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The Queen bee lays up to 2000 eggs per day!

She carefully inspects every new cell and lays her egg in there.

After 6 days it hatches from its egg as a larva. After 10 days it is checked by a nurse bee and given food. Once it has grown and filled the cell,  a wax cap is laid on top of the cell for protection.

The larva changes again forming a cocoon as a pupa then finally on day 21 it emerges as an adult bee.

(ACSSU072 Living things have life cycles.)

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Most bees, like the European Honey Bee living in the Chimney Hive, live in a community.

They have one Queen that lays all the eggs for the bees of that hive.

Nearly all the eggs become female bees that are also the worker, nurse and nectar gathering bees.

Some of the bees are male, or drones.  They will find a new Queen bee, fertilise her eggs, and she will start a new hive somewhere else.

Take a close look at this chart so you can recognise a Queen, Worker and Drone bee when you are outside.

You can also see the Varroa mites and the hive beetle.  They are very destructive and have destroyed whole bee colonies overseas.  The Varroa mite is not found in Australia but beekeepers, also known as apiarists, believe it is only a matter of time before they arrive.  Therefore  quarantine regulations are strictly enforced to make sure they do not enter Australia.

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Finally you've returned to the hive after a quick buzz about the System Garden.

What was the most interesting thing you learned about us and the System Garden?

Can you explain what these words mean?
pollination, fertilisation, pistil, anther, stigma, ovary, pollen, nectar.

Can you describe to your classmates what a waggle dance is?  Perhaps you can show them how it's done?

It can be a tough life being a busy bee, what are some of the threats we face as we forage for nectar and live in our hives?

What would happen if the bees disappeared?

What would you do to make your garden at home or at school more friendly for my bee mates and me?

(ACSIS064 With guidance, identify questions in familiar contexts that can be investigated scientifically and make predictions based on prior knowledge.)

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9. Why are bees important to flowering plants?  What would happen if the bees disappeared?

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9. Why are bees important to flowering plants?  What would happen if the bees disappeared?

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This bee is pollinating blossoms in an almond tree.  What would happen to almond nuts if there were no bees?

This link from the Australian Academy of Science may answer some of those questions and explore some of the threats facing bees today.

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This pink dahlia flower has a large yellow brush of pollen coated anthers alongside sticky stigmas. The bee searches for the sweet sticky nectar deep in the flower's centre.

Here you can see the bee is filling its collection sacs on its hind legs full of pollen and nectar.

The flower provides the bee with raw material to make honey, the bee provides the flower with the process of spreading the pollen, fertilising the flower,  or pollination.

The relationship between the flower and the bee is called a symbiotic relationship.

Once the eggs deep within the flower are fertilised they will grow into seeds.  In other flowers they form fruits that have the seeds inside.

Watch here to see how delicious cherries (fruit) form around a seed, created when flowers are pollinated.

(ACSSU072 Elaborations: recognising that interactions between living things may be competitive or mutually beneficial.)

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2.  Join me on the Chimney Hive Flight Deck.

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2.  Join me on the Chimney Hive Flight Deck.

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Fly with me around the garden learning about my hive mates and me.

Also, find out why we are so important to have in your garden.

Just follow my flight path arrows from information point to point,  I numbered them to make it easier.

Click on the images and videos for more information and a peek inside the mystery of flowers and hives.

When you finish, see you back at the hive and tell me about the interesting things you learnt.

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The Chimney Hive at the System Garden with its inspection windows allow us to view the bees while not disturbing their entry to, and exit from the hive

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8.  Gardenia thunbergia at the System Garden

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8.  Gardenia thunbergia at the System Garden

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This flower is a beautiful example of the different parts of the flower that enable pollination.

Study the animation connected to this slide and  see if you can name the parts of this Gardenia thunbergia flower.

( ASSCU072 Living things have life cycles: Scootle resource:  Discover Flower Power)

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4.  Inside the Chimney Hive, a window to the honey comb

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4.  Inside the Chimney Hive, a window to the honey comb

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The bees work together to store the nectar they collected.  They convert the nectar to honey and store it in waxy capsules they create for this purpose called cells. This structure of honey cells is the honey comb.  Bees store honey as food for the hive, and as winter stores when flowers are not blooming.

(ACSSU073 Living things depend on each other and the environment to survive)

The window on the Chimney Hive allows us to peer into the busy world of the bee when they return laden with nectar to their hive.

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Bees tell their hive mates where to find the best nectar by doing a waggle dance.

Dr James Neih from the University of California, San Diego explains how bees communicate...

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(Inside Science ) -- James Nieh, a professor at the University of California, San Diego says, "I study all different kinds of social bees because you really need to look at social bees to study their communication. I look at honeybees, bumblebees, and stingless bees."

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1. System Garden at University of Melbourne

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1. System Garden at University of Melbourne

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The System Garden at the University of Melbourne is unique because it groups its plantings into families or sub classes.  This way we can see the similarities and differences in plants of the same family.

The Garden is a teaching garden where together we can learn about the nature and form of plants, their evolution, adaptation and their many uses.

For teachers, click the link on the Australian Curriculum Code for further information and elaboration about this learning point.

The System Garden also has bees!  You can find them in their unusual home, a chimney hive, next to the Australian Rainforest section. This padlet will  look at the bee's role in the garden and why they are so important in the life cycle of plants.  Click this link to find out more about the hives at the University.

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11. TECHNO BEES!    Want to know more about bee behaviour in the hive?  Check out  Honey Bees Online!

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11. TECHNO BEES!    Want to know more about bee behaviour in the hive?  Check out  Honey Bees Online!

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HOBOS HOney Bees Online Studies is a honey bee project located in Wurzburg, Germany.  Bees are equipped with micro-chips and the hive has thermally sensitive cameras. You can have a good look inside a hive, monitor the bee activity and carry out your own research from your classroom on the other side of the world.

For teachers:
(Investigating with ICT.) Students use ICT to define and plan information searches of a range of primary and secondary sources. They locate, access, generate, organise and/or analyse data and information and apply criteria to verify the integrity and value of the digital data, information and sources using ICT.

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HOBOS is an internet platform where a living bee colony is observed multifaceted with the possibilities of the technological, digital world.