You are all invited to a look at honeybees at our house!

Thursday, June 23 @ 11am

We can look at:

• how a beehive is set up

• what bees keep in their hives

• worker, drone, and queen bees

• egg, larva, and pupa stages

• honey and wax, and how we harvest it

• anything else you're interested in

I also have a little storybook about bees, a non-bee craft project we can do (make your own sidewalk chalk), and I can show our compost bin and composting worms to anyone who is interested.

I plan mostly to show everything away from the bees themselves, but I will open up the beehive and show you (from a distance, unless someone is brave and wants to suit up!) what it looks like on the inside. If anyone is interested in a closer look, I recommend a thick, long sleeve shirt, jeans (the thicker the better) and socks with sneakers. I can provide a head covering and gloves.

DISCLAIMER: Even if you get up close, you are unlikely to be stung by our good-natured bees. However, a sting is always possible when the hive is opened. I have an Epi-pen and Epi-pen Junior in the rare event that someone has a sudden, severe reaction to a sting. For most people stings are painful and annoying, but not serious. We will also talk about what to do if a bee lands on you, so that we can avoid accidental, self-inflicted stings. But you need to be aware that there is a small but real risk associated with this activity, and it is your responsibility to assess for yourselves if it's an acceptable risk for you and your kids.

This activity will have to be postponed for rain or substantial winds.  I will let Kjerstin know first thing Thursday morning if the weather is questionable.  Here's our address, and how you get to our house:

9940 Whitefish Circle

Take Minnesota to 100^th Ave. (just south of Dimond). Go west (away from the mountains) on 100^th, turn right at the second street, which is Olympic. Olympic curves, then turn left immediately on Whitefish. We're at the very end of the cul-du-sac.

Hope to see you!

Andrea, Spike, and Saoirse