Our Trip to the Apple Orchard

During the last week of September, the children, parents and teachers at our little yellow school visited the apple orchard. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day for our visit.

The morning started off with a bus ride to the orchard.

Boarding the Bus

 Once at the orchard, we all walked down to the barn.

Walking to the Barn

Inside the barn our instructors taught us so much about apples!  We learned about the different kinds of apples, how an apple tree is grafted and the many different foods that are made with apples.

Listening to Our Instructor

Little apple decorations hanging from the ceiling.

Different Kinds of Apples

We had lots of fun in the hayloft!

Back in the barn, we learned about life inside a beehive. The children were very excited to act out the roles of the bees.

Each group had a Queen Bee.  The Queen Bee's role is to stay inside the hive, mate and lay eggs.

A. was the Queen Bee for the full day group.

A. was the Queen Bee for the half day group.

A beehive also consists of worker bees.  Worker bees are female.  They have many jobs.  They tend to the Queen, keep the beehive cool, gather nectar and pollen, supply food for the Queen and the babies and make and produce beeswax.

The worker bees going out to gather nectar and pollen.

The hive also has drones.  Drones are males.  Their job is to mate with the Queen.  They don't collect nectar or pollen. They can't defend the hive because they don't have stingers. 

Here come the drones!

This is part of a real beehive.

Then we boarded the wagon for the trip to the apple orchard.

Next stop, the apple orchard!

Here we are on the wagon.

Once at the apple orchard, we got to pick our own apple. 

An Apple Tree

This is the one.

Three friends enjoying their time in the orchard.

I picked this one!

After the orchard, it was time to board the bus back to our school.  Thank you to all the parents and grandparents who joined us for our trip.  It was a perfect day!