05x01 - The Life Cycle of the Honey Bee

[bunniefuu]

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

♪ Butterfly in the sky ♪

♪ I can go twice as high ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can go anywhere ♪

♪ Friends to know ♪

♪ And ways to grow ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can be anything ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

Hi! If these directions
are right,

We should be at a factory

Where a million experts
are hard at work.

But where's the production line?

This looks like a sleepy field
where nothing's going on.

But let's take a closer look.

The workers are bees,

And their job is
to find the food in flowers.

Watch this honeybee
dip her tongue into the center

And crawl
all around the petals.

She's looking for
something to eat.

She'll hang
underneath a blossom

And fly from flower to flower,
gathering pollen on her body

And drinking the sweet
flower juice called nectar.

Other bees work here, too,

But only honeybees take nectar
home and turn it into honey.

Their story is in this book,

The life cycle
of the honeybee.

Buzz

One sunny day,

A queen honeybee
leaves her hive.

Male bees called drones
follow her.

The queen mates
with a drone.

Now she can lay eggs.

The queen flies
back to the hive.

Laying many eggs
is her job.

She puts one egg
in each cell.

In three days,
the eggs hatch.

Out come larvae.

Worker bees feed the larvae.

After five or six days,

Workers cover
the larvae cells.

Inside the cell,
the larva grows into a pupa.

In about 10 days,

A young bee
comes out of the cell.

Hives have only one queen.

Most other bees are workers.

Some bees are drones.

Workers are females,
drones are males.

Young worker bees
stay inside the hive.

They clean cells
and make food.

Workers make wax
to build cells.

Some cells are for eggs.

Other cells are for food.

Sometimes the hive
is too hot.

The wax begins to melt.

Worker bees b*at their wings
as fast as they can.

They make wind
to cool the hive.

The door of the hive
must be watched.

Robber bees
try to steal honey.

Workers and robbers fight.

Both bees die
after stinging once.

Outside the hive,

Older worker bees
look for flowers.

Inside a flower
is food for bees.

Bees change some of the food
into honey.

After finding flowers,
a bee flies home.

Other workers smell her food.

They want to find
flowers, too.

The bee tells where
the flowers are by dancing.

The others feel her move.

Now they all know
where to get food.

Sometimes a hive
has too many bees.

The queen, some workers,
and a few drones fly away.

They look for a new hive.

In the old hive,
a new queen is born.

Soon she will lay eggs

And start the life cycle
of the honeybee all over again.

Some honeybees
live in trees,

But most live
in high-rise apartments

Built by beekeepers--
and the beekeepers charge rent.

But it isn't money,
it's honey.

This is tony jadczak,

An apiculturist--
a bee expert.

Tony will show us
how beehives work.

Am I going to get
stung by these bees?

Not if you suit up.

♪ Bzz, bzz, bzz, bzz ♪♪

Well, I'm beeproof.

Just a few things
to remember
in the bee yard, levar.

Stay away from
in front of the entrances.

Stay out of
the bees' flight pattern.

Walk around the hives.
No fast movements.

I don't want to
upset these bees, tony.

A calm bee
is a happy bee.

This hive
has three tiers.

In the bottom boxes
are the young, the larvae.

In the top,
they store their food,
or honey.

Can we look inside?

Yeah, but first
we'll smoke them.

Smoke makes
the bees eat honey.

So they get sleepy.

Where do we put
the smoke?

Blow a little
in the entrance.

When I lift the cover,

Puff a little bit
up top.

This doesn't hurt
the bees, does it?

Not a bit.

You're not
wearing gloves.

I work with bees
so much

That the stings
don't bother me.

How many bees
are in here, tony?

There's about


Just blow a little bit
of smoke over the frames.

Don't be afraid
to give it to them.

You'll notice
they'll start moving down.

We'll pull out a frame

And see if
they've made any honey.

Whoa! Look at
these bees!

What are they
doing here?

They've got
their heads in,

And they're
drinking nectar.

They're like at
the water fountain.

See their little
tongues sticking out?

Yeah. They're draining
this cone dry.

What's the difference

Between nectar
and honey?

Nectar is produced
by the flowers.

That's the sugars
a flower puts out.

The bees bring nectar
to the hive

And deposit it
into these cells.

The bees fan it
with their wings

To evaporate
the water.

