Who Would Have Known...

Who would have known that when I decided to make honey the focus for an eight-year-old's party, that the girls had just finished a series of lessons on bees at school? So when Mark came around the corner in a cloud of smoke and dressed in his bee gear, the girls were abuzz with excitement.

Mark had robbed the hive the day before and taken two frames out; he held one up to the sunlight. The girls could see the golden sun shining through the honey, some cells a little darker than the rest.

They watched as Mark sliced the wax cappings off with a hot knife and then place the frames into the extractor. Mark spun the handle and the honey flew out, hitting the sides and dripping down to the bottom. I gave each child a small jar which they filled. Immediately, they took their jar out into the sun to see it shine through the golden liquid. We talked about the thousands of trips each bee takes to make just one teaspoon of honey. They knew that if a bee stung you it would die, a sacrifice for the good of the hive. They knew so much about bees already and to see it all come to life for them was a beautiful thing. One little girl mentioned that they were sure to pass their test about bees now! We talked about what we could do to say thank you to the bees and decided that it would be nice to grow more flowers, so I gave them each a little packet of seeds to take home and plant. There were sunflower, nasturtium and marigold seeds, all beautiful flowers for the bees as well as for the garden.

Honey Jumbles were the main attraction at the party table...

And, for the birthday girl, a banana cake surrounded by pretty nasturtiums.

They all left feeling very happy, Mum and Dad the most pleased of all. It was just what they wanted and more for their little girl and all her friends.