Misused: Bee Afraid

I--Vanya--I A bee, a beetle and a moth from Belarus Since: Jun, 2018 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free

A bee, a beetle and a moth

#1: Feb 17th 2021 at 9:33:20 PM

Bee Afraid was supposed to be about huge, dangerous swarms of stinging insects (bees, wasps or hornets). However, it frequently suffers from misuse as "antagonistic bee or bee-themed character". A wick check was done by War Jay 77, 𝕋𝕒𝕓𝕤, MacronNotes, and myself.

Wick check:

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Proper usage (20/51)

Animation.Mr Krbec And His Animals:
- Swarming bees appear near the castle gate in one episode and they won't let any visitors in and they are quite aggressive. Ghost Ruprecht actually helps out when he brings an old beehive and lures the bees in it. Mr Krbec then becomes a beekeeper, which is a good thing because he talked himself hoarse showing the castle to tourists, so he will appreciate the honey he will eventually get from the bees.
- Ruprecht begs the bees to help them in a later episode when the gang deals with unwelcome visitors. Mr Krbec kindly offers shelter from the rain to two guys who were camping out and sleeping in the open air. They kept singing and playing the guitar and were extremely loud. The bees do help them and attack those persistent singing tramps.
Anime.Onegai My Melody: "In the first episode of Kirara, Kuromi tells a story about an unfortunate picnic mishap that eventually led to her disturbing a beehive and getting stung."
Characters.Arrowverse The Rogues: "Killer Robot bees are her Weapon Of Choice."
Characters.The Zhu Zhus: Frankie gets chased and stung by a swarm of bees in "If Wishes Were Rainbows."
ComicBook.Schindelschwinger: "The Wiesen-Sohle prototypes carry giant bee hives on their heads, and use their bees to attack the angels."
Funny.The Legend Of Zelda Links Awakening: "After the third dungeon, Tarin asks if he can borrow a stick you're carrying (as part of a Chain of Deals). When you do, he chooses to... strike the nearby honeycomb. It goes about how you'd expect. You can later find him recovering in bed, saying he's lost his taste for honey."
Pass the Popcorn: "In Killer Party, Virgil sabotages the backdoor of the sorority house so it won't open. The frat boys then release angry bees into the backyard, driving the naked sorority girls out of the hot tub. Discovering the backdoor won't open, the girls have to run around to the front, where the frat boys are seated with refreshments."
Literature.The Authorities: Professor Sherwood has temporarily joined the team to study the viability of using bees for forensics purposes. According to him, bees are far more sensitive to specific scents than any dog's nose. When analyzing a crime scene, he waves around a scanner that looks like a TSA metal detector wand. In fact, the "scanner" is a high-tech container for bees. Each bee is trained to react to a particular scent and is placed in its own compartment (which has a tiny opening to the outside) and attached to a sensor. Whenever a bee detects its scent, it reacts, and the sensor measures how much the bee reacts, corresponding to the strength of the scent, which is then displayed on a small screen on the device. He keeps tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of bees at the team's HQ (luckily, on the roof) and a single hive in the van. He has also gotten adept at using bees to detain suspects, by first spraying them with a special substance that attracts bees and then releasing them. He has also successfully used them for "enhanced interrogation", although he was told to never do that again, as it's bad PR.
Literature.The Raven Cycle:
- Gansey was stung to death by a swarm of hornets as a child.
- Subverted a few times, most notably in the raven cave scene in Blue Lily, Lily Blue—Gansey's PTSD causes him to fear that rustling noises or crawling sensations on his skin are insect swarms, but they always turn out to be something else.
Literature.Young Sherlock Holmes: In Death Cloud, the Big Bad uses swarms of weaponized killer bees as Animal Assassins.
Music.The Aquabats: The villain of "Sandy Face!" kills the narrator's dog sidekick with his "beard of bees".
Recap.HTF Sweet Ride: Nutty's head gets stung by the entire beehive.
Recap.Total Drama No Pain No Game: "Bridgette has to have an awful lot of bees on her, she completes it successfully. Truth in Television, as bees usually won't sting you if you don't bother them."
Roleplay.Dangan Roleplay Round Three: "The last renewable regain to unlock is Isabelle's, and it's... capsules of swarming attack bees. Everyone tries to either avoid them or just stash them in Tsukiyama's closet."
Series.Little House On The Prairie: "One episode in Season 6 has Albert selling Mrs. Oleson and Nellie a tree trunk filled with bees. They remain docile until Oleson's wagon begins to rock while they transport the hive home, causing the bees to angrily sting both the women as they lose control of their horses."
Series.Midsomer Murders: In "Sting of Death", the first Victim of the Week is doused in a synthetic pheromone that is used as a swarm lure, and stung to death by a swarm of honeybees. The bees are still swarming the body when the police arrive.
Series.Rescue 911:
- "Swarm Save": A flatbed truck transporting beehives tips over in the middle of the night, and the swarms of agitated bees attack the driver and the rescue personnel. It's mentioned that the driver retires from beekeeping after the incident.
- "911 Honeybee Horror": While mowing some property, a man agitates a hive of feral honeybees. Again, the bees swarm the victim and the rescue personnel, and they have to call in some beekeepers to help evacuate the victim.
Theatre.A Gentlemans Guide To Love And Murder: "The fate of Henry D'Ysquith. When he shows Monty around his home, he introduces Monty to his colony of bees. Monty admits not wanting to get close for fear of being stung. He shows no fear whatsoever, saying "I dare say it would take 100 bees to kill me now!" Cue Monty immediately plotting his next murder by spraying his beekeeping helmet with English lavender to attract the bees."
WebAnimation.Ducktalez: "Vegeta's hallucinations in episode 7 include being attacked by bees. Summoned by Mr. Popo, no less."
Webcomic.Bronze Skin Inc: "In Chapter 8, Raymond lets loose a swarm of bees to get the Bronze Skin team."

