《The Bees of Burntwood》


 chapter 1 - Maybee and the Bear

    A bee gives off different pheromones for different things. These scents can range from letting other bees know where home is or letting others know the hive is under attack. It''s kind of like a natural perfume except bees have no concept of perfume or why one would spray themselves to smell better. I tried to explain it to them one time. I even sprayed them with some Chanel No. 5. I was stung abruptly.


    * * *


    The Queen entered through the hole in the great tree. It was so strange to see this place empty. Even as the other bees poured in around her, there was still an eeriness to the hollowed out space. When her scout had come back and told her of her finding, the queen could hardly believe it. The scout talked of a lone tree that towered over a young forest. Its body blackened and all of its limbs eaten by fire, except for those spared by the flames at the very top. One last remnant of an ancient forest. She thought back, in all the hives she had ruled she had moved many times. And yet here was this scout describing a place she had rarely thought of but never forgotten. The place of her birth. The scout had informed her how it appeared the residents had starved. The few residents remains found, were clustered together and buried up to their stingers in comb. The queen nodded. Was it true, could it be, Burntwood? She hadn''t even seen the place yet, and she was already calling it that. Burntwood, It felt good to say. If it was, it meant the residents of Burntwood had all died. It brought up mixed emotions. She was saddened by their demise, yet she was excited at the finding. So excited that she told the scout to tell everyone they would head out at once. Even if it was late, she couldn''t wait.


    A swarm was gathered, and they left that very evening. Goodbyes were rushed, but they had been planning this for a while so most everyone had already said their goodbyes multiple times over the last few days.


    They had left so late that they had to spend the night in the branch of a tree. That was fine with the queen, it gave the scouts less time to find another place to live. Sure they had already planned their destination, but once the swarm was out of the hive all bets were off, as bees would second guess and start looking for other places to live. If these bees could convince the majority of the swarm that their location was better, there would be no changing their mind. Luckily that wasn''t the case and by morning the bees were eager to move into a location with walls. They flew off toward their destination, not reaching it until the next day. It didn''t even matter, here she was in the heart of Burntwood the most magnificent of all hives. Even if the bees who were there now didn''t know it, she did, and she was excited to be back.


    The bees worked clearing the hive and comb of any foreign objects or repairing broken sections. Others worked gathering pollen and nectar to fill the parts of the comb that had already been cleared. Even then the comb reached downward into depths not yet explored. The inside of the tree was so large many of them wondered how they would ever fill it. By that evening they were so exhausted that they collapsed around the queen. She looked around at her children many of them already falling asleep.


    It was a young, tired, bee that spoke up.


    "Why did we build our hive so high off the ground? Wouldn''t it be better if we built it closer to the flowers?" she asked.


    The queen looked at her. "We didn''t always have our hives high in trees. No, far before the times of Haella, we used to build them on the ground," she replied


    "Why did we change?" asked another bee.


    The queen looked around cautiously, "I guess I can tell you. You see, one must be careful not to be over heard telling this story."


    "Why?" asked a bee.


    "There are those out there who don''t like to be talked about. Some who are still bitter about how events played out," she whispered with a smile.


    "Who?" they asked.


    "Well, listen to the story and you shall see," said the queen.


    All the bees nestled in a little closer as she began her story.


    * * *


    Maybee sat high in a tree collecting pollen and nectar from the blossoms of a cherry tree. She looked out over the great fields and forests as Juai shown bright, in the sky. Down below her, a bear muzzled through a patch of blackberries. Maybee flew down and landed on a birch branch overhanging the berries.


    "Hello Wahushi, how goes life?" Maybee asked.


    "It goes good, Maybee, just tying to get my fill, before Juai leaves us," Wahushi replied.


    "Juai leave us? Why would she do that? She has been here before me and will be after I''m gone."


    "You didn''t hear, Maybee? Juai must leave to take care of her sister, who is sick. Juai told me herself."


    "What will happen to us?" Maybee questioned.


    "I don''t know," Wahushi stated.


    A perplexed and confused Maybee flew off without even saying good bye. Wahushi didn''t mind, he just went back to munching the sweet berries of black. It would take many to fill his tummy and he had quite the task ahead of him.


    Maybee continued to fly until she reached the tip top of the tallest tree in the whole forest. It was there that she cried out with the tiny voice of a bee.


    "Excuse me your highness, but I request an audience with your graciousness," Maybee asked.


    Juai gave a slight laugh, "Oh Maybee, there is no need to be so formal. What is it you want?"


    "Is it true you are leaving us?" Maybee asked.


    "I''m afraid so, but don''t worry, I won''t be gone long," Juai comforted.


    "What will happen to us?" Maybee asked.


    "You will be fine, my dear. Just go to sleep and I''ll be back when you wake."


    "When do you leave?" Maybee asked, not comforted by Juai''s words.


    "I leave here shortly, my sister needs me. I do hope you will come to see me off."


    "Of course," and with that, Maybee bowed to Juai and flew off to inform the hive of what she had found out.


    That evening, or for the first evening ever, all the animals came out of their homes to wish Juai a safe journey and a quick return. Words were said and tears were shed, but they could not prolong the inevitable and Juai had to leave. They all waved and said their goodbyes. Juai turned her back to them to hide her own tears as she crossed over the mountains, but the sky betrayed her, as her tears splashed the clouds and painted the sky with golden hues. When she was gone they all hung their heads and started back to their homes.


    Wahushi turned to Maybee and said, "My dear friend I will see you after I wake, and Juai returns home."


    "Until then, sweet dreams my friend," Maybee replied.


    With a friendly nod between friends, they went their separate ways. Each worried of what was to come as the sky grew dark. By the time Maybee got to her hive the sky had gone almost completely black, and the land had begun to grow cold. She landed on the ground and looked at the waxen dome.


