Barry the Lazy Bee Becomes a Hero | Funny & Inspiring Bee Story for Kids

It's time for the greatest special event in the history of the hive. The annual Great Honeybee Workout and Candy Hunt is about to begin. The workout is an ancient tradition where the bees of the hive work together to move the hive to a new fig. And every fig has candy inside. The fig has to be big enough for the whole hive to move into. And the fig must be unripe so the bees can chew on its sweet sap and make it ripe. It's hard work. So to get ready, all the bees do jumping jacks and other exercises to get their wings in shape. But not everyone wants to participate. Barry White, a young, lazy bee, just wants to stay home and watch TV. He doesn't think he's cut out for the big fig. Barry tells his best friend, Adam, that he wants to quit being a honeybee and do something else with his life, like become a painter or a poet. But Adam doesn't want to listen. He tells Barry that a bee's gotta do what a bee's gotta do. But Barry isn't convinced as the workout begins. Barry hides behind a leaf while the other bees flap their wings and fly around the fig, pushing and shoving each other to get inside. But there isn't any candy in this fig. All they find is a scary spider. The bees are scared, but Barry isn't. He uses his stinger to flick the spider away and all the bees cheer. Now Barry feels like a real hero. Now that the coast is clear, the bees begin chewing on the fig to make it ripe. But figs don't ripen overnight. They need a little help from the bees. So they take turns chewing on the fig, while the others go out to gather pollen and nectar. Meanwhile, Barry isn't helping at all. He's off to the side drawing pictures of all the bees working. He even made a portrait of Old Man Jenkins, the oldest bee in the hive, who's also directing traffic and making sure no fig wasps try to sneak in. Old Man Jenkins sees Barry drawing and asks him what he's doing. Barry tells him he doesn't want to be a worker bee anymore. He wants to be a painter. Old Man Jenkins tells him there's no such thing as a painter bee, but he could be the first. Old Man Jenkins was once a young, ambitious bee himself. He wanted to travel the world, see all the flowers, and collect pollen from every fig tree in the forest. But after a while, he got tired of collecting pollen and he met a nice fig wasp named Gertie and settled down. He became one of the best fig protectors the hive ever had. But now he's old and the fig trees aren't producing any figs. He's worried the hive won't survive without any new figs to move into. Barry offers to go out and find some new figs so the hive can move in before winter. But Old Man Jenkins tells him no, it's too dangerous outside. There are birds, there's rain, there's wind, and there are those pesky fig wasps that will fight But Barry isn't scared. He, along with Adam and the rest of the bees, flies out of the hive to look for a new fig. They search all over the forest, but every fig they find is either too small or already has a fig wasp living in it. Just when the bees are about to give up, Barry spots a tiny fig hidden behind some leaves. It's the perfect size for the hive and there's no sign of any fig wasps. As the bees begin moving into the fig, Barry takes one last look at the old fig. He may have found a new fig, but it's the old bees that taught him how to be a great honeybee. Maybe being a painter bee isn't all it's cracked up to be. After all, there's no such thing as a painter bee. Unless you want to be one. The End