Misuse (23/51)

Anime.Suzys Zoo Daisuki Witzy: "One bee comes to harass the gang over their flower crowns in the episode Patches, Bee-Ware." Just one bee; not a swarm.
Characters.Cuphead: "She's very dangerous and is not handing over her Soul Contract without a fight... especially when her flooding honey attempts to drown you." ZCE, but the wick is in the character folder whose description states that she is a queen bee.
Characters.Slightly Damned: She is a giant fire bee (fictional bee species with bright red colors and makes incredibly spicy honey) and isn't particularly friendly to demons.
Characters.Terraria: "You stumble into a hive, with not many monsters inside unless you start digging into the walls. Then you attack the larva... and a gigantic bee attacks you furiously in retaliation." Singular bee.
Characters.Trove: "The Bee Trickster costume."
ComicBook.Patsy Walker AKA Hellcat: Once the giant tiger becomes a giant bee, things get significantly worse. One bee.
Energy Absorption: "Monster Warriors: In "Buzz!", a huge electricity-sucking bumblebee is draining all of Capital City's power supply." Potholed as "Bumblebee".
Film.Pure Luck: Double subversion. The kidnappers' plane with Valerie crashed somewhere in jungle. Raymond expects Eugene to crash in the same area. Shortly before boarding the plane Eugene says that a bee is following him and he's allergic to bees. At this point viewers can guess what is going to cause the crash. But then the bee just leaves. Raymond assumes that the bad luck has switched its target again and it's his turn to be the Chew Toy. Then the bee comes back and stings Eugene who swells comically and has to stay in hospital (where he learns of the village Valerie burned by accident).
EdEddNEddy.Tropes A To G: "The Eds start a beehive extermination business in one episode. It doesn't end well." Not a swarm of bees being shown as menacing so misuse
Literature.Earth The Book: One of the possible reasons for humanity's extinction was bee/shark hybrids. Potholed to "bee". Presume that the animal is not composed of a whole swarm.
Pantheon.Psyches: ZCE pothole referring to "Bee People" in the entry for Q-Bee. Though it's hard to call pantheon wicks out for context, it's still blatant misuse.
Recap.Kamen Rider Kuuga Ep 7 Grief:
- "She says that it's very similar to a bee's stinger, and concludes that this Unidentified Lifeform has the characteristics of a bee".
- "The Bee Gurongi."
RedEyesTakeWarning.Video Games: "Beedrill, a giant, poisonous, territorial hornet."
Series.Who Wants To Be A Superhero: Under Secret Test of Character "For example, in one challenge, the heroes were split into teams and had to pass a "Spelling Bee" hosted by bee-themed villain Bee Sting." Potholed as "bee-themed villain""
VideoGame.Baby Felix Halloween: "The boss of Western World is a giant bee that shoots stingers at you and drips acid from its mouth."
VideoGame.Colobot: "Later levels introduce giant wasps, which drop highly damaging projectiles at your buildings."
VideoGame.Dragon Seeds: "The Wasp species are all, well, giant wasps. Except in their final evolutions, where they take on other insectoid forms—and some even become graceful fairies." Seems to be more about the appearance of that particular bee species.
VideoGame.Gitaroo Man: Haven't you heard? There's a new King in town. Mojo mojo mojo KING BEE! Truly one of the most terrifying characters ever. One bee.
VideoGame.Kingdom Rush: "Giant Wasps serve as the weakest Airborne Mooks." If they're mooks, they're probably just singular wasps.
VideoGame.Monkey Shines: While you never face a swarm of bees in this game, they're recurring mooks that appear in almost every world. They're not immediately fatal like the other mooks, but they drain Bonzo's energy. Singular individuals
VideoGame.Trinity: "The honey you'll need for the cauldron recipe is guarded by a giant bee; if you try to put your hand on the hive to collect honey, the bee will sting you. And God help you if you put your hand on the hive a third time, because the bee WILL kill you (putting new meaning to "three strikes and you're out")" Singular bee; not a swarm.
WesternAnimation.Big City Greens: "In the Bee Tree Short, when Tilly and Cricket encountered a single bee while climbing up the tree, which went into Tilly, who kept still while Cricket frantically calls for helping until the bee leaves from Tilly’s face but went to sting Cricket’s face." One single bee.
YMMV.Cosmic Break: "Berzelius slams into you, often killing you instantly unless you have something like 600 HP, where you will usually get half of that taken off instead. Annoyingly, he tends to pull this attack out whenever he wants." Potholed in the name of an apparently bee-themed, or actual bee, character.

