Mellifera Project

Meet Mellifera, Hero of the Bees! This is a project I undertook for a class called The Hive and The Honeybee, through which I learned about bee anatomy, bee communication techniques, natural and man-made hive structures, the importance of pollinators to agricultural systems, as well as the threats facing bees that can lead to colony collapse. Along with two classmates, I developed the bare bones for a comic strip that could bring honeybees to the attention of a more general audience. They mostly worked on plot development, while I had the pleasure of creating the splash pages.

PART 1
Milli McMillan had always had been passionate about bees. Growing up, she helped her aunt and uncle take care of their hives and treated the bees when they got sick. She went on to become a master beekeeper and a Phd student working on solutions to save the bees from the many threats posed to them in todays world. Through a miraculous event, Milli is turned into our heroine: Mellifera (Apis Mellifera is the scientific name for honeybees).

PART 2
One day, Milli receives a call to remove a bees nest that’s being built by a swarm of bees at an intersection. She is excited to take the bees home with her and start a new hive. Out of nowhere, thunderclouds roll in (this is rare as bees usually only swarm in good weather). As Milli reaches for the nest, lightning strikes, moving through her, as well as a group of bystanders. Her body begins to change. Antenna extend from her forehead, another set of legs sprouts from her torso and her abdomen inflate into an oval-shaped hive with bees inside it. Milli has gained not just the power of a single bee, but of the entire colony! But little does she know...

PART 3

When the surrounding pedestrians were struck, they too changed. The diseases living in the hive are ferocious and manifested themselves in the bystanders, who are out not only to kill Mellifera, but bees all across the globe. Over a game of poker, the Brood Brothers (left to right: American Foul Brood, Chalk Brood and Sac Brood) plan their attack. At the head of the table sits Nosema Nevergood, and later on, Mr. Mite emerges from the shadows. Mellifera’s adventure revolves around fighting these nasty diseases and, as she always hoped, SAVING THE BEES!