    * * *


    The queen paused, knowing from experience that this part of the story tended to confuse those that hadn''t heard it before.


    "You see, when you build a hive on the ground, you have to build the comb upward, not downward like we do now."


    The look of confusion in her audiences eyes told her she needed to keep going.


    "When you build you comb upward, it has a tendency to fall over. So you need to tie it together at the top. What you end up with is a series of comb that arcs into what looks like a large mole hill of comb."


    The other bees nodded and let out sounds of realization.


    "Like a wasp nest, but on the ground, and made out of wax." She looked out over them, they clearly didn''t know what she was talking about, but she figured it would be enough to give them an idea. She continued on with her story.


    * * *


    Inside the hive the other bees had already started to gather for warmth. Two bees stood at the entrance of the hive.


    "What are you doing? Are you not going to join the swarm?" Maybee asked.


    "I have asked them to stand guard. I''m worried what will happen in Juai''s absence," The Queen replied.


    Maybee bowed and continued on, nuzzling her way into the huddled swarm. She would sleep and when she woke, it would all be over. All she had to do was close her eyes. So that is what she did, but she found it difficult to fall asleep. She pitched and yawed, eventually falling victim to the soothing buzzing of the hive and fell into slumber.


    It was a hustle and a bustle that woke her. Maybee looked over at the commotion as bees gathered around the entrance. A faint light crept in through the entrance to the hive.


    "What''s going on?" asked Maybee.


    She received no answer.


    "Is Juai back already?" she asked through a yawn.


    Still no one replied.


    She pressed her way through the crowd until she reached one of the guards. She bumped the guard rather harshly.


    "Hello?" she asked with an abruptness.


    The guard stood looking up in awe. Maybee looked up. In the darkness of the sky was a pale seductive face.


    Maybee felt as if her essence was leaving her body. The face in the sky was so enchanting it was all she could think about.


    Far away in the distance she heard a small voice. She couldn''t tell what it was, nor did it seem important. Again the voice cried out to her, this time louder. She looked back to see where the voice was coming from. She could see another bee pushing her way past the crowd, yet she seemed almost a world away. As the other bee looked up Maybee tried to cry out, "DON''T!" but her voice came out a murmur. Instead Maybee turned and pushed her back inside. The other bee shook her head and looked at Maybee.


    "Don''t go outside! Don''t let anyone go outside!" Maybee said with a weak voice. The bee nodded and Maybee went to work pushing and pulling as many as she could away from the door, careful not to look up.


    "I see you young one, you can''t ignore me," a voice whispered on the wind.


    Maybee almost looked up but caught herself and rushed inside the hive leaving a few bees still outside.


    "Who are you?" asked a petrified Maybee.


    "I''m Haella, the goddess of darkness."


    "What do you want?"


    "I want nothing more than what I deserve. I want you to forget about Juai. Haella shall be your new goddess."


    "Never. Juai is our friend, we would never forget her," Maybee said.


    "You will eventually, little pretty, for Juai is never to return. Now come out of your home and let me look upon you."


    "You lie. Juai wouldn''t leave us. She promised she would return," Maybee cried out.


    "And you believed her? You sad foolish child," Haella scolded.


    Maybee could see a warm glow appear from the horizon even as she cowered in the hive.


    "Juai returns even as you lie. Your time is up and I wish to see you no more, Goddess of Darkness."


    Haella turned away from the emerging light and fled. "This is not the last time you will see me."


    "You have no power here now, leave before Juai burns you from the sky."


    With that Haella escaped over the mountains just as Juai crested over the horizon.


    "Juai, you''re back," Maybee exclaimed as she rushed out to greet her friend.


    "Of course I am. I told you I would be. You never had anything to worry about," Juai said in a comforting tone.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "But, we do," Maybee said, and she filled Juai in on what had happened. When she finished, she looked at Juai and said, "But, you''re back now and we don''t have to worry about Haella returning, because you will never leave us again."


    With sad eyes, Juai turned to Maybee and said, "I''m afraid I must, my sister is still sick. I came back to say goodbye to you all."


    "You can''t! What will happen to us? We will die that''s what will happen."


    "I''m sure you''re just overreacting. This Haella is probably not as bad as you''re making her out to be."


    Disgusted, Maybee flew back to her home. As she arrived Wahushi approached her hive.


    "Hello my dear friend, I hope your day is going better than mine," Maybee stated.


    "It goes good, just a little hungry. Why is yours so bad," asked Wahushi.


    "I just talked to Juai, and she is planning on leaving us for good," Maybee told the bear.


    "Who is Juai?"


    "What do you mean, who is Juai? She wasn''t gone that long,"


    Wahushi sniffed the air, "What is that delightful aroma? I''ve been following it for a while."


    "Aren''t you listening to me? Juai is leaving us," Maybee said bluntly.


    Wahushi''s nose led him to Maybee''s hive, "This is where it''s coming from. What is it?"


    "That''s my hive, my home," Maybee stated.


    Wahushi took a bite out of the golden honeycomb.


    Maybee screamed, "What are you doing?" As other bees from the hive came pouring out confused.


    "Oh, it''s delicious," Wahushi mumbled blissfully through a mouthful of honey.


    All the bees cried out begging him to cease, yet Wahushi carried on.


    Maybee landed on the nose of the great bear. "Wahushi, you are my oldest friend, please stop," Maybee pleaded.


    Wahushi just laughed, "You are not my friend. I don''t even know you." With that, Wahushi took another big chunk of honey comb in his mouth and walked off. Maybee''s hive lay decimated.


    "What are we to do," one of the bees cried out.


    "We have to rebuild," said another.


    "Yes," others agreed, and they started to reconstruct the damaged hive.


    Maybee stood, shocked, watching the bear walk away, "Not here. Take the queen to one of the high branches of a nearby tree, to make sure that Wahushi can never do this again."


