Activity #2: Bee Skep Bookmark

In today’s video, we talked about where bees live – and lived 500 years ago! – at Agecroft Hall. We saw that Agecroft’s bee skeps are located in our HERB GARDEN. (*We will talk more about our herb garden on Thursday.) In this activity, you can make your own miniature bee skep and use it to create a neat bookmark! Go ahead and grab your supplies for Day 1, Activity #2, and follow the instructions below. Don’t forget to share pictures of your creations with us!

*In addition to the supplies from your backpack, you will also need to grab scissors and markers or crayons from home.

Steps:

1. Find your piece of twine and cut about 5” off. You will need to use both pieces for this project.

2. Find your bee skep-shaped bead. Push the flat end of the skewer into the hole in the skep bead for easy handling.

3. Holding the skewer firmly, cover the sides your skep bead with a thin layer of glue using the paintbrush.

4. Carefully use your fingers to wrap the longer piece of the twine around the skep from bottom to top until it is fully covered. Make sure your rows of twine are touching each other and secure the twine at the top with a bead of glue. Work slowly to twirl the skewer and wrap the twine. *Be careful not to cover the holes in the bead.

5. Once your glue is dry, thread the second piece of twine through the hole in the skep bead. Tape the end of the twine hanging at the bottom of the skep to the table so that it doesn’t move.

6. Thread the three colored beads and the bee bead onto the twine at the top of the skep.

7. Tie two overhand knots in the twine at the top of the bead row to keep them in place. Set this aside. (*See diagram below for instructions on knot tying).

8. Find your bookmark. Untape the twine from the table and attach this end to the bookmark with a double knot, making sure you leave enough twine loose so that your beads have room to slide up and down.

9. Using crayons or markers, you can create a design on your bookmark. You can draw bees or other pollinators, or a colorful design. Use other embellishments to decorate it, too! If you don’t want to decorate your bookmark, that’s okay!

10. Place your bee stickers on your skep.

11. Give your bookmark as a gift or use it yourself in your favorite summer book!