or integrated pest management)
  • When processing honey from a beehive, a good rule of thumb is for every 60 pounds of honey produced one (1) pound of beeswax will be made (1 to 60 ratio).
  • In order to manipulate population dynamics, the timing of hive management is critical, such as the splitting of hives just prior to swarming season.  Also, feeding syrup and pollen supplement at least 21 days prior to a pollination inspection or honey flow induces the queen to lay eggs.
information provided courtesy of ABF member Lance Sundberg

Picture

Get ready to dance!

A honey bee performs a carefully choreographed "waggle" dance that instructs the rest of the hive where to find a food source.

​For Warren and surrounding counties, there is a local chapter of beekeepers with the SouthWestern Ohio Beekeepers Association. They can provide information and support for local beekeepers and for services like proper swarm removal.

For more information about the amazing honey bee and conservation efforts, check out Pollen Nation!

Pollen Nation

Share

0 Comments

8/3/2017

back to school, soil & water style!

0 Comments

Read Now
 
Picture
Summertime often finds kids playing and connecting to the outdoors, soaking up the sun and fresh air.  As we head into the last months of summer, WCSWCD encourages fostering those outdoor connections all year long!  Our Education Specialists are excitedly gearing up for the oncoming school year. Bringing environmental science programs about natural resources to local schools gives us the opportunity to connect with students of all ages on these fun topics.  From learning about stream health by following Fred the Fish in early elementary grades, to examining current environmental issues and best management practices in high school classes, we LOVE the chance to enhance learning through hands-on inquiry and games.  
​
Whether we are bringing outdoor learning into the classroom or bringing the students outside to learn, our programs are designed to inspire critical thinking and environmental stewardship.  Content supports Ohio academic science standards and aides teachers' in providing a robust educational experience for their classes. And our teachers have fun too!
Picture

We look forward to working with schools all across Warren County.  To learn more about program and resource offerings for teachers, please visit our Education page! 
Picture

Share

0 Comments
Details

    Author:
    ​Education Staff

    Stay up to date with all of our Education news by signing up for Data from Dagmar...an environmental education newsletter from WCSWCD

    Categories

    All
    Bats
    Citizen Science
    Climate Change
    Conservancy
    Earth
    Earth Day
    Earth Formations
    Ecosystems
    Educators
    Envirothon
    Green Living
    NASA
    Natural Resources
    Ohio Symbols
    Rocks And Fossils
    Soil
    STEM
    Virtual Learning
    Volunteer
    Water Resources
    Wildlife

    Archives

    February 2023
    November 2022
    September 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    February 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    April 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016

Picture

Contact:

PHONE: (513) 695 - 1337
EMAIL:   wcswcd@gmail.com
HOURS: Monday - Friday 7:30am - 4:00pm (except holidays)

Connect:

Warren County Soil & Water Conservation District Copyright © 2016
Warren SWCD Privacy Notice. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact.  Constant Contact's Privacy Notice.
  • Home
    • About
    • Contact Us
    • Board Supervisors
    • Staff
    • NRCS
    • Volunteer Opportunities
  • Events
    • EQUIPMENT NEEDS SURVEY
    • Urban Chat: Runoff Reduction Methods
    • Earth Day Tree Planting
    • Pond Clinic
    • Rain Barrel Workshop
    • Mental Health First Aid
  • Services
    • Agriculture >
      • Land Preservation
      • Cover Crops
    • GIS/Mapping
    • Property Owner Assistance >
      • Drainage, Erosion & Pond Assistance
      • Soil Testing
      • Water Testing
      • Stormwater Basin Inspections
      • Backyard Conservation >
        • Ohio Native Plants
        • Rain Gardens
        • Rain Barrels
        • Composting
      • Illicit Discharge Detection Program
  • PERMITS
    • Earth Disturbing in Warren County >
      • Earth Disturbing Permit Application
    • Floodplain Management >
      • Floodplain Determination Request Form
      • Flood Applications, Forms & Documents
  • Education
    • Education Ambassador
    • Programs >
      • Classroom Programs
      • Youth Programs
      • Community Outreach
    • Virtual Classroom
    • Program Loan Portal
    • HS Envirothon >
      • Envirothon Grant Program
    • Educator Workshops
  • Caesar Creek Collaborative
    • Meet the Collaborative
    • Our Work
  • Blogs
    • Conservation Connection
    • Education Connection
    • Development Digest
  • Camp Canopy Scholarship