Mike Szydlowski shows the rack that has the reigning queen bee to his students Tuesday at Fairview Elementary School. A new queen bee is kept in a cage with a candy seal to prevent her from being attacked by the colony. After a few days, when the worker bees become used to the new queen, they will chew out the candy to free her, Szydlowski said.
Mike Szydlowski, the science coordinator for Columbia Public Schools, prepares a smoker to calm the bees before opening the beehive to the fourth and fifth grade students on Tuesday at Fairview Elementary School. Szydlowski said the smoke makes the bees think they're in a forest fire, so they focus on storing honey to prepare for abandoning the hive, which in turn makes them calm and slow to attack.
Tyler Simmons, left, watches as Mike Szydlowski puts on his gloves before opening the beehive Tuesday at Fairview Elementary School. The beehive was opened for the first time on Tuesday because the weather was warm enough to make the bees active.
Mike Szydlowski shows the bees clinging to a rack pulled from Fairview school's beehive on Tuesday. When the queen bee gets old, the workers will kill her in order to make way for a new queen.
With temperatures creeping into the 60s, the honeybees in Fairview Elementary School’s courtyard have emerged after the cold winter months they spent huddled in a ball to keep warm.
Mike Szydlowski, the science coordinator for Columbia Public Schools, prepares a smoker to calm the bees before opening the beehive to the fourth and fifth grade students on Tuesday at Fairview Elementary School. Szydlowski said the smoke makes the bees think they're in a forest fire, so they focus on storing honey to prepare for abandoning the hive, which in turn makes them calm and slow to attack.
Mike Szydlowski shows the rack that has the reigning queen bee to his students Tuesday at Fairview Elementary School. A new queen bee is kept in a cage with a candy seal to prevent her from being attacked by the colony. After a few days, when the worker bees become used to the new queen, they will chew out the candy to free her, Szydlowski said.
Tyler Simmons, left, watches as Mike Szydlowski puts on his gloves before opening the beehive Tuesday at Fairview Elementary School. The beehive was opened for the first time on Tuesday because the weather was warm enough to make the bees active.
Mike Szydlowski shows the bees clinging to a rack pulled from Fairview school's beehive on Tuesday. When the queen bee gets old, the workers will kill her in order to make way for a new queen.
