Trog
Tales from the Hive ... Out and About
by
, 23-11-2010 at 10:41 PM (8748 Views)
After a week of rain and stormy winds, the sun had finally put in an appearance and, despite the low temperature – just 5 degrees on the garden thermometer – the bees were out and about, doing their hive-work, dragging debris through the mouseguards.
Having been stuck inside for so long with their legs crossed at least in a metaphorical sense, they had also taken wing and headed for a suitable spot nearby for a 'comfort break'. It was unfortunate that the local painter and decorator had also been waiting for a fine sunny day to apply the final coat of white paint to a neighbouring house. Five large, relieved colonies later, the finish was, to say the least, somewhat mottled.
Mitzzi, as was her habit, had gone scouting around to see if there was any forage worth investigating. Though the ivy down the road was strongly-scented, she judged that in such a shady spot it would be dangerous to send the foragers out. So she went in search of interesting conversation.
As luck would have it, the male beekeeper was up on the log shed roof, attempting to replace the felt before the next round of gales. She recognised him by the scent of his overalls – the same ones he used when beekeeping – and landed on his elbow. He did not notice. She tried a quiet buzz.
'Hello', he said.
'Hello', said Mitzzi.
'Nice to see you,' said he, 'I'm fixing the shed roof'.
'I'd worked that out for myself,' thought Mitzzi, but waggled her antennae politely at him without replying.
She tried again, 'I was wondering if you'd like to discuss the symbiotic relationship between bees and beekeeper.'
'Well, it's lovely to see you but I really must get on', said he, not understanding her at all.
'Sym-bi-o-tic …' said Mitzzi.
'Off you go', said he, giving her a gentle prod with his finger.
Thorougly miffed, Mitzzi flew straight home, concluding en-route that the male of the human species must be as dim as a drone. She thought that when the next sunny day arrived she would try an experiment to see if the female version was any better.