Who created the legend of Dracula and how do bees make honey? The kids’ quiz

1. Freyja, 8, asks: who created the legend of Dracula?

   1. Michael Morpurgo

   2. Bram Stoker

   3. Julia Donaldson

   4. William Shakespeare

2. Gilbert, 6, asks: why do insects like bees and wasps sting?

   1. They sting if they think you are a flower

   2. They sting you if you smell nice

   3. They sting when they are hungry

   4. They sting when they feel threatened

3. Nate, 8, asks: who formed the first ever government?

   1. The ancient Mesopotamians

   2. The ancient Greeks

   3. The ancient Egyptians

   4. The Aztecs

4. Harry, 7, asks: how do bees make honey?

   1. Flowers make honey, not bees – bees just collect it

   2. Bees are born in honey – it’s made by all the cells in their hive

   3. Bees take the nectar from flowers and reduce the water levels until it becomes honey

   4. Wasps make honey, then bees steal the honey from wasps

5. Ivy, 11, asks: before babies are able to speak, what language do they think in?

   1. It’s likely that babies don’t think using words at all

   2. They think in whatever language their parents speak in

   3. They think in a special language that only babies understand

   4. They don’t think at all

Solutions

1:B - Bram Stoker, the 19th-century Irish author, created the character of Dracula – he is loosely based on Vlad the Impaler, from the 15th century in what is now Romania., 2:D - Bees and wasps sting when they feel under attack or worried. This can happen when you make sudden movements towards them. Some bees, like honeybees, can sting only once in their life, whereas wasps can sting multiple times., 3:A - The earliest record of a government is in Sumer, ancient Mesopotamia, in the fourth millennium BC. The Sumerians divided Sumer into several city states and developed the oldest known code of law., 4:C - Bees collect nectar from flowers and plants. Back at the hive they regurgitate the nectar, and it gets passed from bee to bee to reduce its moisture. When moisture levels are about 18%, mould and bacteria can’t grow, and the nectar becomes honey., 5:A - It’s likely that babies don’t think using words like we do. They probably think in feelings and pattern recognition. For example, feeling hungry feels bad, so they cry until they are fed.

Scores

1. 5 and above.

2. 4 and above.

3. 3 and above.

4. 2 and above.

5. 0 and above.

6. 1 and above.

Molly Oldfield hosts Everything Under the Sun, a podcast answering children’s questions. Do check out her books, Everything Under the Sun and Everything Under the Sun: Quiz Book, as well as her new title, Everything Under the Sun: All Around the World.