This STEM project is to help the bees. Offering native bees a home to build their nests is a good way to share our spades and support them in their hard work of pollinating our gardens. Native bees, if they decide to take up residence in your bee house, are docile and make good neighbors because they are unlikely to sting.
Thank you to Monsanto for sending us this DIY Bee House kit! We made our own bee house, and our video is at the bottom.
DIY Bee House STEM Project for Kids
To build a bee house, you will need:
- Construction paper or pre-made cardboard bee tubes (or a combination of both)
- Empty milk carton
- Zip ties – 12 inch
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You will also need:
- duct tape
- masking tape or scotch tape
- scissors
- pencil (used to roll construction paper around to make tubes)
- stickers or decorations (optional)
Learn About Bees
- Did you know that there are around 4,000 species of bees in North America and many of them are completely different from the bees we normally picture when we think of bees?
- Native bees help pollinate not only the flowers that our gardens pretty but also cherry trees, apples, squash, watermelons, and many other fruits and vegetables that we eat.
- Bees are responsible for pollinating more than 75% of the world’s crops.
- Most of our native bees are solitary.
Vocabulary About The Science of Bees
Entomology: the study of insects
Apiarist: a person who takes care of bees; also known as a beekeeper
Pollination: the transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma
Pollinator: an organism that transfers pollen to other organisms
Solitary: by itself; alone
Pollen Basket: on bees, a smooth area on the hind tibia of each leg fringed with long hairs and serving to transport pollen
Larva: the young, wingless, feeding stage of an insect that undergoes complete metamorphosis
Shelter: something beneath, behind, or within which a person, animal, or thing is protected from storms
p.s. Related posts:
Bee Barf is Honey? Books & Videos for Kids
Pollination: Video and Ideas for Summer Learning
You can also use this book to create the same bee house:
Turn This Book Into a Beehive: and 19 Other Experiments and Activities That Explore the Amazing World of Bees by Lynn Brunelle, illustrated by Anna-Maria Jung
If you don’t want to use the cardboard tubes to make the same bee house as above, this book has both information about bees and all the materials you need to create it, theirs is a hanging version. The information is extensive about honeybees versus solitary bees and it’s presented in a very engaging way. This is perfect for kids who like hands-on science! [nonfiction science and kit book, ages 8 and up]
Bee House at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh
Bee house at RISD
p.s. Related posts:
Bee Barf is Honey? Books & Videos for Kids
Pollination: Video and Ideas for Summer Learning
All About Hummingbirds: A Unit for Kids
Painted Lady Butterfly Migration is AMAZING!
10 Environmental Picture Books
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Great project idea…so many children are afraid of bees. Fight fear with knowledge!
Hi Barbara Ann,
It was new to me that there are solitary bees and they live in my area! Also that solitary bees are not aggressive. We don’t have any occupants yet in our bee house but we are hoping a bee will move in! Just one!
What a cool project! Have any bees moved in yet?
Hi MaryAnne,
Sadly, no! We keep checking though and hope a bee will move in.