Better Bees: Super Bee and Wild Bee Educator Guide A resource for using QUEST video and audio in the classroom Watch online at http://www.kqed.org/quest/television/view/434 See web-only video at http://www.kqed.org/quest/television/view/457 Listen to Bringing Back Urban Bees online at http://www.kqed.org/quest/radio/view/150

PROGRAM NOTES

What does it take to make a garden grow? Water, sunlight, good soil -- and honeybees! Bay Area scientists are helping to develop a genetically stronger honeybee to ensure that this prolific pollinator will not disappear from our farms and fields.

In this segment you will find…

• an explanation of the important role honeybees play inplant pollination.

• a description of the process involved in creating a strongerhoneybee.

• examples of techniques being used to attract bees tocroplands.

TOPIC BACKGROUND

Honeybees are one of the most well-known insects on the planet. There are seven different species, with the European honeybee being the most widely recognized for its value as a pollinator. These natives of Asia and the Middle East had spread throughout North America by the 19th century. Today they’re naturalized on every continent except Antarctica. Honeybees have a highly developed social structure and depend on their community, or colony, for survival.

A honeybee colony can have as many as 20,000 bees! This community is made up of one breeding female, the queen; a population of males, called drones; and several thousand sterile females, known as workers. The queen is the largest bee in a colony and lays all of the eggs – as many as 1,500 a day! With her long body, large abdomen and curved stinger, the queen looks distinctly different from other bees. Drones

have one job -- to mate with the queen. Drones have much larger eyes so they can more easily target the queen. They have no stingers and can’t feed themselves. At the end of the summer, drones are either driven out of the hive or left to die by the worker bees. The workers are females that can’t reproduce. They make up most of the bees in a colony and do all the tasks necessary to maintain a hive, such as feed the queen and larvae, feed the drones, fan the hive with their wings to keep it cool, guard the hive entrance from intruders and collect pollen. Young workers, known as house bees, tend to the hive. Older workers, or field bees forage for pollen, nectar and water outside the hive. Workers have a straight, barbed stinger that can be used only one time. If they pierce the skin of an enemy, the stinger rips out of the bee’s abdomen, killing it. The queen has a barbless stinger that she can use repeatedly without harming herself.

When field bees search plants for nectar, pollen sticks to the fuzzy hairs that cover their hind legs. At the next flower, some of the pollen rubs off and fertilizes that flower. In this way, bees help improve fruit production. Bees pollinate an estimated 130 different varieties of fruit, flowers, nuts and vegetables in the United States alone. These hard workers annually contribute about $14 billion worth of labor to this country’s crop yield.

QUEST SUBJECTS

Life Biology Science Health

Environment

Earth Geology Science Weather

Astronomy

Physical Physics Science Chemistry

Engineering

CA SCIENCE STANDARDS

Grade 4 Life Sciences 3. Living organisms depend on one another and their environment for survival. (c)

Grade 6 Ecology (Life Sciences) 5. Organisms in ecosystems exchange energy and nutrients among themselves and with the environment. (c, e)

Better Bees Educator Guide kqed.org/quest

-

- –

Media Enhance Education

Video and audio can be powerful tools for meaningful learning. It all depends on you, the educator. The key to using media effectively is preparation. Make the most of learning opportunities by encouraging students to become active viewers and listeners. Pick and choose from the suggested questions and activities to offer an engaging media experience.

Questioning

Oftentimes, teachers and students become frustrated during a media segment when students can’t find the answers to a long list of questions. Provide a limited number of questions or topics for students. This focuses their attention during a media segment, helps to keep them engaged and generally results in higher quality answers. QUEST Ed. has provided a number of options for focus questions ranging from fact based to opinions, as well as “big picture” ideas.

PRE VIEWING

• What is a pollinator?

• What kinds of things help farmers grow healthier, better-tasting fruits and vegetables?

• What role do bees play in nature? Are they important?

