September
September is National Honey Month
Bees, Butterflies and Ladybugs
Is worth a load of hay;
A swarm of bees in June
Is worth a silver spoon;
A swarm of bees in July
Is not worth a fly.
- Anonymous rhyme from England
The honeybee is our state insect. Honey is delicious, but did you know honeybees are more valuable for pollinating crops than they are for their honey?
- Pretend you are a lost honeybee and describe your adventures trying to find your way back to the hive.
- Honeybees communicate with other honeybees through their movements. Write a song to accompany the honeybee dance that explains where to find the honey.
The Bee
Like trains of cars on tracks of plushI hear the level bee:
A jar across the flower goes,
Their velvet masonry
Withstands until the sweet assault
Their chivalry consumes,
While he, victorious, tilts away
To vanquish other blooms.
His feet are shod with gauze,
His helmet is of gold;
His breast, a single onyx
His labor is a chant,
His idleness a tune;
Oh, for a bee's experience
Of clovers and of noon!
- Emily Dickinson
Monarch Migration
Monarch butterfly migration hits Oklahoma sometime this month.
Butterflies are important pollinators whose habitats are disappearing.
Make your own butterfly habitat with this lesson:
You are a migrating Monarch butterfly. Describe some of the most interesting places you have visited.
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Integrated Pest Management
Protecting pollinators and other beneficial insects is one of the reasons many farmers use Integrated Pest Management methods. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an effective and environmentally sensitive approach to pest management that relies on a combination of common-sense practices. IPM programs use current, comprehensive information on the life cycles of pests and their interaction with the environment. This information, in combination with available pest control methods, is used to manage pest damage by the most economical means and with the least possible hazard to people, property and the environment.
Learn more about IPM from these online AITC lessons:
Lost Ladybug Project
Over the past 20 years, several native ladybug species that were once very common have become extremely rare. During this same time, several species of ladybugs from other places have great increased both their numbers and range. Ladybugs are essential predators in both farms and forests that keep us from being overrun with pests like aphids and mealybugs