Mondays suck. Everything feels grey and slow on Mondays. BUzz walks with his worn-out sneakers from the bus stop to the Frontier Building with his hands above his head to protect himself from the pouring rain. He tries to move his wings, but the raindrops won’t let him. Only ten meters left before he is in the building, 5 meters, 3 meters, FRASS ¹! He steps into a puddle and his sock is soaked. This will not dry until the end of the day. He hates it that the lecturers always keep the windows open for ‘fresh air’. With this frazzy¹ weather that means having to sit through class with temperatures of -10˚C. When BUzz is finally inside, the Beach Boys blast out of the speakers of HUB Radio with ‘Wild Honey’. With his right foot making a soggy sound every time it touches the floor, BUzz stumbles towards the elevator. Bees don’t use stairs.

Inside the elevator, he watches the doors of the lift close slowly and sighs. What a great way to start the week, with wet wings and a soaked sock.

“Please hold the door!” A high-pitched voice gets through to him. BUzz can’t see who was talking to him, but he automatically presses the button to open the doors of the elevator again. Someone walks into the elevator. BUzz stares at the floor. Elevators are awkward. When the elevator starts to move, BUzz looks unnoted at the shoes of the other person and slowly looks up to see if he recognizes her. Black tights, a furry black and yellow dress, and big black eyes. BUzz stares at the dimples on her cheeks. She smiles at him. BUzz gets nervous. Now that she caught him looking at her he has to say something, right? But what?

“Frazzy start of the day with this rain, right?” What a stupid question, he thinks to himself. Talking about the weather is the least impressive thing ever.

“My morning was already bad before the rain,” she answers.

“Why?” BUzz wants to know, relieved that she talks back.

She starts to explain: “My best friend and I would go to the Bee-yonce concert tonight. We have been saving our money for this for months. But this morning she texted me that she tested positive for Varroa², so she needs to self-isolate. I cannot believe how many experiences this pandemic took away from me these last few years. No Bee-yonce for me.”

“I am sorry to hear that,” BUzz replies, “but maybe you can invite another friend?”

The girl shakes her head, “I don’t have many friends yet. I am an exchange student and have only been here for a week. Wait… do you want to come with me maybe?”

BUzz's eyes get big and he swallows audibly. Of course he wants to go to Bee-yonce with her! He would have wanted to go to a nail salon or a dull isolated parking area with her, she is the most attractive bee he has ever seen. He clears his throat and uses an extra deep voice to hide his excitement: “Uuhm, sure, why not.”

The dimples appear on the girls' cheeks again as the elevator reaches the third floor. “Okay, tonight at the Arena in Amsterdam. I will wait for you in front of the entrance at 19:00, my name is Bee-Bee by the way,” she says while walking out of the elevator and in the opposite direction of where BUzz needs to go. BUzz keeps following her with his eyes as he suddenly feels a hand on his shoulder. It’s BUzz’s best friend, Bee-gee.

“Wow BUzz, who is she? Since when are you talking to pretty girls?” Bee-gee jokes.

“Uuhm… I just met her,” BUzz stammers, still confused by what just happened, “but we are going to a Bee-yonce concert tonight.”

“Tonight?” Bee-gee asks, “and what about research?”

BUzz’s stomach turns and he gets a gag reflex. Yikes, ‘research’, his least favourite word in the world. “What about research?” he asks.

“We agreed to work on research tonight, and we can’t postpone it any longer, because we have to give a presentation tomorrow morning!”

Completely startled BUzz looks at Bee-gee, he forgot about research. Can you blame him for forgetting about freaking research while looking into such beautiful eyes? She is the prettiest bee he has ever seen.

“Come on man, we are friends, don’t let me do this entire project on my own.” Bee-gee urges BUzz. BUzz’s head starts spinning: frazzle, he thinks, I’ve really been BUased. How could I ever cancel that Bee-yonce concert? Even if I wanted to, I don’t even have that girl's number to let her know I can’t make it. But on the other hand, Bee-gee is my best friend.

Now it’s up to you!

Help BUzz out, what should he do? Should he go to the Bee-yonce concert or should he help his friend finish the research presentation? You can vote here! In part two of ‘The adventures of BUzz’, you will read about BUzz’s choice!

1 Frass – the bee-way of saying ‘shit’, the poop of insect larvae is called ‘frass’

2 Varroa – an illness bees can suffer from