    The other bees did as she said and took off with the queen in search of the branch that would become the base for their new home.


    Maybee flew off toward Juai. As she flew, she saw a fox chasing a rabbit, a spider trapping a fly, and a snake eating a mouse. At that very moment a bird swooped down and tried to pluck her out of the sky.


    "Juai," she shouted. "Juai!"


    Juai turned, her face in distress.


    "Juai, what is going on?" asked Maybee.


    "I don''t know. Everyone is fighting and none of them will listen to me. They don''t even know who I am," cried Juai.


    "Wahushi said he didn''t know who I was. This has something to do with Haella, I know it," stated Maybee.


    "How?" asked Juai.


    "I have no idea. It''s just strange that she showed up, and this all happened."


    "Well, if you find out anything else let me know, and I''ll try to find out as much as I can before I have to leave," Juai said.


    "You''re still leaving us? You can''t, not with everything that''s going on,"


    "I don''t want to leave, but I have to. My sister is still sick, and she needs me."


    "But, we need you," Maybee cried out.


    "I know, and that''s why I''ll be back. I really will, but I can''t be at two places at the same time."


    "I understand," Maybee said, broken. She started back toward her hive then turned around, "I''ll let you know if I find out anything."


    Juai nodded and Maybee continued on with a sigh.


    It didn''t take long for her to find the new hive, as it was not far from the old one, and the air was thick with the perfume of her sisters. She landed on the branch where the construction was taking place. Another bee stood beside her watching.


    "Why aren''t you helping?" asked Maybee.


    "I tried, but they told me to stop. They said I didn''t know what I was doing," the bee replied.


    "Really?" said Maybee quizzically. "Well, follow me I''ll show you what to do. You''re not doing any good out here." Maybee led the other bee into the comb.


    That evening when Juai left, very few animals turned out to see her off; a couple rabbits, a skunk and some moles. Maybee flew down and tried to talk to the rabbits, but they were so skittish and scared she couldn''t get anything out of them. She tried the skunk, but she knew even less than Maybee, and the moles didn''t even know anything was going on, so a disheartened Maybee returned to her hive along with her fellow bees. On the way home she ran into the Queen.


    "Have you seen anything out of the ordinary?" asked Maybee.


    "Ordinary is a strange word in these curious times," The queen said.


    "It is indeed, my queen. Just a while ago I met a bee who couldn''t build. Imagine being of gathering age and not knowing how to build comb."


    "That must have been one of the bees left outside with that goddess of darkness," said the queen.


    "Left outside?" asked Maybee.


    "Yes, you pulled a bunch of bees back into the hive, but a few were left outside when you couldn''t get to them. The ones you pulled back inside snapped out of their trance and are perfectly fine, for the most part. Some of them have forgotten some little things, but nothing major."


    "And the ones that were left outside?" interrupted Maybee.


    "They seem to have forgotten everything about being a bee. It''s all very strange," said the queen.


    "I''m so sorry, I didn''t know," Maybee said.


    "Not your fault," the queen added.


    "Haella must have done something to them. She must have done something to everyone. That''s why no one remembers anything."


    "That''s a good possibility," said the queen.


    "Please, I ask of you to spread the word. Tonight no one is to look up. Everyone is to sleep in a cell, head first. They are NOT to come out until I say. Make that part very clear. We have to be very careful, our new hive has no walls, just comb hanging from a branch." Maybee asked.


    "Indeed, it shall be done" and the queen flew off to inform the rest.


    Word spread fast and before Haella could show her skeleton face, each bee had buried themselves inside a waxen chamber. Every one except Maybee who stood alone, under a lone hanging leaf, in wait for the alabaster demon. She didn''t have to wait long, the last trace of Juai had barely left the sky before Haella crept out of hiding from the other side of the world.


    Haella took a look around her kingdom of darkness and noticed the new hive hanging from the branch.


    "Why is it you have moved your home my little bees?" asked Haella.


    There was no reply.


    "Why won''t you talk to me? You all have your butts pointed at me. It''s very impolite. I hope you''re all doing well. Please, come out and face me. I won''t hurt you," said Haella.


    "We''re on to you. We know what you did," said an angry Maybee.


    "Oh, and what was that," asked Haella.


    "You made everyone forget."


    "So I did," laughed Haella. "Who am I talking to? Come out and face me."


    "We''re not falling for it. You''re not going to get us," stated Maybee, still hidden under her leaf.


    "I''m sure it''s for the best. Now if you will excuse me I have some gifts for my more loyal subjects. Too bad, I would have really liked you among them. Alas, perhaps next time," Haella turned away from the bees and moved across the sky.


    "Can we come out now?" asked a younger bee.


    "No, we must wait for Juai to return," Maybee said.


    With lingering fear they all settled in for the night. They in their comb, Maybee huddled under a leaf.


    She woke some time later to a scraping sound. She peered from under her leaf, Juai shown bright in the sky. Maybee looked around but saw nothing. The sound of scraping continued and seemed to vibrate through the tree. She looked down. Wahushi stood at the base of the tree scratching at it.


    "What are you doing?" asked Maybee.


    "I see you moved that sweet hive of yours," Wahushi said.


    "Far out of your reach, Wahushi." said Maybee.


    "We shall see about that. Haella gave me some new claws."


    He showed them to her. They were much longer than she remembered.


    "I''ve been sharpening them on your tree here, but it''s time I gave them a try."


    Wahushi wrapped his arms around the tree and dug in his claws. He continued to hug the tree, inching himself upward. The motion disrupted the bees who were still sleeping. He reached over and grabbed a limb, pulling himself up. The other bees came out to see what was going on. Wahushi climbed the tree with a new found confidence. Bees began to swarm around the bear yelling for him to stop. He laughed at their attempts to thwart him and continued upward.


    "We have to stop him," cried one of the bees.


    "How?" called back so many more.


