Two larvae sit side by side in the brood comb, A and B. The speech bubble shows how much honey each one wants.
The store cells lie all around. Each one feeds exactly one larva, and only a larva it touches.
Six cells touch just one larva. Simply write that larva's letter into them.
The two cells between the larvae touch both. Work out who still needs them.
Sometimes three larvae sit in the middle. Then one cell lies between each pair of larvae and touches both.
If the speech bubble shows a question mark, all larvae get the same amount. Add up all the cells and divide by three.
Example
For parents
What does this exercise practice?
Feeding the larvae practices arithmetic with a purpose. First the child adds up a larva's three own cells, then asks how much is still missing, and looks for that missing number among the two middle cells. Adding and completing sit side by side in one task, and the shape of the comb decides what is even eligible.
Common pitfalls
The most common mistake is giving one cell to both larvae. Each cell belongs to exactly one. The second is guessing at the middle cells. Adding up the three own cells first shows the missing number, so there is nothing to try out. And sometimes a larva is already full from its own cells, and then it gets none of the middle ones.
How to practice at home
Set six cups as cells around two plates and hand out building blocks as honey. Put a slip with the number on each plate. First deal out the cups that stand next to only one plate, then the two in between. That makes it visible why the middle ones come last.
Related: Share fairly in a group, Build a hero