The DU Lounge

I was about 8 or 9 years s old, alone in our back yard. We had a lot of flowers. I was used to seeing and hearing bees around the flowers and kept a respectful distance from them.

Then I heard a loud buzzing, as if from a swarm of bees. I looked around and saw a HUGE bee buzzing and hovering over a flower. Terrified of such a large bee with a long stinger on its face, I ran inside to tell my mother about it.

She laughed and said it sounded like a hummingbird. She explained that they are small birds and the buzzing sound came from batting their wings rapidly in order to stay steady over flowers to get nectar using their long narrow beak, which is not a stinger.

I felt foolish then for being so afraid of it.