Stamford has many native pollinators, including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Insects like flies, beetles, and wasps also help pollinate plants. Many plants rely on these pollinators for to help make new plants.
Kindergarten has learned so much about bees this year! We have talked about a bee's body parts, the jobs of bees in a hive and how honey is made. Special vocabulary words were introduced during each lesson. Ms. McLaughlin's class represented all kindergarteners as they sang a song about pollination to show off what was learned.
How Bees Pollinate
By Genevie
Bees pollinate by getting pollen and sugary nectar from flowers with their hairs on their bodies. Hairs on their bodies help the bees get pollen. Most bees are attracted to bright colored flowers. Bees fly to other flowers and then the pollen from the first flower rubs off and makes other flowers, helpful flowers, bees, birds, butterflies, ants, nature and more. A single bee can visit up to thousands of flowers. Also one species of a flower that bees can get pollen from is the sunflowers because of large, pollen-packed centers. Bees love sunflowers!
How Do Bees Buzz?
By Saanya
Bees buzz from flapping their wings hundreds of times per second, creating air vibrations we hear as sound, but they also use muscle vibrations for “buzz pollination” (shaking pollen loose), heat generation, protection and communication.
Do bees buzz while flying?
Yes bees buzz while flying, to shake pollen from a flower to their body. This sound comes from vibrating their thorax, not their wings moving, even when their wings are still.
Bee Facts
By Logan
Bees are fascinating insects. They communicate with each other when they do a waggle dance. They dance so the other bees know where the honey is located. The bees do different waggle dances depending on the sun. A lot of bee species can sting. Hornets, wasps and yellow jackets are just a couple of examples of bees that can sting. Some bees can only sting once and then they die. Some bees like the honeybee can’t sting. Bumblebees can’t sting either.
When the bees have no room left, they move out of the hive. When winter comes around, bees gather around in the hive and beat their wings to keep the queen and the colony warm all winter. When spring arrives, the bees come out and gather more honey until winter. This is why I think bees are fascinating insects.
Different Pollinators
By Saanya
There are different kinds of pollinators in the world. The most well known pollinators are bees but there are many others. Other pollinators are butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, wasps and ants. Some people do not know that ants are pollinators.
How Ant Pollination Works
Ants visit flowers for nectar, finding it on the petals or in nectar glands. As they crawl inside or around the flower, pollen grains stick to their hairy bodies. When the ant moves to another flower, some of that pollen rubs off, fertilizing the new flower. Ants can't fly between flowers, limiting their range.
Why Do We Need Different Kinds Of Pollinators?
Having different pollinators is important because they specialize in different flowers, increasing crops, and supporting food webs. Relying on just one type of pollinator leaves us vulnerable to disease or environmental changes. Every pollinator, from bats to beetles to butterflies, has unique traits, like buzz pollination or specialized mouthparts, perfect for specific plants. Pollinators are really important to the ecosystem.
Hornets and wasps
Yellowjackets
Honeybees
Bumblebees