A long long time ago, I lived in Langley BC. I was relatively new to the mainland and this is where I called home for 3 years. As I traveled out of town, I often passed the Honeybee Centre but never had a reason to go take a look at what they had to offer.
Finally a Saturday with my little man and I asked Mason if he wanted to go learn about bees. So off we went on another Mommy & Masey adventure.
The drive was quick and I didn't need directions as I knew where it was however one intersection prior to the Honeybee Centre, I spied a sign that said Honeybee Centre Turn Left. So I did. Then I was worried I was going the wrong way as it has me leaving the highway. I figured there was only one. So eventually I turned right (without a sign) and sure enough it lead me back to the correct intersection and I soon saw why I had to turn when I did. There is no turning left into the HB centre from the hwy. Ahhhh!
So now we were all ready for some bee & honey exploration. The Centre looks like a happy old barn! The cashier is right at the front of the door as is the gift shop. We paid an admission fee ($5 per person / $15 for family of 4. Children 3 & under are free). The friendly staff escorted us through a beautiful tea room with a lovely pond:
Our first stop - the Bug Lab (which I wasn't aware existed) in a locked room. Our hostess gave Mason a bug scavenger worksheet and showed us around the room and left us to explore. I loved the bug room. Most of the exhibits were dead bugs but they had some live creepy crawly spiders in their terrariums.
His name is Boris!
The room was like a sauna! Since the door was closed, there wasn't much fresh air. We probably spent about 15 mins looking at the various insects and then were ready to move on to the buzzy bees!
We walked back to the gift shop and through another locked door to the 'bee room'. Again, we were shown around and the hostess put on a video for us to watch (which was mostly ignored) while Mason went from table to table (mostly ignoring the actual bees).
There were tons of learning stations. Mason got a kick out of all the stamps and ink pads which I'm sure are there for learning rather than playing. The Beehouse offers a bees & bug workshop which would include bee education. For today, I just let Mason check everything out at his own pace.
Mommy plays dress up bee keeper. Don't I look beeeeutiful?
Look Mason! There is a bee named after you :)
LOL cruisin' for hunnies!
Hugz
And finally what we came here to see.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez!
There was a mesh wire thing to allow air in and so we could hear the buzzing. It smelled delicious. It was really neat to watch the bees in action. Some of them were in the honeycomb, others seemed like they just went round and round in circles. I got dizzy just watching them.
The entry to the work site also had a box with mesh netting.
There was one or two bees shakin' their bums.
(the intricate step-and-shake routine used by bees to convey the precise location of food sources.)
So there you have it. A nice day out to explore and learn more about bugs and bee's. Finally before we said goodbye to our little friends, we had a wander around the gift shop. The pricing was a bit high but it was local honey and you could test taste the samples. They also had a good supply of toys for the kids. Mason chose a bug catcher (how appropriate) which was reasonably priced at $6.00. Mommy also got a tasty treat in the form of a scone with almonds and fruit which I had in the tea room. There was a corner for Mason to sit and read or do a puzzle while I enjoyed my dessert.
Highly recommend the Beehouse for education and fun! Check out their website for more info.
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If you go:
Address: 7480 176 Street, Surrey, B.C.
Web: http://honeybeecentre.com/
Hours: Monday to Saturday 9:00 am - 6:00 pm / Sunday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm