Everyone knows that bears really love honey! One day, Mr. Bear was looking for honey in his cupboard, but he couldn’t find any. “Oh no! No honey!” he said sadly. So, he decided to go into the forest to find some honey.
Mr. Bear found a beehive in a tree and could smell the yummy honey inside. “Mmmmm! Honey!” he thought. He reached his big paw into the beehive to get some honey, but suddenly… ZZZZZZZZZ! A little bee flew out!
“Hey, bear! Go away!” buzzed the bee. “This is not your honey!”
Mr. Bear was not happy. “I am bigger than you,” he said. “And I am stronger too. I can do what I want! Now… buzz off!” He tried to reach into the beehive again, but… ZZZZZZZZZ! ZING! The bee stung him right on his nose!
“Ouch! My nose!” cried Mr. Bear. He was very angry. He picked up a big stick and tried to hit the bee, but the bee was too fast!
The bee flew back into the beehive. “Aha! Now you’re trapped!” shouted Mr. Bear. He started hitting the beehive with his stick. Smash! Smash! Smash! But then he heard a loud noise. ZZZZ! ZZZZ! ZZZZZZZZZZ!
Thousands of bees flew out of the broken beehive! They buzzed all around Mr. Bear’s head. ZZZZZZZZZ… ZING! They stung him on his ear, his elbow, and chased him through the forest, stinging him everywhere!
Mr. Bear ran all the way home and slammed the door shut. BAM! Inside, he heard Mrs. Bear’s voice. “You did it again, didn’t you?” she asked. “You lost your temper.”
“Yes,” Mr. Bear said, feeling sad and counting his bee stings. Mrs. Bear gave him some bee-sting medicine and said, “We have honey in the cupboard. It’s behind the flour.”
The story teaches us that getting too angry can cause a lot of trouble. It’s always better to stay calm and think before acting!
Bee and Bear Role Play: Pair up with a friend or family member and act out the story of “The Bear and the Bee.” One person can be Mr. Bear and the other can be the bee. Try to show how Mr. Bear feels at different parts of the story and how the bee reacts. After the role play, talk about how Mr. Bear could have handled the situation differently. What could he have done to stay calm?
Calm Down Jar: Create a “Calm Down Jar” to help remember the lesson of staying calm. You will need a jar, water, glitter, and glue. Fill the jar with water, add some glitter, and a little glue to make the glitter move slowly. When you shake the jar, watch the glitter swirl around like Mr. Bear’s angry thoughts. As the glitter settles, think about how you can calm down when you feel upset, just like the glitter slowly settling at the bottom of the jar.
Observation Walk: Go on a walk with an adult and look for bees or other insects. Watch how they move and work together. Think about how the bees in the story worked together to protect their hive. Talk about how working together can help solve problems and why it’s important to stay calm and think before acting, just like the bees did.
**The Bear and the Bee**
*(A version of the tale by TheFableCottage.com)*
Everybody knows that bears love honey. One day, Mr. Bear looks in his cupboard and can’t find any honey. “Oh no! No honey!” he exclaims. So, he goes into the forest to find some. He spots a beehive in a tree and smells the honey. “Mmmmm! Honey!” He reaches his paw into the beehive and… ZZZZZZZZZ! A bee flies out.
“Hey, bear! Go away!” says the bee. “This is not your honey!”
Mr. Bear is annoyed. “I am bigger than you,” he replies. “And I am stronger than you too. I can do what I want! Now… buzz off!” Mr. Bear reaches into the beehive again and… ZZZZZZZZZ! ZING! Ouch! The bee stings him right on his nose!
“My nose! My nose! Oooh… I’m so angry!” growls Mr. Bear. He finds a big stick and tries to hit the bee. He swings and swings, but the bee is too fast! Mr. Bear gets angrier and angrier. “GARRRRRGHH! I WILL CATCH YOU! COME HERE!”
The bee flies back into the beehive. “AH HAH! Now you’re trapped!” yells Mr. Bear. He swings his stick at the beehive. Smash! Smash! Smash! He breaks it to pieces! Then he hears a strange sound. It gets louder and louder… ZZZZ! ZZZZ! ZZZ! Zzzz! ZZZZZZZZZZ! Zzzz! ZZZZ!
Thousands of bees fly out of the smashed beehive. They buzz around Mr. Bear’s head… ZZZZZZZZZ… ZING! They sting him on his ear. ZING ZING! They sting him on his elbow. They chase Mr. Bear through the forest, stinging him on his arms, his legs, his hands… and especially on his nose. ZING! ZING! ZING!
Mr. Bear runs all the way home and slams the door shut. BAM! Then he hears a voice behind him. It’s Mrs. Bear. “You did it again, didn’t you?” she says. “You lost your temper.”
“Yes,” he replies as he cries and counts his bee stings. “Here’s the bee-sting medicine,” says Mrs. Bear. “Also, we have honey in the cupboard. It’s behind the flour.”
**Moral:** A hot temper always gets you into trouble.
