MacEwan UniversityListen. Things that are small and can fly are scary, I get that.
Wasps? Absolute evil incarnate. Mosquitos? Blood-sucking monsters. Mating dragonflies? Too much PDA. However, I recently learned that MacEwan University tends to six whole honeybee hives, as they have done for four years! Honestly? The U of A needs to step it up and create some campus beehives as well.
We all know that honeybees, among other flying insects, help pollinate flowers so that new fruits and vegetables can grow. This means that bees are literally the best wingmen that plants can ask for. How many of you have successfully wingmanned for your lonely friend and simply buzzed off afterwards instead of sticking around and making the situation awkward? Bees are already more socially adept and environmentally conscious than some humans.
Now let’s talk about that sweet, sweet honey. Did you know that bees don’t just produce one type of honey? The typical pasteurized honey you can find at No Frills or Safeway is nice and all, but it’s nothing compared to the magical world of raw honey. When honeybees feed on specific plants, they can produce wildly unique flavours of honey. Blueberry honey is slightly tangy and fruity, while eucalyptus honey carries a hint of menthol, which is perfect for drizzling into some peppermint tea. Oh, and just imagine spreading coffee honey onto your breakfast toast.
If you still need some convincing that bees are the best, then just take a moment and think about the anatomy of the bee. To quote the Bee Movie, “According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway”.
Now, I believe we can all agree the Bee Movie is just slightly problematic enough to veer into a discussion of “bees”-tiality. However, the point is that its opening quote is the most inspirational thing that I will ever hear in university. Bees are fat, oddly shaped, and do not follow the “laws of aviation.” And yet, they fly. Kids, bees really deserve more attention. Not only do they act as wingmen for plants and provide us with honey, they’re also role models for achieving the impossible!
Honeybees are the bee’s knees. Campus beehives really should be more common, if not for the sake of the environment, then for the sheer opportunity of more inter-university competition. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
