“Have you heard the sad story of the state buffalo?” Deb Smail asked second-graders at Jefferson Elementary School, prior to her Kansas Day presentation on Wednesday.
She also asked students if they knew the sound a meadowlark makes, and which colors are associated with Kansas.
Smail was there to give a talk on honey bees, the state insect, as part of a series of activities and events celebrating Kansas Day. A retired teacher, Smail now operates Deer Creek Honey Farm, along with her husband and daughter.
Smail shared with students a number of fascinating facts about honey bees, such as that they have existed on earth for millions of years, and that they pollinate so much of the food we eat we couldn’t live without them.
Students were especially impressed that honey never goes bad, and was even found in the Egyptian pyramids. They also laughed hysterically when Smail showed them photos of a donkey dressed in a bee-keeping suit.
Only a few students agreed that they cleaned their rooms like honey bees do.
During the presentation, students also learned about connections between state animals; for instance, box turtles, the state reptile, like to lurk outside bees nests in order to eat them.
It seemed the second-graders’ favorite factoid about bees, however, was that female worker bees will often kick male drone bees out of the hive.
SECOND-GRADERS Lucy Neely, Mariah Mathis, and Marccus Whicumb attended Smail’s honey bee presentation, and afterwards talked with the Register about what they were learning about Kansas.
All three were sporting blue and red KU Jayhawks shirts.
Whicum said he liked that the Kansas State Seal has a buffalo on it, and Mathis said she thought she’d seen a buffalo in person once or twice.
Mathis said she’d learned the pioneers in Kansas “had to make everything that they needed,” and Whicumb thought that he might be able to hunt a buffalo on the open prairie.
Neely was excited about the book they’d made in class featuring various Kansas images, and said her favorite symbol was the Western Meadowlark.
Mathis agreed with Neely about liking the Meadowlark, saying “it sounds so pretty all the time, and you hear it every day.” Neely also said she liked the colors of the state bird.
When asked their favorite thing about Kansas, Whicumb said he liked that it’s “the wheat state and sunflower state.” And Mathis chimed in, saying “it has four seasons!”
