“The little bee that seems alive as you tickle him from flower to hive.”
Published by Schaper in 1956, Tickle Bee was a manual dexterity game that challenged children to move a bee around a maze using a magnetic wand.
GAMEPLAY
The object of the patented game was to use the wand (the “tickler”) to move Tickle Bee around the maze from start to finish with as few “stings” as possible.
By moving the tickler along the transparent game top, each player attempted to push the bee without making touching the tickler to the bee. The bee would lift off the board if inadvertent contact occurred, resulting in a “sting.”
Each sting was recorded on a scoreboard embedded on the right side of the playing surface. Players recording seven stings in one turn were considered “stung out,” requiring them to reset the game and try again.
IN THE BOX
A complete Tickle Bee game included a plastic board with an attached magnetic wand.
SCHAPER COLLECTIBLES
Founded in 1949 by William Herbert Schaper of Robbinsdale, Minnesota, Schaper remains popular with collectors who fondly remember classic toys and games such as Don’t Spill the Beans (1967), Put and Take (1956), Bango! Bango! (1963), Ants in the Pants (1969), Moon Blast Off (1970), U-Drive-It (1974), Super Jocks (1976), and others. Schaper closed shop in 1987, but some of its games live on thanks to Hasbro, which acquired the rights to publish a selection of Schaper games from Tyco (a division of Mattel at that time).
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