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The Remington Nature Center of St. Joseph
WHERE HISTORY AND NATURE COLLIDE...
Nature News
Winter/Spring 2017
A Note Concerning Spring Wildlife...
By Shelly Cox, Naturalist
One of the most common phone calls we take at the Remington Nature Center deals with baby wildlife. Most individuals want to know what they should do
when they find a baby animal. The answer to that question varies with each situation, but generally leaving the baby there is the best solution.
Bunnies, birds and squirrels are often “rescued” by
concerned citizens believing they are abandoned,
when in fact they are being cared for by their parents. Wildlife parents will not remain with their
offspring continuously throughout the day as this
would attract unwanted attention to the nest and
risk the babies being found by a hungry predator.
Contact Shelly Cox, naturalist with Remington Nature Center, with any questions about wildlife. She
can be reached directly at 816-596-8211, or call the
main number at 816-271-5499.
Upcoming
craft events
Tuesday, April 4
10:30-11am
Mother Nature READS - Join naturalist Shelly Cox as Mother Nature for a
nature-themed storytime for ages 18
months-6 years. FUNNY FROGS... It’s
that time of year, time for the frogs to
return. Learn about frogs and just how
cool they really are.
Saturday, April 8
1-3pm
Plant a Seedling - Let’s build a pot and
plant a seed!
Saturday, April 29
1-3pm
Bird Nest Collage - We’ll build a bird
nest on a paper plate.
Tuesday, May 2
10:30-11am
Mother Nature READS - Join naturalist Shelly Cox as Mother Nature for a
nature-themed storytime for ages 18
months-6 years. SPIDERS... Learn why
spiders are Mother Nature’s busy helpers. Meet a live tarantula.
Monthly Scavenger Hunt
Fish ing
feed zy
fren
10:30am, EVERY Friday
Come help us cut up worms to feed the
Missouri River fish who live in our 7,000
gallon aquarium. Their diet consists of
minnows, worms, corn, and peas.
Every month, twelve items will be hidden indoors, throughout the nature
center. Kids and families can do the
scavenger hunt anytime during operational hours. All you have to do is inquire at the front desk and we’ll give
you a clipboard so you can write down
where you find the items. Once they
have been found, kids will get a sticker,
temporary tattoo, and a special small
prize. Hidden items and prizes change
every month!
photos...
The Bee Basics
By Barbara Russell, Administrative Technician
We know that honey is made by bees, but, how do they
turn flower nectar into honey? Bees gather nectar, a
sweet liquid, from flowers in a special pouch called a
honey stomach. Their bodies produce chemicals called
enzymes that are added to the nectar.
Animal Safari
Remington Nature Center
Photos by Lauren Black
A bee flies back to the colony and regurgitates, or vomits, the nectar. Another bee eats the regurgitated nectar,
adds more enzymes, and then vomits it again into a cell
of the honeycomb. Then, the real work begins! Nectar has a lot of water in it, however, honey is only about 18 percent water. The bees use their wings to fan the nectar,
which dries it out and makes it thicker.
Once a cell is full of honey, the bees seal it with beeswax. The stored honey provides
food for them during the winter, when there are no flowers producing nectar.
When bees collect nectar, they also transfer pollen from the male part of a plant to the
female part. This allows the plant to grow and reproduce itself. This process is called
pollination. Without pollination, plants wouldn’t continue to grow.
Honeybees are social insects, meaning they work together as a colony. Within each
colony, there are three types of bees. There is one queen; the queen lives from one to
four years and can lay up to 2,000 eggs each day.
There are tens of thousands of worker bees; workers are the female bees we see flying from flower
to flower, gathering nectar. They are the daughters
of the queen. They live only 30 to 60 days. Workers
have many jobs; they care for the brood, or baby
bees, they keep the hive clean and build new cells,
they gather food and guard the hive. Lastly, there
are a few thousand drones; these male bees mate
with a queen from a different colony. They live just
30 to 40 days.
As our climate changes, bees are having to adjust.
For example, flowers bloom at different
times of the year than they used to. Flooding
washes away nectar from flowers and keeps
bees in the hive. During droughts, plants
produce fewer flowers and less nectar.
Bees might seem small, but they play a huge
role in our ecosystem. Experts say one-third
of the food we eat has been pollinated by
bees. That means that out of every three
bites you take, one has been affected by
bees.
1502 MacArthur Drive
St. Joseph, MO 64505
816-271-5499
www.facebook.com/RemingtonNatureCenter
www.stjoenaturecenter.info
Hours:
Monday-Saturday
10am - 5pm
Sunday
1pm - 5pm
Admission:
Adults: $3
Seniors: $2
Youth (4-15): $1
3 and under: Free
Closed on...
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
President’s Day
Easter
Thanksgiving
Christmas Eve
Christmas
New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Day