Ladybugs cover Peyton King (l) and Da’Vion Felder.
For those who believe ladybugs bring good luck, the children who attend Chesterbrook Academy can look forward to great things. The academy held its 18th Annual Ladybug Release Thursday, April 22 in honor of Earth Day. Approximately 180 pre–school and kindergarten students released about 6,000 ladybugs.
Principal, Susan Asher said, “The Ladybug Release is a thrilling day for the school. The kids have such a great time.”
Ladybugs feed on aphids (plant lice) and other insects that are harmful to gardens, trees, and shrubs.
The Ladybug Release is a Chesterbrook spring tradition following unit studies about recycling, plants, and flowers.
Chesterbrook Academy in Columbia is part of Nobel Learning Communities, Inc., a national network of 180 private schools, including preschools, elementary schools, and middle schools in 15 states across the nation. Nobel Learning Communities provides high quality private education, with small class sizes, caring and skilled teachers, and attention to individual learning styles. They also offer before and after school care and the Camp Zone summer program.
For more information visit www.chesterbrookacademy. com.
Legends vary about how the Ladybug came to be named, but the most common (and enduring) is this: In Europe, during the Middle Ages, swarms of insects were destroying the crops. The farmers prayed to the Virgin Mary for help. Soon thereafter the Ladybugs came, devouring the plant-destroying pests and saving the crops! The farmers called these beautiful insects “The Beetles of Our Lady”, and –over time–they eventually became popularly known as “Lady Beetles”. The red wings were said to represent the Virgin’s cloak and the black spots were symbolic of both her joys and her sorrows.
LADYBUG LEGENDS:
Nearly ALL cultures believe that a Ladybug is lucky.
Killing one is said to bring sadness and misfortune.
In France, if a Ladybug landed on you, whatever ailment
you had would fly away with the Ladybug.
If a Ladybug is held in the hand while making a wish, the direction that it flies away to shows where
your luck will come from.
If the spots on the wings of a Ladybug are more than seven,
it’s a sign of coming famine. If less than seven, it means
you will have a good harvest.
In Belgium, people believed that if a Ladybug crawled across
a young girl’s hand, she would be married within a year.
People in Switzerland told their young children
that they were brought to them, as babies, by Ladybugs.
(…and we thought Storks did that)!
In some Asian cultures, it is believed that the Ladybug understands
human language and has been blessed by God, Himself.
In Brussels, the black spots on the back of a Ladybug indicate to the
person holding it how many children he/she will have.
According to a Norse legend, the Ladybug came to earth
riding on a bolt of lightning.
The Victorians in Britain believed that if a Ladybug alighted on your
hand, you would be receiving new gloves…..if it landed on your head,
a new hat would be in your future, and so on.
In the 1800’s, some doctors used Ladybugs to treat measles! They
also believed that if you mashed ladybugs (ewww!) and put them
into a cavity, the insects would stop a toothache!
During the Pioneer days, if a family found a Ladybug in their log cabin
during the winter, it was considered a “Good Omen”.
In the Spring, if numerous Ladybugs are seen flying around,
British farmers say it forecasts many bountiful crops.
Many Bretons believe that the arrival of Ladybugs will bring fair weather.
Folklore suggests if you catch a Ladybug in your home, count the number
of spots and that’s how many dollars you’ll soon find.
In Norway, if a man and a woman spot a Ladybug at the same time,
there will be a romance between them.
Whatever name you know them by, Ladybugs are truly well–known and well–loved, all around the globe!
By Sandra Phaneuf, April 27, 2010, the Fourth Branch of America, LLC, publisher of The Informed
Constituent
A drastic recent reduction in the number of honeybees in the US could constitute a major threat to our food supply. While the honeybee population has been steadily diminishing in the last fifty years, the extensive losses in 2006 have caused some scientists to label this the first bee epidemic in US history. It is estimated that this year, US beekeepers lost 1/4 of their colonies which is five times the normal average. What’s more concerning is that the bee disappearances are a mystery: they leave their colonies seeking food and simply never return. Few dead bees have been found in or around the colonies, leaving beekeepers and scientists puzzled.
www.fourthbranchofamerica.com/Importanceofbees.shtml
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