Falling Asleep In An Apple Orchard

An adventure to the apple orchard leads to discovering the magic behind every apple’s unique flavor and color, as we learn how bees and weather create endless delicious varieties. Guided by a wiggly worm friend, we follow a trail to the orchard where we pick colorful apples, try our hand at pollinating them, and even create a new blue apple with a sprinkle of transformation pollen! With baskets overflowing, we catch the bus home, hearts and bellies full of apple sweetness, excited to taste the fruits of our fun-filled day. - Love, Mrs. Honeybee

Featuring: Mr. Honeybee, Melodybee, Roger Robot, and Harold

Transcript

Bedtime with Mrs. Honeybee. Today, In the Honeybee neighborhood, We'll be visiting an apple orchard. The bus is here. Alright, I just need to grab one thing. What's the backpack for, Melody Bee? Well, Here's what I'm thinking. Maybe today, At the apple orchard, You know, If I find an apple seed, I can bring it back here and plant it in the garden. Then, Next year, We'll have a harvest of apples. Wow, Great idea. I love a delicious apple. And it'll be so nice to have them right here in the garden. Alright, Is everyone ready to go? Of course you can come, Harold. I'll grab your leash. I'll meet you guys on the bus in just a moment. All you have to do is close your eyes, Get cozy, And listen to the sound of my voice. Mrs. Honeybee will be your guide. Let's begin. You are here, Walking through the forest to our house. The sun shines down on you through the treetops as leaves crunch beneath your footsteps. Melody Bee hears you crunching before you get close enough to see her head poking up over the fence, Waiting for the rest of you to arrive. She smiles and waves hello, So excited to see you and show you what she's doing out in the backyard today. Hello, Little honeybee. Come on back. I have a treat for you. When you walk through the gate, She's holding out a plump pink apple in her hands. I saved this one for you. Have you ever seen a pink apple before? When you bite in, It's still pink. Well, It's light gray to my eyes, But that means to your eyes it's light red or pink. Melody Bee takes a big bite out of the apple and shows you the even brighter and pinker inside. She explains that honeybees like her see the color red as the color black or the only color they can't really see. Puzzling over how different the same apple looks to you and Melody Bee, You take a big bite out of your apple. It's sweet and bright pink inside. Mr. Honeybee hears the crisp crunch of the apple all the way from inside and peeks his head out the back door to make sure he's not missing anything. Are you trying those farmer's market apples we found? I want to try one. Mm-hmm. Sweet. Mrs. Honeybee found them sitting at the bottom of a basket at the farmer's market. There were four pink apples, And she said it was like they were waiting for us. They were. They were waiting for this exact moment. Hello, My little honeybee. It's so nice to see you and to enjoy fresh apples. I've never seen apples this pink. I wonder what they're called. I think they're called delicious. No, Those are red. It's in the name. Red Delicious Apples. These can be called pink scrumptious apples. That works for me. They're both pink and scrumptious. Mr. Honeybee takes another bite out of his apple, And suddenly he looks confused. He holds the apple up as if inspecting it. Mr. Honeybee leans in close, Poking the core of the pink apple with his fingertip. After a couple of curious taps, A little worm wiggles its head out of its hiding place in the center of the apple. Whoa, It's alive! Aww, A little cute. Thank goodness you saw him when you did, Mr. Honeybee. I have to show Harold. He loves worms. I'm surprised he's not out here already. Harold, Here boy. Harold bolts up from his afternoon nap and gallops outside to see you. Harold, Look! We found you a new worm friend. A worm friend that almost lost his head. No, No, No. Don't worry, Harold. I saw him in time. He's right here. Harold, Show them what you do for the worms. Harold gently noses the worm with his snout until he's cross-eyed and balancing the worm on his snout. Carefully walking and watching where he's going out of crossed eyes, He makes his way to the grass and lowers the worm back into the grass. He sits down as if he's done a trick, And we give him all the pets he can handle as a reward. After it rains, Harold and I notice more earthworms out and about than usual. We figured out that the rain temporarily floods the grass, So it brings them up and out of the soil. But since the rocks and cement around the grass is wet too, They think that's soil. The worms can't stay out in the sunshine too long or else they shrivel up. So Harold is a superhero for the worms and delivers all worms he finds on the rocks and cement back into the grass. Aww, What a good boy and even better worm friend you are, Harold. Some unexpected wiggling gets Harold's attention once again. He studies the soil where he left the worm and sees that the worm is slithering away out onto the rocks and cement. Harold again moves the worm back to the grass, But the worm will not stay put. After returning the worm a few times, Harold resolves to follow it instead, And we begin to follow him, Curious where both will lead. We make our way through the forest, Back the way you came, Crunching the same leaves you crunched, But careful to stay on the trail of our new worm friend. Harold's snout is trained on the forest floor and doesn't let the worm out of his sniffing range. Where do you think he's taking us, Mrs. Honeybee? We're heading in the direction of the apple orchard. Oh, I know where he's headed. Those scrumptious pink apples. You mean the pink scrumptious apples? Yes, Those ones. They were from this orchard. I talked with the farmer sowing them and she said she worked up here. The apples were grown locally. I think the worm is leading us back to his home. His ancestral lands. His literal and figurative roots. Aw, It'll be a family reunion. We can see if they have more of those pink apples. Maybe we'll