    "You can''t," laughed Wahushi.


    Maybee flew at full speed ramming herself into the bears forehead. Wahushi paid no heed. Again and again she threw herself at the bear. Wahushi ignored her as easily as he ignored the others. He pulled a giant paw back and swiped, but instead of hitting bees he hit the hive. The hive broke free from the limb and fell, colliding into several branches before hitting the ground. The bees stare in shock as they were once again homeless. Wahushi made his way back down the tree.


    "What do we do now?" a bee asked


    "I don''t know. We need a place to hide," said Maybee.


    "Where are we going to hide?" asked another


    "I don''t know. Send out some scouts. I''m going to go see Juai. Just find somewhere," said Maybee.


    She flew off as Wahushi devoured the hive that now lay on the ground. She didn''t have to go far before she ran into Juai who was also on the move.


    "I was just coming to see you," Juai said.


    "Wahushi has destroyed my home again," cried Maybee. "Haella gave him great claws to climb the tree."


    "I''m so sorry."


    "Don''t be sorry, do something."


    "That''s what I came to see you about. I have brought special seeds back from my sisters that will steal Haell''s power." Juai said.


    "Great we must use it at once."


    There is a problem with the seeds. It doesn''t just steal Haell''s power but mine as well."


    "Then it is useless," said Maybee with a heavy heart.


    "No, you were right, we must use it," said Juai.


    "I won''t lose you, Juai. You mean too much to me, to everyone. Without you the entire world will die."


    "It will not steal all of my powers, just as it will not steal all of Haell''s. It will only subdue them and only when I am here. I will be fine. I have already been going around preparing and trying to correct the things that Haella has done, like Wahushi''s great claws. I have already given the rabbit long ears and powerful legs, the skunk a scent that no other can rival. As for you I have stingers that will poison, but you must be careful, for if you use the stinger you will die."


    "Why would you give us something that would kill us if we use it? We need to protect ourselves." Maybee asked.


    "Indeed you do, but this way it will ensure that you use them as a last resort, and only to protect others. I will not be responsible for giving gifts of destruction as Haella has."


    In a humbled tone Maybee replied, "I understand, thank you."


    "Now gather all the other bees. Not from just your hive but all of them. Even grab the mason bees and the bumble bees. But be cautious Haella has turned some of the hives and they are more dangerous than you can imagine."


    "How will I know if Haella has turned them?" Maybee asked.


    "You can tell them by their slick hairless bodies and their attraction to death and filth," Juai said as she set an enormous pond lily on the ground. As she placed it down, what appeared to be little green pods spilled from its closed petals. "Go and tell them to meet me here.


    Maybee did exactly as Juai had asked. She went to her hive to tell them what Juai had said but when she got there, she only found a few bees scavenging what remains they could salvage.


    "Where is the rest of the hive?" asked Maybee.


    One of the bees looked up her mouth full of honey. "They found us a new home," she mumbled in excitement.


    "Where?" inquired Maybee impatiently.


    "Follow me. I''ll show you." The bee took off leading Maybee to their new home.


    When she arrived, she found her sisters entering an exiting a hole in a tree. She entered the tree to find that it had been hollowed by time.


    "How do you like it?" asked the queen.


    "It''s perfect," said Maybee, her voice full of astonishment and wonder.


    "I thought so too," added the queen.


    "Please, though, we must gather everyone. I have word from Juai."


    The queen gathered the hive and Maybee informed them of what Juai had said, then had them fly out and tell the other hives the same. In no time at all there wasn''t a bee in all the land that hadn''t heard and begun to gather in the great field where Juai waited.


    She looked upon all the small bees who knelt before her with tears in her eyes. In front of them she placed small green pods no bigger than the bees themselves. As she set them down each pod opened up into orbs of soft white.


    "Before you are the seeds that can put an end to Haella. I need each of you to grab one and carry it high into the sky, farther than you''ve flown before, and when you can fly no more, I want you to let them go. Do you understand me?"


    They all nodded.


    "Then go," she commanded in a trembling voice.


    They fell upon the orbs, grabbing one of the long white haired seeds and ascending toward the sky. Maybee held back, and instead, went to Juai.


    "I will miss them all, you must tell them that." Juai uttered through her tears.


    "I will, my Highness," Maybee said bowing her head as the beloved queen faded and shrank with each grain carried into the sky.


    "Don''t ever let them forget," came back a whisper, and then she was gone, leaving just a small circle of light where she once ruled.


    Maybee flew back down toward the pods where bees continued to carry seeds into the sky. She took a closer look at the seeds. She had never seen anything like them before and there were so many of them. She took hold of it by the spine and pulled on it. It broke free from the seed with ease, and as she looked at the pointed end of the spine, she knew immediately what it was, a stinger.


    "What do we do now," asked a honey bee who stood on a nearby flower.


    "We wait."


    Each bee released its seed and the winds in turn grabbed them and carried them even further into the azure. Then they returned and gathered around Maybee and the remaining orbs.


    She told them about the sacrifice that Juai had made and of her last request. They mourned the loss of their friend and watched as her body continued to sink lower in the sky. One by one they left with heavy wings, but not before they grabbed a stinger from the remaining seeds.


    Maybee was the last to leave flying down hearted, back to her hive. When she arrived, she was amazed just how much construction had been completed in her absence, however her amazement was quickly muted as she realized how low Juai sat in the sky and just how soon Haella would appear. She looked up toward the opening in the tree. A hush fell over the hive as others did the same. With great care, bees crept toward the opening peering outside. They watched as Juai sank beneath the mountain and shades of red vanished behind encroaching darkness. They gasped in wonderment as the grains shown through the blackness speckling the sky in points of white. On the other side of the world emerged Haella. Each one of them held their breath as she came into view. They began to feel lightheaded and even a little confused, but it was a pale version of Haella that manifested before them and they were able to keep their wits.