ZCE/Unsortable (8/51)

Characters.City Hunter: "Her late fiancee was duped in creating them, and she wants to destroy them to avenge him." Created what? Bees? Why would he create bees?
Creator.Dane Cook: "Defied. "Would You Rather?" starts with him making fun of people who die from bees, stating that he'd retaliate against this by punching every bee he encounters in the face." Can't sort, since IDK if it's referring to bee swarms, individual bees, or both.
Film.The Food Of The Gods: "These "wasps" look more like mosquitos."
VideoGame.Jolly: "Jolly, of course. The fact that one of his incarnations contains a flayed human body doesn't help." I assume Jolly is a bee, but nothing makes that fact clear. If that's true, it's misuse.
VideoGame.Vigilante 8: "Beezwax's special weapon." I am guessing the weapon involves a swarm of bees but there isn't any context for that
WesternAnimation.Dr Katz Professional Therapist: "Dr. Katz has a fear of bees; in one episode, he talks about therapy that is supposed to cure you of your phobia. For Katz, the final step is to put him in a room with thousands of bees. He couldn't get past the first step, which was putting him in a room with a dead horse." Does "fear of bees" count as "bee swarms are dangerous"?
WebVideo.Santana: "This."
WesternAnimation.Santo Bugito: "The first episode features a pair of killer bees that Santo Bugito's residents believe would orchestrate a full-scale attack. It turns out that they and the rest of their hive are just stopping there for a break as they move to the White House, since their town is much too small to be of importance." Are they afraid of just two bees, or the whole hive?

Total ratio: 39% is the correct use, 45% is misuse, and 16% are ZCE or unsortable.

I have several proposals as of how to fix the trope, with me personally leaning towards the first two options (but mostly towards the first one):

Split Bee Afraid into two separate, but overlappable tropes: the one bearing the name "Bee Afraid" will be defined as "dangerous or antagonistic portrayals of bees", while another one will be defined as the original meaning of "scary swarms of stinging insects". Hmmm... Scary Stinging Swarm... I like the sound of that.
Redefine Bee Afraid as "dangerous portrayals of bees in general" and allow it to encompass both examples of the dangerous bee swarms or individual dangerous bees, similarly to Ant Assault trope I launched, and ship off all examples featuring wasps and hornets into the Wicked Wasps trope.
Same as the first proposal, but no trope about swarms of stinging insects will be made; instead, all examples of the swarms will go into The Swarm. (not my favorite, but eh, there might be someone who would like that option, no idea why)
Rename the page, cut the misuse. (personally my least favorite proposal, but eh, come on)

Edited by I--Vanya--I on Feb 17th 2021 at 8:46:31 PM

Vi: Well, it's not like we're getting attacked by a giant wasp spider guardian! | Leif: Never combine those words ever again.

