The Birds and The Bees

We went to a JUBILEE while we were in West Virginia. The day after, we asked Silly Girl and Moon Boy what they learned. There favorite part was the Raptor Show and the Bee Man. The crazy Bee Man made a beard of bees. He said he only got stung twice!

Here are the some of the things we learned:



The Birds

*We "met" three birds: Otis (pictured above) was a Southern Screech Owl. She had been hurt in a car accident. BeBo was also an owl. and Annie was the red-tailed hawk.
* Owls can move their head almost all the way around. 270 degrees to be exact! And it is because they have more neck bones then humans! They have 18. The reason they need to be able to rotate their heads is because their eyes don't move.
*There are 3 things that make birds predators: 1) Excellent eyesight--Their eyes are the same size as human eyes, but given that their heads are smaller, they can see 8-10 times better than us. 2) Sharp beak--it is used like a knife and fork. It rips the prey apart. 3) Talons--they use their claws for picking up or holding down their food. They exert the same amount of force as if a rhinoceros was sitting on you.
*Owls have an extra feather at the end of their wings that has a bump/curve on it. This helps silence their flight.
*The best hunting season for owls is in the winter because mice are attracted to the salt that melts the snow on the road.
*Birds of prey eat anything smaller than them.
*Many predator birds are injured by automobiles because they like "Edge Habitat." This means, that they like the cover of the trees but most of the prey they eat likes the open field. This is what is found at the side of many freeways. These birds can get hurt while hunting.
*Red-tailed hawks are active hunters--which means they go looking for food; on the other hand, owls are opportunistic hunters--they wait for prey to come to them.



The Bees

*The queen bee is an egg laying machine
*When a good queen bee lays its eggs, she uses every honey comb.
*The queen bee only uses its stinger to fight other potential queens. The losing queen leaves the hive with 1/2 of the workers.
*Worker bees can be male or female.
*The queen bee is not the boss; the worker bees make the 'rules.'
*A queen bee lives 3-5 years; worker bees only live 6 weeks.
*Queen bees have a different scent than all the other bees. It is this scent that attracts the other bees. The man was able to make his beard by strapping the queen around his chin.
*In WV, queen bees lay eggs from February to October. In warmer climates, the queen will lay eggs year round.
*"Homemade honey is the best honey; especially in the honey sticks we got."

WOW--that is a lot of learning!!!