Beekeepers teach children tools of trade at Elkhart library

DUNLAP, Ind. (AP) - Beekeepers Deb and Henry Harris taught kids about how bees help build a better world Tuesday at the Dunlap branch of the Elkhart Public Library.

They explained the tools of the trade, from hats, gloves and smokers to the boxes of slides that bees build their honeycomb on, as well as the types of bees, their lifecycle and how a hive is managed. They also demonstrated how pollination not only helps flowers spread and fruit grow but is also responsible for almost every part of a hamburger.

Henry said he doesn't often need gloves or sleeves when working with honeybees, but Deb pointed out that the veiled hat does help keep bees out of his beard.

He also explained that a bee has to get nectar from 150 flowers before their stomach is full. In the hive the nectar gets concentranted into honey, with much of the water removed - otherwise, bees would need a hive as big as the library itself to hold it all, he said.

The couple currently has five honeybee hives but had close to 40 at one time. Deb, who is also a librarian at Dunlap, says she hopes to take the fear of honeybees out of kids and show them as a helpful, interesting creature.

"Bees are not mean, evil things out to sting them. They actually do have a place in making our lives a little better, more comfortable. Bees are a good thing," she said. "The more you delve into honey bees, the more miraculous they become. Almost any part of nature looks like normal, but then the more you learn, it's just a fascinating part of nature."

They will present another talk June 29 at 10 a.m. at the Osolo library branch.

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Source: The Elkhart Truth, http://bit.ly/2sFpaYK

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Information from: The Elkhart Truth, http://www.elkharttruth.com