Kohl Children’s Museum seeks help to set ‘Waggle Dance’ record

GLENVIEW – The public is invited to help the Kohl Children’s Museum in Glenview raise awareness for “World Honey Bee Day” by breaking the record for “The World’s Largest Waggle Dance” at 10 a.m. Aug. 19.

Stephanie Bynum, Kohl Children’s Museum vice president of programs, said the idea was inspired by what beekeepers call the bee’s “waggle dance,” a communication method used by honeybees.

“Bees are amazing insects and use the waggle dance to communicate with the rest of the hive,” said Emily Van Dam, education specialist at the museum. “By performing this figure-eight dance, honeybees share information about the direction and distance to patches of flowers yielding nectar and pollen, to water sources, or to new nest-site locations with other members of the colony.”

Bynum said the museum conducts regular “Bee-ology” programming in conjunction with its new Honeybee Hideout exhibit, and the Waggle Dance has proved very popular with children and adults who attend.

“The current world record is held by a school in England,” Bynum said. “We would need to get more than 300 people dressed in black and yellow performing simultaneous waggle dancing for at least five minutes to set the new record.”

A special guest will be on hand to serve as the official witness, supervise the attempt and certify the participant count and length of the dance. The museum will send off witness statements and photographic evidence before the attempt can be confirmed.

Started in 2009, World Honey Bee Day recognizes the contribution that honeybees make to everyday lives, as well as educates about the steps that people can take to protect this vital species.

In addition to the Waggle Dance World Record attempt, the museum will educate visitors about bees and other pollinators with hands-on activities and live close-circuit video of the working honeybee hive on the museum campus. Activities include:

• Bee Plus scavenger hunt

• Model honeybee hive to discover what’s inside a honeybee’s home

• Live demonstration of a beehive frames’ inspection

• Information about how honeybees interact with their environment and how climate change is affecting honeybees and native pollinators

The museum’s beekeeper, Willie Pilipauskas, owner of Willie’s Honey Company in McHenry, will be on hand to greet guests and answer questions.

While setting a world record will be the big buzz of the day, Bynum said the Waggle Dance, along with the museum’s regular bee programming and Honeybee Hideout exhibit, help children and their caregivers raise awareness regarding the risks that honeybees all around the world face and the steps that people can take in order to help them.