• How do you think pesticides, parasites and environmental factors affect bees?

VIEWING FOCUS NOTE: You may choose to watch the television segment twice with your students: once to elicit emotional responses and get an overview of the topic and again to focus on facts and draw out opinions.

• Why are honeybees such good pollinators?

• What is colony collapse disorder (CCD) and why does it occur?

• How does the varroa mite affect a bee?

• Describe how bee breeders go about raising bees that can resist pests and disease.

• What can farmers do to help attract bees to their fields?

POST VIEWING Links to activities mentioned here can be found on the following page.

• Review students’ answers to the Viewing Focus Questions.

• Read about CCD and write an article outlining your opinion about what the causes might be.

• Listen online to the QUEST radio story “Bringing Back Urban Bees” at http://www.kqed.org/quest/radio/view/150 and discuss the information shared.

• List your favorite fruits and vegetables and then research the pollinators most frequently associated with these types of plants and trees.

Better Bees Educator Guide kqed.org/quest

LESSON PLANS / ACTIVITIES

Plants and Animals: Partners in Pollination Smithsonian Education http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/lesson_plans/partners_in_pollination/ • These curriculum materials feature readings and activities focused on plant

pollination that are geared for grade levels 4-9.

Nature’s Partners: Pollinators, Plants, and You North American Pollinator Protection Campaign http://www.nappc.org/curriculum/ • This comprehensive curriculum about pollination and pollinators is designed for

grades 3-6, but is easily modified for older students.

WEB SITES

Enter the Hive PBS Nature http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/fun/hive_flash.html • This online interactive depicts the activities in a bee hive, and the site presents

information about the daily lives of honeybees.

Tales from the Hive PBS http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bees/ • The companion Web site to Nova’s “Tales from the Hive” program presents

interesting facts about bees, an intriguing look at the world inside a bee hive, and an interactive feature about the specialized dances performed by honeybees.

Bees: An Inside Look ThinkQuest http://library.thinkquest.org/19579/ • This Web site presents information about the biology, history, natural environment

and benefits of bees.

ARTICLES / READING

“Honeybee Die-Off Alarms Beekeepers, Crop Growers and Researchers” (1/29/07) http://www.aginfo.psu.edu/News/07Jan/HoneyBees.htm • This Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences news release discusses colony

collapse disorder.

“The Mysterious Deaths of the Honeybees” (3/29/07) http://money.cnn.com/2007/03/29/news/honeybees/ • This CNN Money article outlines CCD and its possible financial ramifications. “I

n pa

rtic

ular

, the

fru

its,

veg

etab

les

and

nuts

tha

t ar

e co

rner

ston

es o

f a

bala

nced

and

hea

lthy

die

t ar

ees

peci

ally

dep

ende

nt o

n co

ntin

ued

acce

ss t

o ho

neyb

ee p

ollin

atio

n.”

--M

ark

Bra

dy, p

resi

dent

of t

he A

mer

ican

Hon

ey P

rodu

cers

Ass

ocia

tion,

Inc.

Look for the indicating resources from QUEST partner organizations

Better Bees Educator Guide kqed.org/quest

UEST UAD FIELD NOTES FIELD TRIP

Go outside and ... Visit ...

Observe the pollinators around you ۞ ۞ San Francisco Botanical Garden • Which plants in your area seem to attract the www.sfbotanicalgarden.org/

most pollinators? • Take a guided walk to learn about plants • What kinds of pollinators do they attract? and their reproductive processes. • Why do you think these plants are attractive to • Observe pollinators in action.

pollinators? ۞ Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy

Native Plant Nurseries Think about pollinators and your favorite foods ۞ • Look at the food in your kitchen and make a list of

items might not be available if our major pollinators disappeared.

www.parksconservancy.org/our_work/native_plants • Visit field restoration sites and nurseries

to learn about ecosystems, environments and pollination.

