Bee Farm William Whiskerson

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# William Whiskerson Mouse explorer

# Finds adventure Round every corner

# Where will he go? Who will he meet?

# His amazing adventures Will make you squeak!

Squeak!

# William Whiskerson Mouse explorer! #

Here comes William Whiskerson in his amazing travelling globe.

Greetings, adventurers.

I am William Whiskerson, the famous mouse explorer.

William is in the countryside.

He can see lots of fields, trees and sheep.

But which part of the United Kingdom is he in today?

Cheesephone, reveal my location!

The Cheesephone shows William where he is on a map of the world.

'Hello, William. Today you're in Devon.

'Devon is in the south-west of England.'

Look! I've got a message coming through on my Cheesephone.

'Hello, William, I'm Sophie and this is my friend Ben.

'Join us on a honey adventure.'

Oh, that sounds like a yummy adventure!

Lock the location, Cheesephone!

The map shows William where to meet Ben and Sophie.

Explorers away!

Pleased to squeak you, Ben and Sophie.

BOTH: Pleased to squeak you, William.

Welcome to my garden.

It's a lovely garden!

Let's go and find some flowers.

The explorers show William their garden.

The garden is full of beautiful flowers.

Can you see the insects?

They love the flowers too.

What flowers are these?

Lavender, William.

Ah, they smell lovely.

-BUZZING SOUND

-Oh! What's that noise?

It's a buzzy bee.

A bee!

Bees have a very special job to do.

They fly from flower to flower

collecting a substance called nectar.

Then they fly back to their hives and use the nectar to make honey,

that's why they're called honey bees!

To find out more about bees,

the explorers suggest that William meets their friend Ian

who is a beekeeper on a farm.

Pleased to squeak you, Ian.

Pleased to squeak you, William.

Do you look after the bees?

Yes, I'm a beekeeper.

Ah, what does a beekeeper do?

I look after the bees and give them everything they need

so they can make as much honey as possible.

Wow! Can we go and see them?

Yes, we've got some beehives just over here.

First of all, we have to get you some protective equipment.

Oh!

Bees are lovely insects

but sometimes they can sting if they're frightened.

So beekeepers have to wear special clothes to protect themselves.

I'm going to get mine on too.

They also cover their hands with gloves, to stop them being stung.

I'm ready!

Wow, you look great! You definitely won't get stung.

Can we go and see the bees now?

Yes, let's see if they've made any honey.

Explorers away!

Here we are, William, here are the bees in their beehives.

-Oh! They look like little wooden huts.

-They are.

We call them beehives and they keep out the rain and the wind.

It also makes it easier for us to collect the honey.

These wooden hives

are where the bees live and sleep and make their honey.

-Can we go and have a closer look?

-Let's go.

Ian uses something called a smoker

to make the bees feel calm and sleepy,

so they're not frightened when the hive is opened.

William and Ian don't want to get stung!

Ian opens the top of the hive

lifting each layer

and adding more smoke to keep the bees calm.

There are thousands of bees in the beehive!

In this top layer, William, is the honey

and that's what we're going to take back to the farm today.

Ian shows William a frame from lower down in the hive.

There is honey down here but that's the honey we leave for the bees.

Let's just take a frame out.

Ian shows William another frame from the hive. It's covered in honey!

Yum yum!

Is this the honey we're going to take back to the farm?

It certainly is. Would you like to have a look?

Yes, please.

Ian shows William some honeycomb.

So over here, these are the wax hexagonal cells,

which the bees make themselves out of beeswax.

If you look here, these ones have got some honey in.

They act as storage pots so the bees have somewhere to put the honey.

And these ones, all of this, they're full cells

but they're capped with wax to keep the honey fresh

so the bees can eat the honey later on, in the winter.

Will there be enough honey left for the bees?

Don't worry, William. We always leave enough for the bees.

Hello, Ben and Sophie.

BOTH: Hello, William.

Where can we see some more bees?

At the bee farm.

Great! Explorers away!

Inside the bee farm,

the explorers have a closer look at some bees and their hives.

These bees are all kept behind glass,

so you can get a good look without worrying about getting stung.

Look ,William!

What is it?

There's lots of different types of bees.

Ahhh!

A group of bees that lives in a hive is called a colony.

There are different types of bees in a colony.

The bees that you see here are called worker bees.

Sophie, what are these bees doing?

They're worker bees. They're working to make honey.

Ahhhh!

Worker bees are female.

They collect nectar and pollen from flowers to make honey.

They also build the honeycomb inside the hive where the honey is stored.

Those bees have got really big eyes.

The bees with big eyes and square bodies are called drone bees.

They are the male bees.

Look William, I found a queen bee.

Oh, wow!

The queen bee is the most important bee of all.

Can you see her?

She is very large and has a long body.

The queen bee looks different to the other bees.

In every colony, there is only one queen bee.

The queen lays eggs called larvae. They are white and round.

Can you see the larvae in the honeycomb?

These larvae will grow into baby bees.

Once the honey is made, the frames can be collected

and put in a large machine called an extractor.

Inside, the frames are spun around,

separating the honey from the honeycomb.

The runny honey is filtered through bags, which help to remove any wax.

It is then heated to kill any germs.

It's now ready to be poured into jars.

Ahh!

This is where the honey has ended up - in the shop.

Hello, Mr Bee, where are you buzzing off to?

Thank you, Sophie and Ben,

for taking me on a buzzing honey adventure.

You're welcome. Here's some honey to remember us.

Ooh! Thank you!

Squeak you later everyone.

BOTH: Squeak you later, William.

Can you remember where William went today?

William visited his friends, Sophie and Ben, in their garden.

They saw some flowers and bees.

William then went to meet Ian, a beekeeper

and learned how bees made honey.

Can you remember where the bees kept the honey?

They kept it in a honeycomb.

William also got to see different types of bees, like a queen bee.

After his adventure, he even got his own jar of honey as a souvenir.

Time to fly, explorers, we're off on another adventure.

See you soon, William!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd