'Bees are good,' Obama says as children scream

It might have been the White House Easter Egg Roll, but it was bees — not bunnies — that stole the show on Monday.

As President Barack Obama started reading Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are” during the annual Easter Egg Roll event (as is tradition), kids began to make noise as bees buzzed nearby.


“Oh no, it’s a bee. That’s OK, guys. Bees are good, they won’t land on you. They won’t sting you, they’ll be OK,” Obama paused, laughing.

The youngsters, still unsettled after the president’s call for calm, continued to scream.

“Hold on! Hold on! You guys are wild things! You’re not supposed to be scared of bees when you’re a wild thing!” Obama said, before he was able to continue and finish reading the story.

The South Lawn features its own beehive, and the White House uses honey from it in the kitchen, including in its Honey Porter and Honey Ale beers.