Not too long ago, I hosted a dinner party and the theme of the party was honey.  Every recipe used had honey as an ingredient.  I went to one of the “fancy” grocery stores in our area and they had several different types of honey to purchase.  I decided to get clover, raspberry, and blackberry honey.  Then I went over to the cheese department and they helped me purchase different cheeses to pair with the variety of honey. When I got this home and set up for my party my kids were so interested in the different flavors of honey.  I have to admit, I was surprised too by the strong flavors in the different honey varieties.

The excitement that came out of my youngest, around tasting these different types of honey, inspired her to learn more about bees.  I brought out the bee books that I have in my collection and she started reading.  At first she’d kind of shudder at the thought of these little critters, but eventually she thought it was kind of interesting.

We even ordered the Surprise Ride Bee Box, which was filled with different activities and book related to bees.  I think my daughter’s favorite activity was making the beeswax candles.

Later that year, we went to visit my cousin’s farm over in Eastern Washington.  He had planted 65 acres of sunflowers and had a bee keeper bring in boxes, and boxes, and boxes of bees.  The bees were very busy doing their job and you could just walk right through the sunflowers and the bees didn’t even seem to notice us.  They were as busy as… well, bees!

I’m starting to think of bee and honey provocations that I can use in my classroom to inspire kids to learn more about bees during our Spring planting unit. I think they would really get excited! I know bees aren’t the most appealing insects to kids, because of the fear factor, but I love it when kids realize that there is a bigger purpose to something and start to notice the important role that bees play in many different ways. I think honey tasting is a great way to start this off!

Happy honey tasting!