Wednesday 2 January 2019

The Air Up There

  • The word ‘bumblebee’ is a compound word (bumble + bee). The word ‘bumble’ means to hum, buzz, or drone
  • Bumblebees can fly very quickly. They can reach ground speeds of 54 kilometres per hour (km/h).
  • Bumblebees are very strong! They carry up to 90 percent of their body weight in food with them to avoid starvation.
  • Bumblebees can do more work and carry more pollen than other bees, including honeybees. In fact, they can do up to   50 times as much work as a normal honeybee.
  • The number of bumblebees is declining in New Zealand due to a number of factors, including the removal of wildflowers and flowering trees, habitat loss, and extensive use of pesticides
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2 comments:

  1. Evelyn SLJ13 January 2019 at 20:42

    Hey Hannah,

    You've done a superb job on filling in the blanks for each of these unbee-lievable facts about bumblebees! Bumblebees are so small, it's hard to believe that they can fly so fast. That's much faster than the fastest man can run on earth! These bees are incredibly strong to be able to carry up to 90% of their body weight in food so that they don't get hungry. Imagine if we had to carry bags and bags of food on our backs every single day, we would probably be too exhausted to even eat (I'd bring bags and bags of chocolate and other yummy snacks though)!

    Do you like bumblebees? My dad is a beekeeper so we have a few beehives in our back garden. Our bees are honeybees, not bumblebees though. I get a little nervous to stand too close to the beehives in case I get stung but these bees work so hard everyday that they never seem to notice me when I lean in a little closer to have a look! Do you think you would be brave enough to stand next to a beehive?

    Best,
    Evelyn :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hasiba SLJ14 January 2019 at 10:11

    Kia Ora Hannah!
    My Name is Hasiba, I am also from Summer Learning Journey team.

    Well done for completing this task! Bumblebees are very important to our ecosystems.
    I didn’t know bumblebees can do 50 times the work as normal honeybees. Did you know that bumblebees are covered in an oil that makes them waterproof! How awesome is that!
    Do you have any favourite animals that have interesting features that helps them survive?

    Keep up the creativity and hard work
    He Whetu Koe! (You’re a star!)
    Hasiba

    ReplyDelete

Thank-you for your positive, thoughtful, helpful comment.

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