I’m stuck in traffic with an entomologist.
If you ever have to be stuck in traffic, I highly recommend finding an entomologist to help the time pass (especially an entomologist who studies honey bees). Since she’s presenting lessons about bees to fifth graders, I learn about the kinds of questions fifth graders ask about bees. It’s all back to the question words: Who? What? Where? When? How? Why?
1. How fast do they fly? (We wonder how you might motivate a honey bee to fly as fast as she could.)
2. Who gets to be queen? (Once chosen, she lays up to 3,000 eggs a day.)
3. How do they communicate? (They dance! A waggle dance!)
4. Where do they carry the nectar to bring back to the hive? (In a special stomach.)
5. Where do they put the pollen they collect? (In little pollen pouches behind their legs.)
Inspired by the children, I start asking my own questions. My husband asks about how much honey a hive can produce, and I ask more about the selection process for queen. As we talk about bees, I realize I could continue asking and learning about bees for hours.
Just one topic–bees–can last for a whole traffic jam if you ask the right questions. Living with flair means you think like a curious fifth-grader and become fascinated again with the mystery of creation.
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Journal: Did you know that all the worker bees in a hive are female? I didn’t!