The Valley Hive Beekeeping experience, Los Angeles

If it weren't for their stingers, honeybees would be the cuddliest creatures on Earth; after all, they spend their entire lives romping through wildflowers, dancing, and making sweets. The Valley Hive Beekeeping Experience teaches visitors all about these wondrous insects during a two-hour tour filled with facts about bees and firsthand observations of their day-to-day lives. Here are some of the things to expect on the tour:

• Behold the glass observation hive, where a full population of bees communicates with each other, protects its queen, and flutters through a colony spanning eight beekeeping frames.
• Back up a working beekeeper at the apiary as they open active hives and perform routine hive inspections, all while dressed in your own beekeeping outfit.
• Bite into raw, local honey. If the timing is right, you may even help extract it right from the hive.