Kids' Corner

Honey

• What’s all the buzz about honey? Even with our frigid winters, in Ontario we can enjoy honey all year round. That’s because honey, when stored properly, keeps for a long time. Be sweet to your honey! Store it right in a dry place at room temperature.
• Although bears do like honey, they prefer to eat the bee larvae. They’re nutritious, but we don’t recommend them for kids! Instead, drizzle a little honey over delicious foods like whole-grain toast, hot oatmeal or yogurt, and blend it into smoothies.

Which of these statements are true?

• a) The queen bee lays 1,500 eggs a day.
• b) Bees store honey in six-sided honeycomb cells made from beeswax.
• c) A beehive in the summer can have as many as 50,000 to 80,000 bees.
• d) A bee must collect nectar from about 2 million flowers to make 1 pound of honey.
• e) Honey comes in different colours and flavours. The flower where the nectar was gathered from determines the flavour and colour of the honey.
• f) All of the above.

Answer: f
(How cool is that!)

Want to buy Ontario honey right from a beekeeper? To find one near you, check out this list from the Ontario Beekeepers Association. Visit the website’s kids’ zone too.