DEAR TABBY

DEAR TABBY:  Can you tell me about the girl that won the contest to name the bee on the Honey Nut Cheerios cereal?  Also, the "buzz" around my school is that bears don't really like honey, but actually likes the bees inside.  If that's true, what animals like the taste of honey?  SUZY, SWEETWATER, TEXAS

DEAR SUZY:  Well, aren't you just "swarming" with questions today!  The cereal company sponsored a national contest in 2000 to name the bee, and you'll be proud to know that an 11-year-old girl, Kristine Tong, of Coolidge, Texas, won the competition.  She wrote that she'd name the cereal mascot BuzzBee because "he is a bee with a lot of talent and when he flies, he makes a buzzing noise."  The company shortened the name to Buzz and added the slogan, “Bee happy, Bee Healthy.”  The cereal has been voted as one of the 100 greatest cereals of all time.  Now, ain't that sweet!

For your second question, bears are really omnivores (that means they eat various foods such as plants, fruits, nuts, insects, and salmon).  Bears raid beehives for the bees and larvae inside, and the honey is an extra treat!  In addition to being good tree climbers, bears are good swimmers, too. 

I can "barely" stand this cute picture of bear love:

Have you ever heard of a kinkajou, also known as a honey bear?  This is a nocturnal mammal that lives in the Rainforest and is related to the raccoon.  They spend most of their time in trees, and their diet is 90% fruit and 10% leaves and flowers.  The animal's tail is used as a "fifth hand" and can turn its feet backwards to run quite easily in either direction up a branch or up and down a tree!  Although they are not usuallly seen eating honey in the wild, they have been know to love honey when in captivity.

We have to end the post with a sweet song by The Archies, "Sugar, Sugar," from the Bee Movie - that's doubly sweet!

I couldn't "bear" it if we didn't include our favorite bear, Winnie the Pooh.  Let's watch the trailer for his new movie: