Wooden Puzzles, Single Sided (Package Deal - Hei Tiki, Honey Bee, flower to table & Pohutukawa Tree))
THE BELOW INFORMATION IS PRINTED ON THE BACK OF THE PUZZLE TRAY:
Hei Tiki
One theory of the origin of the Hei Tiki suggests a connection with Tiki, the first man in Māori legend. The spiritual value of the Hei Tiki would be handed to the next generation to be worn. This is how the mana (importance) of the Hei Tiki increased and increases. The word “Hei” means to wear around the neck. Hei Tiki is a powerful good luck symbol. Tilted head is for thinking, hand is strength, mouth communication, heart is love and loin fertility. The Hei Tiki is worn as a Kaitiaki (Guardian). This Hei Tiki is hand carved out of Kahikatoa wood. Many Hei Tiki are made out of pounamu (green stone). The Paua shell is used widely in carvings and artwork and enhances the piece with its colour and beauty. The eyes of this Hei Tiki are made out of Paua shell.
Honey Bee (flower to table)
Honey is made by a colony of Honey Bees living in a hive. A hive will house about 60,000+ Bees, most of them Workers. When the weather warms up, the Bees will begin foraging on flowers. They will collect the nectar and take it to the hive. The Bees have glands which secrete an enzyme. When the Bees collect the nectar, it is then mixed with the enzyme in the Bee’s mouth. The nectar is dropped into the honeycomb, hexagonal shaped cells, which is made out of wax. Initially the nectar still has a high water content. After some time, however, the water content is reduced to around 17%. This process is aided by the Bees themselves, fanning their wings, which helps the water to evaporate. When nectar solution has become thicker (more concentrated), the Bees will cap the cells - which means adding a layer of wax over the hexagonal shaped honeycomb cells. The nectar thickens and becomes Honey. When Bees are kept in Hives, this is when Beekeepers know the honey is ready to be harvested! Beekeepers need to leave enough honey for the Bees for their food source over the winter months as this is the reason why Bees make Honey, to tie them over the cooler months.
Facts: To produce a pound of honey, Bees have to fly a whopping 55,000 miles! A Honey Bee will only produce around one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its life despite the fact that a foraging Honey Bee visits up to 100 flowers per foraging trip. So no wonder it takes about 556 foraging Bees to visit 2 million flowers, just to make a pound of honey! How Do Bees Make Wax: The glands of Worker Bees convert the sugar contents of honey into wax, which oozes through the Bee's small pores to produce tiny flakes of wax on their abdomens. Workers chew these pieces of wax until they become soft and mouldable, and then add the chewed wax to the honeycomb construction.
Pohutukawa Tree
The Pohutukawa Tree is known as New Zealand’s native Christmas tree because of the bright red blooms that decorate them during the Christmas and summer season. Their leaves are leathery and olive green and the trunk is typically gnarled and twisted. Pohutukawa grows primarily along coastlines and in coastal forests, as it is well adapted to withstand salt laden winds and drought. Pohutukawa have very dense, strong, dark red wood, which helps them withstand wind damage and drought. They are very slow growing, growing up to 15 metres tall and can live over 1,000 years.