After their instructor for the evening told the kids that honey is essentially bee vomit, some of the youngsters made audible groans. Meanwhile, others couldnt help but smile and shout out, Cool! and then made pretend-vomiting noises and gestures.

About a dozen children and their parents attended Jeffco Open Spaces campfire, which was substituted with a gas-powered fire pit because of area fire restrictions, at Lair o the Bear on Thursday night.

They had the opportunity to make smores, play games, taste honey, and learn about preventing wildfires and bees important role in the ecosystem.

JCOS Rangers Mark Oline and Martin Barwick discussed how fires are started and how to prevent wildfires from starting or spreading.

They showed the different tools firefighters use to dig fire lines, douse fires with water or slurry, and even had Skyler Hart, 10, of Castle Rock dress up in firefighter gear to show all the equipment needed to keep firefighters safe.

Afterward, Charlotte Sandkuhler, environmental education specialist for Majestic View Nature Center in Arvada, taught the children and their parents about the three types of bees in a hive queen, drone and worker and what each of them does.

She gave an analogy of a major league baseball field: theres one pitcher on the field, about 100 players and other staff members, and about 20,000 to 60,000 spectators.

That was about the ratio of queen bees to drones to worker bees in a hive, she said.

Sandkuhler emphasized that bees, and to a lesser degree wasps, help to pollinate plants as they gather nectar, and that its easier to count the number of fruits and vegetables that arent pollinated by bees than the ones that are.

For every one in three bites you take, you should thank a bee, Sandkuhler told the attendees, adding that bee populations are declining nationally.

Good stewards of nature

Brothers Logan, 11, and Davis OBryan, 9, ofLittleton attended with their mom and younger brother after they had visited Majestic View and heard about more of its programming.

The boys said they liked the activities that they did learning about bees, such as tasting different types of honey and playing a pollination game.

Davis said that he thought hearing how long bees live was the coolest fact he learned, clarifying that queens can live three to five years while workers only live six weeks.

Loganadded that everyone should know that bees are in danger, and that people need to respect bees and wasps because of their roles in pollination. He said he also really liked learning what honey really was.

Likewise Natalie Hart, 7, of Castle Rock also enjoyed hearing how honey is made, describing the process as disturbing but interesting.

Her brother Skyler said his favorite part was being dressed up in the firefighters outfit, but commented that the shroud over his face made it hard to breathe sometimes.

He also pointed out that it was important to know that wasps have an actual purpose: helping to pollinate.

All four kids said they had fun and would like to come back for another campfire event.

Mike Dempsey, JCOS education specialist, said the events are a great way for families to learn about trail safety, resource management and ecology, as well as an opportunity to spend time outside and enjoy a campfire and smores.

Open Space will organize one more campfire event at Lair o the Bear for 2017, which will be in mid-July, he said.

Both Dempsey and Sandkuhler said they hope the attendees were able to take away more reasons to appreciate Mother Nature.

I hope they try to do one more thing to help the environment, Sandkuhler said. Kids inColorado are already very aware of those things, but I want them to continue being good stewards of nature.

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Campfire an opportunity to teach kids about wildfires, ecosystem - Canyon Courier