I don't know if this helps but with the needle through the balloon, at larocks.com they have special clear balloons that are designed for that. If I see or hear anything else I'll let you know.
Here's a couple of photos of a bee I also made for the lesson. It's very simple I know, a bee body with a pinch twist in the middle and a white 260 fully inflated, tied end to end and folded into four petal twists, two large, two small and twisted into the body, simple.
I tried to make a bee just like yours and it turned out adorable. Pics to come.