Bee Movie : Interview with Barry B Benson



Tell us a little bit about yourself…….
I’m a nice guy, a regular guy I’d say. I like jazz, I like yellow, I like black, I like flying, I like honey -oh I like me some honey.

What’s with the sweater?
This is my favorite sweater. I wear it all the time. I like the way it fits and the stripe is my signature. It’s good for day; it’s good for evening wear. I can go out to dinner like this or I can just fly around.

Tell us about your friend Vanessa….
Vanessa is a florist I met recently. We both like coffee and flowers and that’s really all you need for a friendship.

What’s your impression of humans?
I find the humans to be, uh, a little excessive in a lot of the things that they do. They’re eating crazy, they’re driving crazy, they’re saying crazy things. They should work more and talk less.

What’s the best part about being a bee?
The best part of being a bee… we love to keep our hive humming and producing honey, that’s our thing. That’s the great thing about being a bee. You never find yourself in a coffee shop wondering, “What should I do now? Maybe I’ll write a screenplay.”

Why are bees the envy of the insect world?
The bee is the only insect that makes a delicious condiment; its great at small social gatherings, its good for a snack, its great on ham and, uh, you know, it’s really one of the great products out there on the shelves and we couldn’t be more proud of it.

What is most important to Bees?
Bees live in a world of rules. Good rules keep us on the straight and narrow. I don’t know who came up with the stripes, but we don’t break that rule either. Everybody wears them.

Do you travel much?
Actually traveled around quite a bit. I’ve been to England, I’ve been France, I’ve been all through Asia, Africa. My passport is just full of stamps and that in itself was difficult because my passport is so small, they had to just take a pen and put a little dot on it.

Give us some Bee trivia…
It takes us 37,000 bee hours to make one pound of honey and then another 4,000 hours just to pick all the crap and crud out of it.

Is Mooseblood the mosquito your friend?
Oh yes, Mooseblood and I are very good friends. He’s my only mosquito friend, but uh I’m not that…uh…you don’t want to get too close to a mosquito because things can end very quickly for them; they land on the wrong thigh and its over.