Berrenta How sweet it is from Texas Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love

How sweet it is

#2: Feb 24th 2021 at 8:39:22 PM

Opened.

she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report

PhiSat Planeswalker from Everywhere and Nowhere Since: Jan, 2011

Planeswalker

#3: Feb 24th 2021 at 8:53:15 PM

I think the name as is misleading but I think the trope of bee or stinging-themed villains is a valid one for the current name, so I'd support a split as per your first suggestion.

Edited by PhiSat on Feb 24th 2021 at 9:54:14 AM

Oissu!

WarJay77 Big Catch, Sparkle Edition (Troper Knight)

Big Catch, Sparkle Edition

#4: Feb 24th 2021 at 9:10:27 PM

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

MyFinalEdits Officially intimidated from Parts Unknown (Ten years in the joint) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life

Officially intimidated

#5: Feb 24th 2021 at 9:12:56 PM

And I was the one who proposed the name when it was TRS'd last time. (2013 or 2014, I believe).

Supporting a split.

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WarJay77 Big Catch, Sparkle Edition (Troper Knight)

Big Catch, Sparkle Edition

#6: Feb 24th 2021 at 9:40:40 PM

In all fairness, it's a good name, just one that's a bit vague for the specifics of the trope. Which is why it'd probably fare better with a Trope Transplant.

Edited by WarJay77 on Feb 24th 2021 at 12:40:55 PM

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

ImperialMajestyXO Since: Nov, 2015

#7: Feb 24th 2021 at 9:45:48 PM

Personally, I'm in favor of Option A.

GastonRabbit Sounds good on paper (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me

Sounds good on paper (he/him)

#8: Feb 24th 2021 at 10:11:35 PM

I prefer redefining over splitting.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Feb 24th 2021 at 12:12:13 PM

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.

Tabs Since: Jan, 2001

#9: Feb 25th 2021 at 12:46:18 AM

I like the first option most. The Zerg Rushy feeling of a swarm that makes it scary feels different enough from "bee-themed antagonist" or "big, scary bee". I wouldn't be opposed to the second option, though.

GastonRabbit Sounds good on paper (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me

Sounds good on paper (he/him)

#10: Feb 25th 2021 at 12:50:46 AM

You have a point, so I'd be fine with splitting.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.

jandn2014 Very Spooky from somewhere in Connecticut Since: Aug, 2017 Relationship Status: Hiding

Very Spooky

#11: Feb 25th 2021 at 3:07:55 AM

I’m most in favor of option A.

back lol

eroock Since: Sep, 2012

#12: Feb 25th 2021 at 3:09:07 AM

Option A

Snicka Since: Jun, 2011

#13: Feb 25th 2021 at 3:21:34 AM

@MyFinalEdits: Bee Afraid is a pretty good name in my opinion. And definitely far superior to the previous Gosh Hornet (which, apparently, was a pun on gosh darn it). But yeah, it's more fitting for a "evil or scary bee or bee-themed villain" than "scary swarm of insects".

I don't have a strong preference between Option A and Option B^noteOption Bee, he he. Option C is also there to be considered - is there any significant, meaningful difference between a swarm of stinging, bee-like insects and a swarm of insects in general?

Edited by Snicka on Feb 25th 2021 at 12:25:05 PM

GastonRabbit Sounds good on paper (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me

Sounds good on paper (he/him)

#14: Feb 25th 2021 at 4:00:08 AM

Technically, Everything's Worse With Bees and Gosh Hornet were both old names at the same time, since the thread that merged them chose the name Bee Afraid for the merged trope instead of directly merging one into the other (though Gosh Hornet was initially called a duplicate of Everything's Worse With Bees rather than vice versa, especially because it was still about bees despite the hornet pun).

Edit: Link to TRS thread (which had Duplicate Trope as a reason), which also changed the name of Everything's Worse With Bees to Bee Afraid.

Edit from a while later: Tweaked the original edit because I think there's actually a thread specifically for duplicate tropes, and I accidentally made it sound like Gosh Hornet was brought up there instead of TRS.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Feb 25th 2021 at 7:42:27 AM

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.

audasious Since: Sep, 2018

#15: Feb 25th 2021 at 5:14:03 AM

I'll go with option 1. The current image makes it look like bees being portrayed as evil anyway.

