Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are the most important pollinators of many cultivated food crops and other flowering plants. These plants would be in trouble without bees, and so would we. Flowers ...
The ‘Buzz of bees’ is a Connected journal devoted entirely to bees. Each article has diagrams and illustrations that offer opportunities for students to develop the science capability ‘Interpret ...
Below are some interesting facts about bees and honey. Find out more about bees and pollination. All worker bees are female. A bee produces a teaspoon of honey (about 5 grams) in her lifetime. To ...
The life cycle of the monarch butterfly. Click on one of titles to find out more about each stage.
One of New Zealand’s most well known insects is the wētā, of the Orthoptera order, but there are thousands of other insects species, some of which we know very little about. What is an insect ...
Dr Mark Goodwin of Plant & Food Research explains how flowering plants use self-pollination or cross-pollination in their reproduction. He uses kiwifruit and avocado as examples to show how ...
Dr Mark Goodwin of Plant & Food Research explains what artificial pollination is and why it is needed for kiwifruit. Some work of the company PollenPlus is shown, including their QuadDuster ...
All honeys have properties that help them heal wounds. But how do they do this, and what’s so unique about Mānuka honey? The problem with wounds In normal situations, like a cut finger or a ...
Getting good crops of avocados in New Zealand is not always easy, and pollination is part of the problem. The avocado is a fruit tree introduced to New Zealand from Central America. It likes warm ...
In Spring 2020 Countdown developed a fantastic collection of insect cards and an album full of amazing facts and activities all about insects found in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is an excellent ...
Here are links to Science Learning Hub resources for primary teachers related to insects in the Living World strand of the New Zealand Curriculum. Investigate insects found in New Zealand to ...
Flowers are not on plants just to make them look pretty. They are there as a vital part of a flowering plant’s life cycle. Not all plants have flowers, find out what flowering plants are and how ...
Next time you eat a kiwifruit, cut it in half and look at it before taking a bite. Look for the little seeds – most kiwifruit have about 1,000, so you can’t miss them. To get seeds in a ...
Honey is antibacterial and can prevent growth of most types of bacteria. This experiment compares the effect of different types of honey on bacteria growing on agar plates. Purpose To compare the ...
In this activity, students take on the role of flower parts and act out the process of insect pollination By the end of this activity, students should be able to: understand that pollination ...
What is an insect and should we really care about these creepy crawlies? In a word – yes. As American biologist Edward O Wilson puts it, they are “the little things that run the world”. There are ...
You may have been spreading honey on your toast for a few years, but people have been using it to treat illnesses for thousands of years! Now honey is being used to make a product that can help ...
Discover more about five New Zealand insects, each one representing one of the orders within the insect kingdom.
Although honey from New Zealand’s Mānuka trees looks a lot like other honeys, there is one important difference that makes it extra special. Different honeys from different flowers New Zealand’s ...
Watch varroa mites (white juveniles and brown adults) on honey bees and learn how they spread viruses that kill bee colonies. Dr Mark Goodwin of Plant & Food Research shows hives being ...
In this webinar, join Greta Dromgool as she introduces Tom Saunders and Chrissie Painting – two of Aotearoa’s amazing entomologists. Delve into the fascinating world of insects and the important ...
New Zealand company Comvita is making and selling Mānuka honey woundcare products. In order to meet the high safety standards that are required, the honey needs to be monitored all the way from ...
Cells decide what they will become in the embryo. Associate Professor Peter Dearden, from the University of Otago, is interested how our genes control this process.
The presence of sugar crystals in honey affects the honey’s texture and palatability. In this experiment, you can investigate how crystals form in honey. Purpose To observe honey crystal ...