    A faint voice whispered on the winds, "What have you done to me?"


    "We have ended you," said Maybee.


    "This will not stand. I will have an eye and a tooth for this," Haella screamed in whispers.


    "You will have nothing," Maybee laughed.


    The other bees cheered and went back into their hive where they gathered tightly together and the queen told them stories until they fell asleep.


    The next morning Maybee was once again woken by a sharp scraping at the base of the tree.


    She joined the other who had collected at the opening.


    Below them Wahushi climbed the tree.


    "I''m warning you turn around, there is no honey for you here," Maybee declared.


    "Ha, I don''t believe you little one," Wahushi said as he climbed even higher.


    The bees swarmed the mighty bear, but he ignored their plight as he climbed higher. They butted heads with him but he continued on course reaching the opening of the hive. Maybee looked at the stinger that she had fastened onto her like a tail, then at the bear who was reaching into the tree. She backed up and let out a bloodcurdling war cry as she flew at the massive bear, and up his nose. She planted her tail like stinger in the soft tissue of the bear''s nose as Wahushi let out a massive sneeze. Maybee shot from his nose and slammed into a tree. Wahushi let out an agonizing roar as he grasped his snout, but lost his grip on the tree and fell backwards. He clambered to grab hold of something as he bounced off and slammed into every other limb on the way down before crashing into the ground. A battered Maybee picked herself up from a limb and made her way to the bear through shambled flight. Wahushi opened his eyes, which grew very wide at the sight of Maybee standing before him.


    "I think it''s time you left," said Maybee.


    "I would agree with that," replied Wahushi, his voice snuffled from a swelling nose.


    With that he took off, running with the lumber of a very sore and wounded critter. The other bees cheered in victory.


    Maybee collapsed on the ground and closed her eyes as she waited for death. It wasn''t long till darkness overtook her. When she opened her eyes again, she found the other bees huddled around her. She looked down surprised that she wasn''t dead and found her stinger still attached. The other bees carried her back into the tree and laid her down on the soft decaying floor of the hive where she slept for an entire day.


    * * *


    "That is why we build our hives off the ground," said the Queen.


    "Why didn''t Maybee die," asked a bee.


    "If she died, there would be no more stories," said the queen.


    "No really, why could she sting and not die?"


    The queen looked at the young bee and cocked her head to the side, "I''ve always like to think that it was because she wasn''t fully able to plant her stinger before Wahushi sneezed her out."


    This answer seemed to satisfy the bee.


    "If Haella has no power, why were you afraid to tell the story?" asked another.


    "Indeed she does still have power, just not as much as she once had. In fact, it is said that if a bee is found outside when Haella rises she will forget her way home," said the queen.


    Murmurs rose throughout the hive.


    "Not tonight. Another time. Now go to bed, my little ones. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow.


    She smiled, even with her having grown up here, this place had never felt so much like home.

 Chapter 2 - The Yellow Jacket Conflict

    A honey bee can only sting another creature once before it dies. Unless that other creature is another bee or something similar, like an ant. Then a honey bee can sting over and over again without fear of loosing its stinger. I try to remind them of this every time I run out of soda. I should never of introduced them to the stuff.


    * * *


    Nettle was out gathering pollen on a patch of heather when she heard two bumble bees talking.


    "Oh yes indeed, that is horrible," said one of them


    The other one lifted its head, nectar dripping from its proboscis. "They will never see it coming," he said.


    "Should we tell them?" asked the other.


    "You can if you want, but I don''t like to make a habit of ticking off the Yellow Jackets."


    "Those poor bees of Burntwood," said the other.


    Nettle''s head picked up, "What did you say?"


    "I''m sorry, what?" asked the male.


    "I''m from Burntwood. You said something about Burntwood?"


    "My apologies lass, but I can''t get involved," and with that, the bumble bee flew off.


    Nettle turned her attentions to the other bumble bee, "Please tell me."


    The bumble bee looked at her with great sadness in her eyes then whispered, "The Yellow Jackets, they''re planning an attack on Burntwood."


    "When?" Nettle asked.


    "I don''t know, I just found out myself." The bumble bee looked around nervously, "I must go. Please, don''t tell anyone I told you," she said as she flew away.


    "I won''t, and thank you," Nettle whispered after her.


    Nettle took off back towards Burntwood with the news she had just gathered. Why did she have to be so far from home? Granted, it was not abnormal for her to be this far from the hive while gathering, but in this moment, it felt more like a lifetime away. She flew past other bees she recognized from the hive. She wanted to stop and tell them, but there was no time to waste. She tried to call out to them but she found herself already gasping for breath. With each beat of her wings she struggled on, giving it everything she had. The last three were the most brutal on her. The only thing that kept her going was fear. She was not afraid for her own safety but for those she loved. What would she do if she lost them? She didn''t want to think about it. She pushed the sadness from her heart and forced herself on.


    In the distance she could see the great tree that was her home. It stood alone, a dark beacon of what once was and what would be again. Surely she would get there in time. She cried out to Juai, for help in getting to the hive, in hope she wasn''t too late, and the bumblebees were mistaken, the yellow jackets weren''t planning an attack. She so wanted them to be wrong. That was what she asked Juai for most of all, let them be wrong. Let everything be all right.


    Up ahead she could see the opening to the hive. She could see bees coming and going without a care in the world. She could see bees dancing in Juai''s light. She wasn''t too late.


    Nettle flew through the opening of the hive, greeted by her sisters. Exhausted she made her way to the queen, stumbling on the comb as she went.


    "Queen, Queen. I have news," Nettle collapsed before her.


    "My dear, child, what is it?" asked the queen.


    "The Yellow Jackets, they''re coming," gasped a broken down Nettle.


    "Guards do a sweep of the perimeter, report back any findings," demanded her majesty. "And you, get this poor bee something to drink," she addressed to her attendants.


