Ben The Lazy Bumble Be

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By Michael Pizzardello

Dedication

For Laura and Kyle, who would have been as lazy as Ben.

Wri$en  and  Illustrated  by  Michael  Pizzardello  

Published  by  Issuu    

All  rights  reserved.    

Michael  Pizzardello.    Ben  the  Lazy  Bumble  Bee.  

 For  preschool  and  primary  students.  

ISBN  1  235477  45  3.            

                                           

One sunny day, Ben the bumble bee woke up late but he wasn’t bothered because he just thought it was an ordinary day in Mr Beekeeper’s Hive. But then he remembered…

Z Z Z B

Today was a special day. It was the “Annual Bumble Bee Blossom Festival,” his favourite day of the year. Ben immediately soared out of bed, he quickly put on his best flying suit and flew straight out the door and into honeycomb hall, where the whole colony had gathered and by now were all listening to the Queen bee.

“The Blossom Festival will begin shortly,” said the Queen, in her booming voice. “ The honey stalls will be in Nectar Hall, while the Family Activities will be held in Pollen Chamber and last but not least, the Annual Blossom Games, which will be held at the entrance of the hive in about one hour.”

“All bees taking part in the games must proceed to the entrance at once.” So Ben and all the other bees did exactly what the Queen had said and immediately flew over in a buzzing crowd towards the entrance. Ben started bragging to all the bees around about how good he was and how he was the best flyer in the hive.

They finally arrived at the entrance of the hive. They all put on their flying helmets and then started to do some stretches and flying exercises to warm up their wings, except for Ben because he thought he was the best of the best and couldn’t be bothered stretching. All the bees were lined up on the ledge just below the entrance.

The hour buzzed past quickly and in no time hundreds of bumble bee families were gathering around to see the start of the race. The Queen arrived just as the race was about to start.

“ All contestants should by now be lined up on the starting ledge,” said the Queen. “The aim of the game is simple. The horn will sound and all contestants will take off in search of the flower with the best tasting nectar. The bee who returns with the best flower will be awarded the Blossom Games Championship trophy. Just before you start I would like to remind you that the best tasting flowers are the furthest from the hive and are hidden in the forest. This race is not about who gets back first, although the time limit is 3 hours. On your marks! Get set! … Go!”

The horn sounded and all the bees flew off. The only bee who didn’t speed off was Ben. “They’ll soon get tired,” he thought to himself. Ben slowly cruised around but was too lazy to go all the way to the forest and back. “It will take ages,” he thought, “even though I am the best of the best.” Then out of the corner of his eye he spotted a beautiful, purple flower, majestically floating in the air. “ It must have fallen off a tree and blown all the way over here. Perfect! I don’t have to fly anywhere now, ” he thought to himself.

Ben carelessly flew back to the hive and was just about to go back inside, when he thought the Queen might get suspicious. So he peacefully sat down at the bottom of the hive and instantly started daydreaming about roses and daffodils and before he knew it, he had woken up to the sound of bees buzzing back to the hive.

He quickly jumped up and buzzed up to the entrance of the hive. All the other bees cheered for Ben as he courageously flew into the hive, holding the beautiful flower in his hands.

Ben landed in front of the Queen and bowed before handing her the flower. All the other bees watched anxiously as the Queen bee held the flower to her mouth. “She slowly sucked the nectar from the flower. “Yuck!” she shouted in disgust at the surprised Ben. “This flower is horrible. It tastes like it has been floating in the air and all the nectar has dried out. You… are eliminated!”

Ben slunk away into the crowd realising what he had done wrong. “From now on I will never be lazy again,” Ben vowed to himself and from then on he tried his best every single day. Ben became the happiest bee in the hive and everyone loved his new personality.

It is the “ Annual Bumble Bee Blossom Festival “ in Mr. Beekeeper’s hive, the best day of the year. Ben the bumble bee thinks he is the best of the best

and is competing in the “ Annual Blossom Games ”. Ben is so confident

he doesn’t bother making an effort and tries to find an easy way to win the

competition … but was it a good idea after all?