find a blue one. You never know. Just as we suspected, The worm happily leads us back to his home, An apple orchard up high in the forest, Where the air gets extra chilly and the apples can get extra delicious. At the entrance of the apple orchard stands a stack of baskets lined with red checkered cloth. We each grab one and slide it over our hands onto our forearms to carry through the orchard. From here, We cannot see the forest for the trees. We only see trees. So many trees, Every which way we look. Melody B is overwhelmed by the sweet scent of the pollen that floats through the air. Smell. I can smell it all day. There must be millions of types of pollen out and about here. Holding your basket on your arm, Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel the coolness of the air coming in through your nose and finding its way to your lungs. The aroma of apples brings a smile to your face as you slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth. Walking into the orchard, Winding through the row of trees, You are amazed at just how different the apple trees are. As you pluck the low-hanging fruit from the branches, You study each and every apple as if it was a work of art. No two seem alike, Even though they came from the same tree. You and Mr. Honeybee gravitate toward the same kind of apples, And you both reach up to pick one of the bright green Granny Smith apples. Before you can say anything, Mr. Honeybee speaks your mind and says exactly what you are thinking. How many types of apples are there? Oh, That's a good question, Mr. Honeybee. I was just thinking about that, Too. Look how different these apples are. This one is bright green, But this one is yellow. Hmm. I would assume there are just as many types of apples as there are people. What? Really? Yes. Think of it like this. You have a family tree, Don't you? Yes, Of course we do. Generations of Grandma and Grandpa honeybees that we've traced back for centuries. Melody Bee plucks two apples not only from the same tree, But from the same branch, And she holds them up so we can see their reddish-green patterns. These two apples are sisters. Sisters aren't exactly alike, Right? Neither are these apples. And new apple varieties are made all the time by, Well, Yours truly, Honeybees and other pollinators like me. We mix and match pollen like people match outfits to start new apple family trees that are most pleasing to our senses. But apples have minds of their own, And you couldn't get this pink apple if you tried. They're all little happy accidents. Happy, Delicious accidents. So, If we planted these seeds from this exact apple, And pollinated it with pollen from the other pink apple seed, They wouldn't create another pink apple? Well, They might. Maybe. Apple pollen might sneak in one day on a light breeze, And bam! You, Sir, Have an orange apple. Wow. So that's how we have so many apple varieties. We need to try each and every one. And don't even get me started about weather conditions. That determines what kind of apple you get, And all the colors, And everything. Weather conditions? Like, How warm is it? Mostly how cold it is. This orchard is in the perfect location, Somewhat higher in altitude, So the temperature probably dips down low at night. Apple trees are much sleepier than they look. Me, You, And Mr. Honeybee all immediately look to the apple trees and think to ourselves, As if with one mind, That we didn't think apple trees slept at all. Apple trees sleep? Don't be silly, Mr. Honeybee. Oh yeah, Yeah. Of course they sleep. I was just teasing. Right. How long do apple trees need to sleep, Melody Bee? No less than all winter. They hibernate like bears, As you know. Of course we knew trees hibernate like bears. Exactly. You get it. What is the dormancy temperature of apple trees again, Mr. Honeybee? Oh, The dormancy temperature is, Um, Well of course, As everyone knows, It's about, Um, A little around freezing? You got lucky with that one. But around there, Yes, Mr. Honeybee. When it gets all nice and cold and wintry, All the apple trees in the orchard have a sleepover and fall fast asleep. That's what helps them blossom, Then grow sweet, Delicious fruits. Now that you know all there is to know about apples and apple varieties, You meander through the orchard with Harold happily trotting at your side. You fill up your basket with all kinds of apples, Ranging in color and size and softness. Lifting one of the firmest apples up to your nose, Take a slow, Deep breath in. Smell its sweetness and imagine all the tasty desserts this can be made into. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth and join us back at the entrance where we combine all of our apples into our tote bags for the trip home. Before we leave, Though, You want to try something special. You have the great idea that before we leave, We should pollinate some apples and create our own varieties. Melody B brought just enough of her Transformation Pollen with her to help it along and grow even faster. You grab a little bit of pollen from a bright green apple and a tiny bit of pollen from a yellow apple. With a sprinkle of the Transformation Pollen, You have grown a blue apple. You eagerly pluck it from its branch, And Mr. Honeybee inspects it to make sure there aren't any worms, Unless we want to be led on another adventure to the ancestral lands of another worm, But your apple is wormless. You take a big bite and enjoy the sweetness and juiciness like you've never enjoyed an apple before, With an appreciation for all the work that goes into creating it. With that, Our trip to the apple orchard concludes and we're able to catch the last bus back home. We climb aboard, Struggling to hold all of our harvest in our hands and draped in bags over our shoulders. It's a relief to set them down on the bus seats as we enjoy the short ride back home, Looking out the windows at the sunset. Our arms are full of apples, Our hearts and bellies are full of joy and sweetness. Always remember, Mrs. Honeybee believes in you. You are special and you are loved. I can't wait to see you again.