۞ “Attract Native Bees to Your Garden” at www.kqed.org/quest/television/view/457 • Take a virtual tour of UC-Berkeley

entomologist Gordon Frankie’s garden to find out what he’s learned about using plants to lure bees.

FIELD RESEARCH FIELD TEST

Find out more about... Experiment with...

The daily lives of bees ۞ ۞ Building a “bee condo” for native bees www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=53420300 http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/beebox.shtml • Visit this site to explore fluctuations in bee • Follow the online directions to build a home

colonies and follow bees through their hive for native bees. using a "BeeCam."

populations survive honeybee How to help ۞ ۞ Matching plants with their pollinators www.csmonitor.com/2000/0517/p20s3.html www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/flower/poll-flash.html • Visit this site to research 10 ways people can • Follow the online directions to match

help sustain honeybee populations. plants with their pollinators.

Better Bees Educator Guide kqed.org/quest

QUEST is a production of KQED, © 2007 KQED, San Francisco

MORE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES FOR USING QUEST MULTIMEDIA TO ENHANCE 21st CENTURY SKILLS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING

Why Use Multimedia in Science Education? http://www.kqed.org/quest/downloads/QUESTWhyMedia.pdf • Read about the importance of using multimedia in the 21st century

science classroom.

How to Use Science Media for Teaching and Learning http://www.kqed.org/quest/downloads/QUESTMediaTips.pdf • A collection of tips, activities and handouts to actively engage students

with multimedia.

Science Multimedia Analysis http://www.kqed.org/quest/downloads/QUESTMediaAnalysis.pdf • Give your students the tools to recognize the purposes and messages of

science multimedia.

Create Online Science Hikes with Google Maps http://www.kqed.org/quest/files/download/52/QUEST_ExplorationCreation.pdf • Do you like the science hike Explorations on the QUEST site? Use this

place-based educational guide to create similar science-based maps with youth.

VISIT OUR PARTNERS

The Bay Institute www.bay.org

California Academy of Sciences www.calacademy.org

Chabot Space and Science Center www.chabotspace.org

East Bay Regional Park District www.ebparks.org

Exploratorium www.exploratorium.edu

Girl Scouts of Northern California www.girlscoutsnorcal.org

Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy www.parksconservancy.org

The J. David Gladstone Institutes www.gladstone.ucsf.edu

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory www.lbl.gov

Lawrence Hall of Science www.lawrencehallofscience.org

Monterey Bay Aquarium www.mbayaq.org

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute www.mbari.org

Oakland Zoo www.oaklandzoo.org

The Tech Museum of Innovation www.thetech.org

UC Berkeley Natural History Museums http://bnhm.berkeley.edu/

U.S. Geological Survey www.usgs.gov

OTHER WAYS TO PARTICIPATE IN QUEST

LOG ON

www.kqed.org/quest

LISTEN

KQED 88.5 FM San Francisco & 89.3 FM Sacramento Mondays at 6:30am and 8:30am

WATCH

KQED Channel 9 Tuesdays at 7:30pm

Major funding is provided by the National Science Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Foundation, and The Amgen Foundation. Additional support is provided by the William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation, Ann S. Bowers -The Robert Noyce Trust, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, and the Vadasz Family Foundation.

— BRINGING BACK URBAN BEES QUEST RADIO TRANSCRIPT NOTES AND QUESTIONS

Walking through a small back yard near San Francisco's Castro District, you come upon a strange sight: a thick line of bees visible in the air.

MEIER: Because it’s a nice day, the girls are out playing around.

That’s beekeeper Roger Meier. He runs the Mint Hill Apiary out of his back garden. And, ironically, he’s a little skittish around the hives, because he’s allergic to bee stings.

MEIER: They don’t see you as a threat because this is the back of their hive. But as you can see, if you look up, you can see their flight path, where they all go in and out.

