CULLMAN, Ala. – The main branch of the Cullman County Public Library was buzzing with excitement on Monday, July 29. Local beekeeper Heather Sinyard visited the institution to educate children about the importance of pollinators and the duties, instincts and lifestyle of the honeybees whose honey she harvests.
Sinyard owns and maintains a large hive of honeybees – over 60,000 bees – on her property. She harvests the sweet byproduct to be sold at local markets. The sample hive in attendance at the event was the talk of the town, the source of endless questions and elated squeals from children in the crowd.
Holding a pint jar of her collected honey, Sinyard amazed the attendees with one fact about pollinators’ efficiency: gesturing to the jar, she stated, “It took the nectar of about 2 million flowers to make this jar of honey.”
The children listened as Sinyard explained the science and nature behind the queen bee. The hive’s chosen larvae is fed a continuous diet of royal jelly, a protein-rich secretion made by worker bees, until the queen reaches sexual maturity and repopulates the hive.
“That royal jelly makes her turn into a queen,” Sinyard told the group. Sinyard laughed as one of the morning’s attendees inquired about the queen bee’s counterpart and said, “There is no king bee.”
During the session, the bee charmer informed the attending tikes and tots what to do if a swarm of honeybees happens upon an unsuspecting victim. Honeybees often lose interest in targets farther away than they travel from their hive.
Sinyard asked the gathered youngsters what the response should be to catching on fire as the children popped off with, “stop, drop and roll!” in unison. Sinyard continued, “Right! Stop, drop and roll. That is not what you do when bees get after you. If honeybees get after you, you should run far and fast because they don’t get far from their hive.”
At the end of the presentation, the children were invited to taste samples of honey that Sinyard collected from her honeybees, allowing them to taste the fruit of her honeybees’ labor.
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