    The Queen knelt before Nettle, "Now child, tell me how it is you know this"


    "I was out gathering pollen," Nettle looked down at her empty pollen baskets. "My apologies Queen. I must have lost it on the way back," she said through a dry raspy voice.


    "That''s quite all right, now please you were saying?" the Queen comforted.


    One of the queens attendants came up with water. The queen nodded, and it was offered to Nettle. Nettle sucked it all up.


    Again she started her story, "I was out gathering pollen when I over heard two bumble bees talking about it," She took another drink of water. "That''s when I came straight back here."


    The queen stroked the hair of Nettle, "Oh young one, are you sure they were right? We haven''t seen a sign of the Yellow Jackets for all of summer."


    "It''s what they said." Nettle spoke in a somber tone.


    A devout earwig approached the couple, "Queen," his voice in an almost demanding tone.


    "Yes, what is it, Gota," her voice full of sweetness.


    "Yellow jackets gather at the back of the tree."


    "How many?" The queen tensed.


    "Only three right now, mum," Gota answered.


    "Must be the conclave. Very well Gota, let the others know, and have General Harebell convene with me."


    Gota nodded and headed off.


    The queen turned back to Nettle, "It looks like you were right, I''m so sorry you were."


    Nettle hung her head.


    "Now if you will please excuse me, I have some concerns to deal with. Thank you again for the information."


    The queen turned around and walked toward an approaching bee.


    "Harebell, I need you to take two of your soldiers and meet with the conclave. Find out their demands and then return to me.


    "Yes ma''am," Harebell bowed before taking off.


    Nettle took her leave. As other bees passed by she could hear the worry in their voices, each one preparing for what was to come. She continued to the edge of the comb where it met the tree and where she would not be in anybody''s way. There she finally closed her eyes.


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    What woke her was not the commotion around her but the hissing voices that came through the tree.


    "What is it you want," asked a voice Nettle recognized as General Harebell.


    "We want food, as much as we can eat," hissed a voice.


    "Just you and your friends here?" asked Harebell.


    "And a few others," a snide voice hissed back.


    "I''m sure," barked another voice Nettle recognized as one of her sisters but wasn''t sure who.


    "And if we don''t meet your demands?" interrupted Harebell.


    "Then we eat you," the voice hissed.


    Multiple snickers in the same tone could be heard in the back ground.


    "I will relay your message to my queen. Whom may I ask, is demanding such things?"


    "You may tell her General Karkes demands such things," said a mocking hiss.


    "Very well, I will return with an answer," said Harebell.


    Then all grew quiet. She could hear faint whispers, but no words could be made out. It was then Harebell returned. She made her way straight to the queen, accompanied by her two lieutenants.


    Nettle picked herself up and made her way closer.


    "What do you have to report, General?" asked the queen.


    "They want our reserves, and the scouts have informed me they have a vast army in the waiting," Harebell answered.


    "Even if we give them all of our food, we''ll be lucky if that''s all they take," said the queen.


    Harebell nodded in agreement. "What do you want to do?"


    "Give them what they want, war. Strike first and let them know the bees of Burntwood will bow before no force."


    "Very well, my queen," said Harebell before leaving with her lieutenants.


    "Gota," called out the queen.


    "I am here, mum," said the earwig who was hanging nearby obviously listening in on the queen''s conversations.


    "Gota, I need you and your kindred to keep me informed of how the battle progresses."


    "You can count on us mum, and may Juai herself shine upon this battle."


    "Thank you Gota," added the queen.


    Through the opening of the hive, a gathering swarm of bees could be seen, and the faint scent of the battle cry wafted into the hive.


    "Go now, the battle begins," the queen exclaimed.


    The earwig scurried off.


    Nettle looked at the opening of the hive. She was still exhausted from her long flight, but she gathered up all her strength and made her way to the opening. Outside she could see the yawing and pitching mass of bees as yellow jacket and honey bee collided together in battle. She might be fatigued, but there was no way she was going to let her fellow sisters fight this battle without her. Pushing past the multitude of bees clogging the entrance, Nettle pressed off with her legs, and flew straight at the heart of the battle. A sharp unexpected blow was delivered to her side as a yellow jacket collided into her. Nettle thrashed against the wasp''s grasp as they both plummeted toward the ground.


    "Hello dearest, no need to fight. You''ll be asleep soon enough," heckled a voice in her ear, as the wasp tried to plunge its stinger into the bee.


    Nettle bit at the closest thing she could, crushing the wasp''s leg in her mouth. The Yellow Jacket let out a scream momentarily loosening her grip giving Nettle the time to slip around. The wasp tried again to plant its stinger, only too late. Nettle''s had already found its home. The wasp''s grip loosened one final time and Nettle slid free as the yellow jacket fell away.


    Nettle beat her wings trying to stabilize, but she kept tumbling. She felt a sharp pain, and wind escaping past her right wing. She knew it had been damaged in the scuffle. She tried her best, but could only manage to slow her decent, not stop it. She brought herself closer to the tree and hooked it with her pick like leg bringing her to a jerking halt. She looked up and down in order to gain her bearings. By the look of it, she had fallen over halfway down the tree. From this distance she couldn''t even see the battle above. She let out a sigh before beginning her climb back up. She forged onward knowing that with her wing damaged she would never fly again. She forced herself upward not knowing if her home still existed, or if her loved ones would be there waiting. She kept climbing because of hope, hope that everything was going to be all right. Hope that the day was already won, and that when she got to the hive her sisters would be waiting for her. Further, she climbed. Worn out and destroyed she kept on. Above her, she could begin to make out the shapes of bees flying above her. It seemed like a lot less than before. She kept climbing. As she got closer, she could see her sisters engaged in battle with the yellow jackets at the opening of the hive.