It turns into honey

By taking
the water out.

Here you see
the capped honey.

They'll cap it with wax

To keep moisture
from going back in.

What's happening
on the next level?

That's where
the queen lays her eggs

And they raise
the young.

Here we see
the queen.

She has the same
make-up as a worker honeybee,

But her abdomen
is longer.

That's because
she's made for laying eggs.

Also, her legs
are much longer.

Her thorax, which is
this black, shiny part,

Isn't as fuzzy
as on the worker bees.

The worker bees have
a lot of hair

So pollen will
stick to them.

Who are these
other bees?

These are
her attendants.

They are called
the queen's court.

Her whole job
is to lay eggs?

Right. She'll lay
as many as 2,000 eggs a day.

Do they feed her
while she's doing this?

That's right.

Here you can see
the young larvae--

The little, curly,
pearly white things.

Oh, those are
the babies.

That's right.

Look, levar.
Over here is a bee
feeding a larva.

She'll stick
her head in

And deposit food--
nectar and pollen--
to the larva.

And then she'll cap
the cell with wax,

And the larva
will grow inside?

That's right.

Ooo! What's going on
over here?

That's a brand-new bee
emerging for the first time.

You can see her
poking her head out

And chewing her way
through the comb.

She's gone through
the stages of egg,
larva, and pupa,

And now she's reached
the adult stage.

Wow! A brand-new
baby bee.

What's going on
at the front
of the hive, tony?

The ones facing inward
are fanning to cool the hive.

They're directing
air currents into the entrance.

They have to maintain
this hive at 93 degrees

For the larvae
to develop.

Bees know what


Pretty close.

There are bees
coming and going
at the hive entrance.

Those are the foragers.

They go to flowers
for nectar and pollen.

Some of these bees
are carrying pollen

In their pollen baskets.

Those bees have
orange balls on their legs.

They just came
from the fields?

Right, but they don't
bring all the pollen back.

Some of it is deposited
from flower to flower

On their body hairs.

That's how flowers
produce seed and fruit.

Bees lead
a very busy life!

Let's let them
get back to work.

I know there's a way
to get the honey

From the comb
into the jar.

I just can't figure it out.

But professional beekeepers
like dave smith

Can fill a hundred jars
in no time.

When you have
as many bees as I do,

You have to extract daily
for at least a week

To get all the honey
out of the combs.

I put the boxes
on the truck,

Drive them to
my honey house,

Stack them
next to the extract0r.

I make sure they're warm

So that the honey will flow
out of the combs easily.

Bees cap over
the frame of honey with wax.

I have to take
these cappings off

With a hot Kn*fe.

It's meant to melt
the wax and cut the wax

As it's coming through
the cappings.

As I uncap the honey frames,

I line them up
in my uncapping tray

And let them drip out

Until I need to load them
into the extractor.

As the extractor
starts to spin,

The honey is thrown to
the outer wall of the extractor.

The honey runs out the tube
at the back end

Into the clarifier.

When that honey
gets to a certain height,

It's pumped up
into the holding t*nk.

Then I open the spigot

And draw off a nice, clean
jar of honey.

Everyone has a favorite way
of eating honey,

But mine is
straight out of the jar.

We're busy, busy bees,
we live in a hive.

Working together
keeps us alive.

We got jobs to do,
so excuse us, please,

We're busy bees.

We fly
in the morning hours

To get nectar
from flowers.

We'll make honey
from nectar we found.

We'll spread pollen around,

Which will make
more flowers grow,

Then to the hive we'll go.

We're busy, busy bees,

Busy, busy, busy,
busy, busy bees.

Back at the hive,
home sweet home,

We store honey
in the honeycomb.

I'll introduce you
to some royalty--

It's our hard-working
queen bee.

She lays eggs all day
and doesn't miss a b*at.

Other bees feed her because
she has no time to eat.

She's a busy, busy bee,
busy, busy bee.

Eggs hatch into larvae.
We feed them, too.

There's so many
jobs to do.

We work hard,
and that's not jive,

And that's the latest buzz
from inside the beehive.

We're busy, busy,
busy, busy bees.

People don't store
their prized possessions

In honeycombs.

We keep them in libraries.

If you comb the shelves
for interesting books,

You'll find many
to keep you buzzing.

