2
For Mason,
“‘E llo, Sir!” To my wife, Christina:
Thanks for
BEELIEVING!
Special Thanks:
Carson schmidt Grand prize winner no bees please! coloring contest 2013
Published in Salinas, California Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, by any means, including mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the author, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review. No Bees Please! / by Brian Courrejou Ellosir Publications ISBN-13: 978-0615912103 ISBN-10: 0615912109
Copyright © 2012 Brian Courrejou | All rights reserved | No insects were harmed in the production of this book.
Story by Brian Courrejou Art by Greg Palmer Creative Development Brian Courrejou Greg Palmer
This is the tale of ,
who lived all alone in a hill made of sand.
Antoine’s hill was known far and wide, though no other bug was allowed inside.
It was deep and warm and had many rooms. There was...
A Gym, A ThEATEr,
AND EVEN A pooL!
Yes, Antoine had everything he wished, except for someone to share it all with.
So he carved a sign and hung it on his door and it read simply this and not one word more:
Why no bees? It’s quite simple, really. Of all the foods he could eat, Antoine most loved honey...
...and one Spring day when he was just a baby bug, he crawled into a hive and then he got
STuNG !
ck turn ba
now
G AWO AY
Eri E
very we have gers in st long
and e x shor tremely t
tempe
TS NO AN ! S A PLE E
no h abia
perm
horm
igas
itido
s
no honey here
rs!
From that day on Antoine made it quite clear: “I don’t want bees anywhere near! Just the thought of them makes me whimper! They have very long stingers and extremely short tempers!”
So the sign went up and the word was out: had a spare room in his house!
Bugs from all parts came on the run and Antoine interviewed them one by one.
First there was
Freddy. He was a flea...
...but he jumped on the beds and was so hard to see!
Sam
Next there was a backpacking snail...
,
...who didn’t wipe his feet and dragged slime in a trail!
Then came Christopher , a cricket with a dream...
...to sing all night long (but mostly off key!).
Farrah the firefly was afraid at night...
...but Antoine couldn’t sleep when she turned on her light.
Terrence the termite
seemed like a fit...
...until he chewed up the furniture, and then swallowed it!
Sandra
was a spider,
quite handy in fact...
...but she took Antoine’s things and wouldn’t give them back!
The last on the list was
Ladybug Lo...
...but she soon missed her family and flew away home. Poor Antoine went in, fastened the lock, but just as he did there was one final
knock!
So Antoine peered out and then nearly
screamed!
For there was one more guest...
Beatrice ,“
“My name is the bee softly said...
“I always wipe my feet and never jump on the bed. I won’t sleep with the light on or sing songs all night.
I don’t chew furniture or take things that aren’t mine.
All I can offer is this simple treat.”
Family Reunion
CARS
DT I M H C ON S
Then she handed Antoine some
...his favorite thing to eat!
So next time you happen to pass Antoine’s hill you’ll see a much different sign... I’m quite sure that you will.
IUM MED RE RA
2
Hanging there proudly right above his door, it reads simply this and not one word more:
how many did you find? Try to find as many hidden bees as you can!
ANT FACTS • An ant can lift 20 times its own body weight. If a second grader was as strong as an ant, he or she would be able to pick up a car! • Ants don’t have ears. Ants “hear” by feeling vibrations in the ground through their feet. • Ants don’t have lungs. Oxygen enters through tiny holes all over their body and carbon dioxide leaves through the same holes. • Ants have two eyes. Each eye is made up of many smaller eyes. • Ants have two stomachs...one for themselves and one to feed others.
Did you know?
In addition to the 9 rooms you saw in No Bees Please!, Antoine has 47 you haven’t seen.
Flea Facts • Fleas can live for about 100 days. • Fleas do not fly. They jump from one place to another. • A flea can jump up to 8 inches high. That is 150 times its own height. If you could do this, you’d be able to leap over tall skyscrapers! • Fleas lay eggs. A single adult can lay between 40 and 50 in a single day.
Did you know? Freddy used to be in the circus.
• A pair of fleas can produce 400-500 offspring in their lifetime.
SNAIL Facts • Snails cannot hear. To find food, they use their sense of smell. • Snails leave slime behind them as they travel. The slime protects them as they move. • Snails are largely nocturnal. They are most likely to come out at night or very early in the morning. • Snails can live for 15 to 20 years, but that’s probably good since it may take them that long to cross the yard. • There are more snails on Earth than insects.
Did you know?
Sam was in a famous band.
ChECK ouT our FACEBooK pAGE For oThEr GrEAT STuFF!!! www.facebook.com/nobeesplease
cricket Facts
t
• Crickets chirp at a different rate depending on the temperature – the higher the temperature the higher the rate. • Male crickets make their chirping noise by rubbing their wings together. • Female crickets can lay up to 200 eggs at a time. • Crickets’ ears are located on the knees of their front legs. • Crickets can see in different directions at the same time.
Did you know?
Christopher tried out for a popular singing competition.
FIrEFLy Facts • Fireflies, also called lightning bugs, are neither flies nor bugs. Fireflies are actually beetles. • Males use their flash to attract females. Each species has its own pattern of light flashing. • Adult fireflies usually live off of nectar and pollen, but some don’t feed at all. • Fireflies “talk” to each other using light signals.
Did you know? Farrah used to help other bugs find their way home at night.
• Female fireflies sometimes mimic the flashes of other species.
termite facts • Termites have been around since the time of the dinosaurs!
• Termite colonies eat non-stop, 24 hours a day, seven days a week! • Termites cause up to $5 billion in damage per year! • Termites have wings that they shed once they have found a good place to build a nest. • The total weight of all of the termites in the world is more than the weight of all the humans in the world.
Did you know?
Terrence is a champion eater.
SpIDEr facts • There are around 40,000 different species of spider. • The hairs on a spider's leg are able to sense the sound of a flying insect. • Spider silk (in spider webs) is the strongest of any natural fiber. • Most spiders have four pairs of eyes. • The Giant Huntsman Spider is considered the world’s largest spider, boasting a 12-inch leg-span!
Did you know?
Sandra is a notorious burglar. ChECK ouT our FACEBooK pAGE For oThEr GrEAT STuFF!!! www.facebook.com/nobeesplease
ladybug facts • Ladybugs possess sticky pads on their legs. This helps them to climb. • The highest speed of most ladybugs is about 15 miles per hour. That is much slower than other insects. • Ladybugs have been in space! In 1999, NASA sent a few ladybugs into space along with aphids to see how the aphids could escape their predators in zero gravity.
Did you know? Lo’s house once caught on fire.
• When faced with a sticky situation, ladybugs pretend they are dead until the danger passes. • Ladybugs hibernate in the winter. They usually come together in large groups and sleep the winter away on mountains and areas of high elevation.
BEE facts
• The honey bee has been around for 30 million years. • The honey bee’s wings stroke 11,400 times per minute. This is what causes their distinctive buzz. • A honey bee visits 50 to 100 flowers during a collection trip. • Honey bees are born not knowing how to make honey; the younger bees are taught by the more experienced ones. • Honey bees communicate with one another by “dancing” so as to give the direction and distance of flowers.
Did you know?
Beatrice first met Antoine back when they were both baby bugs (but Antoine didn’t know...).