    She didn''t know what to do. She was in no shape to join the battle. She saw three yellow jackets pressing past the fighting and into the hive. it was then, she found something deep down to carry on. She knew she didn''t have much to give, but she would give it all. She pressed on with a newfound power. With great pain she struggled and shoved her way past those who battled in her way, sister and yellow jacket alike. With agony in her eyes she ignored the cries of her fallen sisters and yells of their attackers.


    Inside the hive looked ghostly empty. She continued through the abandoned comb, looking for the wasps she had followed inside. In the distance she spotted them, amongst the brood. Opposing them was the queen, and two of her attendants who remained cowered behind her.


    "Hello, Queenie," hissed a familiar voice.


    "I''m sorry, but I don''t think we''ve had the luxury of being introduced," said the queen.


    "I am Karkas leader of the tribes."


    "That is quite the title," said the queen.


    "Do you know how many have gathered to take down your precious Burntwood?" asked Karkas.


    "Apparently, not enough. You are the only ones who have been able to breach our defenses," said the queen.


    "There will be more, and when they do, they will find you dead."


    Karkas approached the queen, her minions at her side. Nettle was on the yellow jacket at the right of Karkes before anyone knew she was there. Karkas turned, but it was already too late. Nettle had driven her stinger into the wasp''s back. One of the attendants had found courage in Nettle''s act and charged the wasp at the other side of Karkes. Instantly, they were engaged in each other''s grip. Karkes looked down at her last follower, now in battle and useless to her. You could see the panic in her eyes as she knew her chance to kill the queen was quickly vanishing before her. She jumped on the queen and tried to drive her stinger home. The queen was quick and managed to keep away from the stinger of Karkes as she pounced. Karkes sunk her mandibles into the queen''s shoulder. The queen winced in pain as Karkes slid her body around to get a better angle. The queen tried to pull away, but couldn''t escape Karkes'' grasp. Karkes drew back her stinger, so when she drove it in, she would drive it deep. A heavy blow struck Karkes knocking her off of the queen. It was Nettle who even as they tumbled through the air thrust her stinger into Karkes repeatedly. The force of them striking the bottom of the hive knocked them free from each other.


    Nettle lay on the floor panting, looking over at Karkes who lay curled up unmoving. Nettle picked herself up and dragged herself over to the body of Karkes. She nudged it. It didn''t move. She reached down and took one of the legs in her mouth and began climbing toward the wall of the hive, dragging Karkes with her. She had been through so much and was so very tired. She almost didn''t hear the voice when it spoke to her. A whisper really, that hissed, "I''m taking you with me." Nettle realized too late and with Karkes'' last act she drove her stinger into the side of Nettle. She recoiled in pain and pushed the now lifeless husk away from her withdrawing the stinger from her side. With a sigh she took hold of Karkes again, this time keeping the dangerous end pointed away from her. Not that it mattered now, what was done was done. Why couldn''t she have done that before, she wondered. She continued on, climbing up the wall of the hive, dragging the wasp behind her. Soon she reached the opening of the hive clustered with Yellow Jackets and Honey Bees. She stood in the opening and pulled the body up with her.


    "Here is your leader, Karkes the Defeated!" she yelled with the last of her energy.


    A hush went throughout the battle as they all gazed upon her. Nettle heaved the body over the side of the entrance and it fell far below.


    "If you want me, I''ll be inside," she said as she withdrew back into the darkness of the hive.


    One by one the yellow jackets flew away until only those still determined to continue with the attack were left, now to outnumbered to succeed.


    Harebell looked into the eyes of one of the remaining warriors.


    "Boo," she said.


    The wasp looked back at her and growled through a scowl before flying away.


    Inside Nettle lay on the floor of the hive growing cold as cheers erupted from her sisters outside. The battle was over.


    The queen made her way to Nettle''s side, who made no response to her approach.


    The queen stroked Nettles hair as she said, "My dear, this day you have saved not only my life, but the life of the hive. We owe you a great debt."


    Nettle did not respond.


    "I would like you to know that one of the brood will be named after you.


    A weak voice answered back, "Please don''t. I hate that name."


    "If that''s what you wish," said the queen.


    "Call her Foxglove. I always loved that name," Nettle said, and then she was gone.


    "Very well, Foxglove it is," the queen said with a trembling voice as she brushed Nettle''s hair one last time.

 Chapter 3 - Maybee and the Duwaiha

    A bee can fly over three miles from the hive in search of food. They have preferences and are willing to go the extra distance for one pollen when another is much closer. It''s like going out for pizza when you have Brussel sprouts at home.


    * * *


    The stars alone cut through the crisp darkness, of the night sky. The bees gathered deep in their hive.


    Everyone was so quiet, eagerly waiting for the queen''s nightly story.


    "Would you like to hear the first story I ever heard?" asked the queen.


    They all agreed they would.


    "This story has a special meaning to me, because it was in this very hive I first heard it," the queen told her subjects.


    The other bees who were still awake perked up at this.


    "It is the story of the Duwaiha," she said, as she started her tale.


    * * *


    It was a cloudy day and Maybee had just returned from gathering propolis when the queen approached her.


    "Maybee, can I have a word with you," asked the queen.


    "Of course, ma''am," replied Maybee.


    The queen pulled Maybee to the deepest corner of the hive, telling her attendants that they were not needed and reassuring them that she would be all right.


    The queen leaned into Maybee, "I apologize for being discreet, but I have a problem that I was hoping you could help me with," stated the queen.


    "Anything, how may I help?" asked Maybee.


    "First, I must ask you to promise this will stay only between us?" The queen leaned in as she spoke these words.


    "By all means," Maybee nodded in the way only bees could. "I would never..."


    "Certainly, but I must be sure in these matters. You see, all of my eggs are hatching into drones," said the queen, in a cold interrupting tone.


    "What? I don''t understand."