Here are some honeys.

But don't take
my word for it.

If not for honeybees,

We'd be missing
some plants, flowers, and trees.

Read the reason for a flower
by ruth heller.

It should be
a best-seller.

You'll learn how pollen
is collected by bees.

It can make you sneeze.

You'll find out
how seeds are born.

Some may be the kernels
in your popcorn.

Flowers that eat insects
are called carnivorous.

Animals that only eat plants
are herbivorous.

The pictures in this book
are great, indeed.

You'll even see
the world's biggest seed.

I'm jeffrey,
and I recommend this book.

Go to your library
and look.

Read the facts twice,
and you'll know them.

This book's a poem.

My name is yanuka.

I just read a wonderful book,
the lady and the spider.

A spider lives
in a lady's garden.

A spider lives
on a head of lettuce

In a lady's garden.

The leaves are the walls
and ceiling for her house.

When it rains, water falls
from the leaves into a puddle,

That makes a swimming pool.

One day, the lady
picks the lettuce to eat it.

The spider is trapped.

The lady begins to
throw the spider out,

But she changes her mind.

I learned a lot about spiders.

You should think twice
before k*lling bugs.

I would like you
to read this book, too,

Because it's a nice story.

Hello. My name's mark.

Have you been going buggy

Trying to find
a funny joke book?

This book is called
going buggy!

It's by peter and connie roop.
It's very funny.

You'll find lots of
word plays like this one--

What kind of insects
are the best builders?

Carpenter ants.

Listen to this.

Why did the spider
spin a web?

Because she didn't know
how to knit one.

The pictures alone

Will get you and your friends
laughing out loud.

After you read this book,
share it with your family.

It will make for
some great laughs.

Get your hands on
going buggy!

Hey, emmett.

Hi, tony.
Got a package
for you.

Thanks.

You be careful.

What you got, tony?

A package.

Bees in the mail?

Sure.
Let's suit up

And start
a new hive.

Why are they crowded
around the top

And the can
in the center?

They've clustered
on the can
of sugar syrup,

Which feeds them
on their way up
from the south.

Where did these bees
come from?

Georgia.

How do we start
the new hive?

First we should
feed them.

If you'd paint the screens,

They'll start making wax

On the foundation
we're going to give them.

See them drink it?

Yeah. They're
drinking it
right away.

What's in this?

Just sugar and water.

Why do we feed them
before we put them
in their new home?

We want them
to stay in there.

If they have
a nice full stomach,

They can immediately
start making wax.

They'll make
this new hive
their own.

Just paint it
on here, huh?

You're doing great.

The next step is
to pry off the lid.

The can's right there
so the bees don't fly out.

The queen cage
is attached to this string.

While the bees
are traveling,

The queen is
kept separate.

Right.

Before we pull the can,
we've got to jar the bees

So they all fall
to the bottom of the cage.

I'll shake that can
so we don't get any bees.

Here's where they feed.

They stick
their little tongues
in there and drink?

Right.

I'll pull
the queen out.

She's got
her attendants
in there, too.

That's right.

Let's put the bees
in their new home.

Now we're ready
to put the queen in,

But first we'll pull
the cork out of one end.

Notice the candy here.

The bees will eat
through the candy,

And then the queen
will get out.

If you'll put in
the rest of the frames,

This hive can go to work.

Like that?

Now we're ready
to close her up...

First the inner cover,

Then the outer cover,

And that's that.

When will they start
making honey?

Within a couple
of days.

Unbelievable.
I had no idea

That bees were such
fascinating creatures.

Now I know why bees
are so busy.

They make enough honey
to feed themselves

And to give us
a sweet treat, too.

But most important, by buzzing
from flower to flower,

Bees spread pollen.

Pollen helps grow flowers,
vegetables, and fruit.

Thanks, bees,
and keep up the good work.

I'll bee seeing you next time.

Today's reading g rainbow books
are

E life cycle of the honeybee
by paula z. Hogan,

Illustrations by
geri k. Strigenz,

Published by
raintree publishers.

The reason for a flower
by ruth heller,

Published by grosset & dunlap.

The lady and the spider
by faith mcnulty,

Illustrated by bob marstall,

Published by
harper & row.

Going buggy
by peter and connie roop,

Pictures by joan hanson,

Published by
lerner publicatis co.