The Junior team have been studying Mini Beasts this term. It started with a visit to Natureland to see their tuatara and it has grown from there.  Amazing facts have been uncovered about a variety of insects and mini beasts.  Here's a selection of facts that Harakeke have uncovered about bees and ants....

1.  The Queen Bee lays around 1500 eggs a day.

2.  The female bees do all the work.  The male bees do nothing other than mate with a Queen and then they die.

3.  Bees are vital in our world as they pollinate plants. 

4.  Bees and ants have three parts to their bodies, 6 legs and antennae and are insects.

5.  It takes bees around 10 million foraging trips to make a jar of honey.

6.  It takes the life's work of 24 bees to make enough honey for one piece of toast.

7.  A hive of bees will fly around 89,000km - or twice around the world - to make a 400g jar of honey.

8.  Honey is basically just bee spit.

9.   Honey is made from nectar.

10.  The total weight of all the ants in the world is the same as, if not greater than, the total weight of all humans in the world.

11.  Ants can lift 20x their own weight - that's like us carrying a car!

12.  Ants, like bees, have three different jobs that they might be born into - the Queen who lays all the eggs, the workers who are all female  and do all the work and the drones who are all male and don't do much other than find a mate.

13.  Most ants can survive 24 hours under the water.  Some ants can actually swim.

14.  Bees and ants both have two stomachs - one for themselves and the other for storing food or nectar for the colony.

15.  Honey bees and ants live in big groups - the bees live in hives and ants live in colonies.

Here's some photos of the wonderful art that has been appearing in our classrooms.  It's pretty impressive!  Come on in to our classrooms and see it for yourselves....