Bees are like nature's little delivery trucks, moving pollen from the male part of a flower, the stamen, over to the female part of a flower, the pistil. It’s how plant seeds get fertilized. So if we want our world filled with flowers and fruit trees, Meier says, we need bees.

MEIER: They’re incredibly beneficial to what’s going on in our own microclimates. They’re important for a lot of reasons; mainly they are the number one source for pollination in an urban area.

A national survey of the bee population recently found that American honeybees have declined by 30 percent in the past two decades. One of the big reasons for the decline is from a loss of habitat and food sources, and that’s even greater in urban areas. This is the traditional way to bring more bees into an area, with hives of honeybees. But there’s a problem with that.

For the past decade, honeybee hives have been destroyed by varroa mites, and in the last year or so, a new ailment, called Colony Collapse Disorder, has killed entire colonies of bees. On top of all that, in urban areas, it’s really hard to keep beehives, because the human population density is so high and neighbors often get scared and complain, so hives have to be moved out of cities.

The answer may come from this small field across the bay, an island of green and yellow among miles of city blocks in Berkeley.

FRANKIE: This is the way I usually do it. Oh, that looks good. Just dig them out like this.

At the Urban Bee Project in Berkeley, Gordon Frankie is a professor of insect biology at UC Berkeley. He’s working with a small team of graduate students to transform this island of dirt into an oasis for wild, native bees.

FRANKIE: In the city of Berkeley, we’ve already collected at least 82 species of bees. And of course if you add up all the bee species in California, we have about 1600 different species of bees that have been recorded.

www.kqed.org/quest 1

— BRINGING BACK URBAN BEES QUEST RADIO TRANSCRIPT NOTES AND QUESTIONS

Frankie, head of the Urban Bee Project, explains that almost all of California’s wild, native bee species, such as bumblebees or squash bees, do NOT build hives. They live singly, sometimes nesting in tiny crevices of wood, and, he says, they can survive in an urban setting.

FRANKIE: So there actually are bees all over the cities. You just don’t see them all the time because they come and they go, and many of them are small. And urban areas, even though you may think of buildings and pavement and parking lots and cars, and all of that, there’s a lot of wild things in urban environments.

Small numbers of these wild, native bees, he says, are actually flying by us every day, crisscrossing the cities looking for food. And that’s the key to dramatically increasing their numbers, because they could not only survive but thrive, if they could find enough food. And that, says Frankie, is actually the easy part.

FRANKIE: Basically, when you plant the right plants, the bees will come to these flowers.

The Urban Bee Project wants to get gardeners in urban areas to plant native-bee-friendly plants in their back yards - poppies, salvia, coreopsis - to attract and feed bees. It’s kind of a grassroots effort to bring back the native bee population. It’s working with city projects, schools and nurseries to get more bee-friendly plants into large and small gardens.

TEACHER: Start poking your holes, Natalie! Yeah, there you go, six inches apart.

In the coastal town of Pacifica, south of San Francisco, about a dozen 4-H kids are digging and planting vegetable and flower beds back behind Linda Mar Elementary School. 10-year-old Sara Steiss can tell you exactly why they’re all here.

STEISS: ‘Cause probably different kinds of bees like different types of flowers, so they came to get the kind of flowers they liked, and maybe try out some new ones!

The 4-H Club won first prize at the San Mateo County fair last year for their bee garden, and they’re determined to make it even better this year, and to learn about bees along the way, project leader Mona Urbina says.

URBINA: These native bees have been here all the time, before the European bees came. And they were doing their job at that time, so maybe they can pick up the slack.

The Urban Bee Project is working with several other cities in California to build up native bee populations. It also has a website with a list of flowers bees love, and it hopes its work with plant wholesalers and nurseries will encourage home gardeners all around the city to establish bee-friendly yards, creating a kind of green necklace of gardens in the urban landscape, and setting up a long-term bee habitat in the big city. For Quest, I’m David Gorn, KQED radio news.

www.kqed.org/quest 2