Bees!!!

There is a beehive in my front yard.

Bees!

Guys! There is a beehive in my yard!

You can bet that we've already gotten a lot of homeschool mileage out of the bees. When our extra supplies arrived for expanding the hive, my husband sat down with the kids and showed them (and me!) what everything was and why the bees need this and that. I didn't even ask him to do this. He just did. Clearly I married the right guy.

Wax-coated black plastic foundation

And then of course there is the experience of watching the bees in our garden and watching them fly in and out of the hive.

The bees love our cucumber and squash plants

Do you know what is so funny? While we were waiting for the bees to arrive, we got a lot of questions, and I worried, too. Kids and bees -- I must be crazy, right? And yet, here I am standing a foot away from the hive to take these photos, and the bees don't care.

They're Russian bees! Don't be afraid to get Russian bees because they are "more aggressive." As long as we don't knock the hive over or wear imitation banana perfume, the kids will be safe.

Ahhh! They're so amazing!

P.S. The NC Zoo has a neat bee exhibit including a giant fake hive that you can walk into. The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences also has a beehive that you can see into in their Discovery Room.