ALL ABOUT THE BEES

It’s that time of year again when bees and wasps fly around and nest in the ground. To stay protected, we recommend that campers wear shoes with closed toes and socks – this not only protects your feet from stings but allows you to participate better in active sports and run around keeping your feet well supported and free from injury.

We see wasps nests sometime around camp – our great maintenance staff get rid of them right away as soon as we see a nest starting to form. If you get stung by a wasp it may hurt but they will not leave a stinger in you.

Ground bees are the ones that live in the ground and can sting our feet if we step on them by accident. Bees leave their stinger in you and it has to be taken out.

If you are stung at camp Robin Aid will take care of you!

There are many types of bees – bumble bees, honey bees, ground bee, wasps, hornets, carpenter

Here are a few fun facts about bees:

• The honey bee has been around for 30 million years.
• It is the only insect that produces food eaten by man.
• Honey bees are environmentally friendly
• They are insects with a scientific name – Apis mellifera
• They have six legs, two eyes, and two wings, a nectar pouch, and a stomach
• A honey bee can fly for up to six miles and as fast as 15 miles per hour,
• The bee leaves its stinger and venom pouch behind and soon dies after it stings
• Honeybees communicate with one another by “dancing”
• Ground bees will not sting unless they are stepped on or bothered
• One worker honeybee lives about four weeks in spring and summer.
• The queen bee is the most important bee in the hive

Check out these links for more fun facts about bees:

https://www.pestworldforkids.org/bees.html
https://www.ontariobee.com/index.phpaction=display&cat=38

Read about them and BEE Happy!

CABINS AND GROUNDS WINNERS

This week’s Cabins and Grounds winners are Junior Boys & Junior Girls, Senior Girls, and A4 from Sports Academy!

STAYING HYDRATED

Staying hydrated is very important and ensures that your body maintains a healthy temperature. By following these tips you can keep cool and prevent yourself from overheating:

Drink lots of fluids:

* Drink plenty of cool liquids throughout the day – water is best!

* If you feel thirsty you are already dehydrated!

* One camp cone cup is about 2 ½ oz (75 mls) so you need to drink about 3 cone cups to get 1 full cup of water – when you stop to drink at the camp coolers try to have 2 or 3 cone cups of water every time!

* Drink water before, during and after physical activity.

Eat for the season:

* Lots of foods have water in them and they help keep you hydrated.

* Try enjoying cold summer foods like fruits, salads and cold meat.

* Make homemade popsicles and smoothies, and munch on frozen grapes, berries or bananas

Get wet:

* Water on the outside of your body is good too – Get into the pool every day.

* Splash water on yourself to stay cool!

* Visit the camp misters to get a spray of cool water.

* Bathe, shower or soak your feet for an instant cool down.

Dress for the weather:

* Wear lightweight, loose-fitting and light-coloured clothing with a weave you cannot see through. If you can see through your clothing the UV rays can also get through.

* Fabrics like cotton and linen are more breathable, try to avoid synthetics.

* Remember to wear your sunglasses.

* If you have long hair, tie it back away from your face.

Know the signs:

Watch for symptoms of heat illness – headaches, dizziness, muscle cramps, nausea, vomiting, a rapid heartbeat or extreme thirst. If you feel any of these try to bring your body’s temperature down by moving to a cooler place, drinking water and misting your body with water.

We have great mister bottles you can purchase through the camp office.

WINNERS OF CABINS AND GROUNDS WEEK 6

The Cabins and Grounds winners this week are the Senior Girls, the Munchies, and A3 from Sports Academy!

FUN IN THE SUN

Sun safety is paramount at CRH – we take sun protection very seriously.

We are proud to be a SUN AWARE Certified Camp through the Melanoma Network. In fact in 2016 we were the winners of the Screen Me Sun Safe Camp award.

Working as a partner with parents we can ensure all of you our campers have fun in the sun and stay protected from today’s strong UV rays.

Here are some tips to protect from the sun……

• Slather campers in sunscreen before they get on the bus in the morning – it is best to do this before the camper gets dressed or in their bathing suit to make sure shoulders and along / under straps get fully covered
• Use a sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher
• Shake sunscreen before it is applied
• Use the right amount  – at least one palm full for a person’s body
• If using a spray sunscreen make sure it is rubbed in well because the spray can often miss spots
• Cover up
• Slip on a shirt – Keep in mind if you can see sunlight through the shirt UV rays will also penetrate the shirt. Try to choose shirts with a thicker weave that will help stop UV rays
• Slap on a hat – it is important to wear a hat every day at camp. If campers do not have a hat you are more than welcome to call the camp office to purchase a CRH hat
• Reapply at camp
• At camp we will reapply sunscreen at various times throughout the day especially after each swim and at lunch.
• Campers in the Inter and Senior units are able to apply sunscreen themselves – staff are always available to help with backs and hard to reach areas. Campers in our Junior Units will have a bit more help putting sunscreen on and the Leppie and Munchie counsellors will apply sunscreen to these young campers.
• Check out www.screenme.ca for lots of fun activities and information from the Melanoma Network

MEDICATIONS AT CAMP

Please use the “send meds to camp form” if you are sending medications for your camper to take at camp. This can be found on the camp website under Camp Prep.

We have Registered Nurses who are able to administer medications.

All medication MUST be sent in the original pharmacy container, with the prescription label or the original package for non-prescription medication.

All medications and the med form should be sent through Bus Mail – please give them directly to your bus counsellor who will ensure medications go through our camp process and will be delivered to Robin Aid.

Camp Robin Hood is proud to be a SUN AWARE certified camp through the Melanoma Network of Canada. This means we practice safe sun behaviours at camp. All of our staff have taken an online sun awareness training module and sun safe practices are carried out around camp. Watch future newsletters for more information and check out screenme.ca for more info.