I--Vanya--I A bee, a beetle and a moth from Belarus Since: Jun, 2018 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free

A bee, a beetle and a moth

#16: Feb 25th 2021 at 6:48:34 AM

Just came back from the university, and saw that Option A appears to be the most popular option. And I'm glad! ('cuz it's also my personal favorite option)

My only regret is not making it Option B, 'cuz... well... Option Bee, as Snicka had pointed out.

Now, for Snicka's concerns, The Swarm covers not just insects. It covers any small, dangerous creature, including birds, reptiles, fictional monsters (imagine, swarm of gnomes...wait), aliens, and small mammals. In fact, Swarm of Rats is listed as a sub-trope, as is Spider Swarm, so why not stinging insects as well? Swarm of stinging insects is still distinct enough from a swarm of tiny creepy monsters, real or fictional.

Vi: Well, it's not like we're getting attacked by a giant wasp spider guardian! | Leif: Never combine those words ever again.

GastonRabbit Sounds good on paper (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me

Sounds good on paper (he/him)

#17: Feb 25th 2021 at 7:02:44 AM

The actual Option B is less popular, so I suppose you could say it's Plan Bee.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.

I--Vanya--I A bee, a beetle and a moth from Belarus Since: Jun, 2018 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free

A bee, a beetle and a moth

#18: Feb 25th 2021 at 7:06:35 AM

Brilliant! Thanks a lot, made me chuckle!

Vi: Well, it's not like we're getting attacked by a giant wasp spider guardian! | Leif: Never combine those words ever again.

WarJay77 Big Catch, Sparkle Edition (Troper Knight)

Big Catch, Sparkle Edition

#19: Feb 25th 2021 at 11:08:28 AM

Cool to see that this thread is buzzing with discussion. It would've stung if nobody had any ideas about this trope. The Hive Mind seems to prefer Option A so far, though there's decent support and discussion about Option "Bee" so I wouldn't mind seeing a crowner. Y'know, to avoid a sticky situation.

Okay, I'll stop. I'm out of bee puns anyway.

I'm serious about that crowner though. It might be needed soon.

Edited by WarJay77 on Feb 25th 2021 at 2:08:45 PM

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

MyFinalEdits Officially intimidated from Parts Unknown (Ten years in the joint) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life

Officially intimidated

#20: Feb 26th 2021 at 6:26:47 AM

I support a crowner as well.

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I--Vanya--I A bee, a beetle and a moth from Belarus Since: Jun, 2018 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free

A bee, a beetle and a moth

#21: Feb 27th 2021 at 3:25:16 AM

Ditto.

Vi: Well, it's not like we're getting attacked by a giant wasp spider guardian! | Leif: Never combine those words ever again.

Snicka Since: Jun, 2011

#22: Feb 27th 2021 at 5:18:46 AM

Yeah, let's crown that Queen Bee. ;)

I--Vanya--I A bee, a beetle and a moth from Belarus Since: Jun, 2018 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free

A bee, a beetle and a moth

#23: Feb 28th 2021 at 8:57:07 PM

Made a crowner. May be a bit rough, given it's the first one I ever made.

Edited by I--Vanya--I on Feb 28th 2021 at 7:57:30 PM

Vi: Well, it's not like we're getting attacked by a giant wasp spider guardian! | Leif: Never combine those words ever again.

WarJay77 Big Catch, Sparkle Edition (Troper Knight)

Big Catch, Sparkle Edition

#24: Feb 28th 2021 at 8:57:41 PM

edit:Ninja'd by an edit.

Edited by WarJay77 on Feb 28th 2021 at 11:57:55 AM

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

MyFinalEdits Officially intimidated from Parts Unknown (Ten years in the joint) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life

Officially intimidated

#25: Mar 1st 2021 at 9:54:36 AM

Making public that I voted for Trope Transplant, which currently has 11-0 support.

EDIT: I thought TT was a legit page, but apparently the only term coined for the process is Launch Displacement.

Edited by MyFinalEdits on Mar 1st 2021 at 1:56:44 PM

135 - 169 - 273 - 191 - 188 - 230 - 300

PageAction: BeeAfraid

28th Feb '21 8:42:06 PM

Crown Description:

What would be the best way to fix the page?

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