    "Every single one, a drone. Not a worker among them,"


    "How can that be?"


    She shook her head. "I haven''t a clue. As hard as I try I can''t produce a worker,"


    "I''m confused, how can I help?"


    "I can''t leave the hive. If I did everyone would know that something was going on. I need you to go speak with Veha and get her advice,"


    "I shall leave right away,"


    "Thank you Maybee, please hurry back," With that the Queen turned and walked away.


    Maybee bowed and left.


    Outside the hive it was a bit stormy, Maybee had to struggle as she flew towards the only person she knew to ask for help. She battled small drops of rain and light winds, but to a bee even this is still dangerous. It would be impossible to maneuver in heavy rain and strong winds. A single drop of rain crashing into a bee would cause it to plummet into the ground, and in strong winds a bee is at its mercy, forced to go wherever it leads it. At least they can force themselves through the light winds and dodge small drops of rain. With a gust she pushed through a wall of wind and caught an updraft on the other side. The updraft forced her up into the clouds yawing and pitching her over and over again. In the whiteness of the clouds one can lose themselves. It may be hard to understand with gravity in play but a bee can forget which way is up and which way is down. it''s much easier than you might think with winds pitching you around. This is why you rarely see a bee at this altitude. That, and there is no pollen or nectar up that high to gather, so there is no reason to be there.


    She struggled against it not knowing if it was the right thing to do but doing it anyway because it was in her nature to fight against anyone or anything that tried to make her do something against her will. She pushed and fought it only succeeding in failing miserably. The wind pushed her up and free from the clouds and set her down on a river of wind that gently flowed toward where she had always intended to go. Toward Veha, the goddess of the sky.


    This was a great surprise to Maybee and hadn''t even fully realized what was going on when Veha spoke to her.


    "Hello Maybee," said Veha


    "Oh, hello," said Maybee, still trying to gather her bearings. It was hard to speak to a goddess that couldn''t be seen "I was just coming to see you."


    "Then why did you try to fight me," asked Veha.


    "I didn''t," said Maybee.


    "But you did. Every time I sent the winds for you, you fought against them.


    "That was you?"


    "Of course, I am the carrier of pollen, the daughter of Juai. the winds belong to me."


    "I''m sorry, I didn''t know. I was coming here to seek your help," Maybee spoke as a soft wind caressed her face.


    "As I was sending the winds for you so I could seek yours,"


    "You need my help?" asked Maybee.


    "I do,"


    "What is it?"


    "Let''s get to yours first. If I''m going to ask a favor of you, It''s only fair that I try to help you with yours first," said Veha.


    "Thank you Veha, I have come here on behalf of my queen."


    "What does your queen ask of me?"


    "She is having a problem producing workers, all of her eggs are hatching into drones,"


    "That is very peculiar. I will look into it."


    "Thank you,"


    "I have another peculiar problem. The flowers are refusing to bloom." Veha stated.


    "I haven''t noticed the flowers not blooming," said Maybee.


    "Apparently it''s been going on for a while. As the old ones die away, there are no new ones to take their place. If you hadn''t been looking for it, you probably wouldn''t of noticed it. It was only after a hummingbird noticed that the morning glories weren''t opening back up during the day that I was informed," said Veha.


    "I have noticed the dandelions remaining closed, but they are already so finicky that I paid no heed to them. What do you need me to do," asked Maybee.


    "I need you to seek out the king of the earwigs and ask him if he knows anything. As he has ears everywhere. I would''ve had the hummingbirds do it, but the earwigs don''t trust the hummingbirds due to their..."


    "Tendency to eat bugs," interrupted Maybee with a knowing tone.


    Veha let out a sigh, "Indeed."


    "Very well, I''ll do it. Is there anything else?"


    "That is all I have for you," said Veha.


    "I guess I will be on my way then."


    "I wish you luck, Maybee. I shall ask the winds to ride at your back,"


    "Thank you," Maybee replied and then was off.


    She flew on toward the earwig king whose kingdom reached far but started at Water''s Edge. With the winds at her back she barely had to flutter a wing. It took almost no time at all. Soon she saw the great downed tree that was the kings home. She pitched herself downward and yawed slightly to the right spiraling herself toward the entrance of the log. As she landed she was met by two guards.


    "Halt," cried a portly beetle.


    Maybee made no motion.


    "What''s your business here," asked an earwig guard, it''s pinchers at the ready.


    "Veha has sent me. I have come to speak with the king," she said in her most respectful tone.


    The two guards lowered their pinchers.


    "What is your name," asked the earwig.


    "I am Maybee. I''m from the great tree."


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    "Well Maybee of the great tree, I shall have you shown the way," The guard nodded at the beetle. The beetle guard then made a gesture by throwing its head in the direction of the opening. "Get going," he said in that rough tone that beetles always carried. "Just know that within these wall you are greatly outnumbered. If you should try anything you will be overrun within the beat of a heart,"


    Maybee nodded as she entered, "Friendly place, you have here."


    "Welcome to Perish," the guards tone even more gruff, ignoring her comment.


    Maybee walked down the core of the tree with the beetle guard following behind. The place was enormous, and it wasn''t just earwigs that lived here. Unlike Burntwood this place was filled with all sorts of insects that milled before her. Trails took off in every direction. Most of them even to small for Maybee to follow, and beetle larvae tracks spider-webbed the inside of the tree.


    She noticed that all the insects appeared to be staring at her. In fact, she was the center of everyone''s attention. She paid them no heed, or at least she pretended to. Their stares made her very uncomfortable, and their whispers made it almost downright unbearable. What was she to do? She wondered if they had never seen a bee before. Then she realized that it was very possible that they hadn''t, living their entire life in this log, and even if they had, definitely never seen one inside the tree before. She couldn''t think of a single reason why any bee would ever visit this place, not until now.


    "How much further," she asked the guard.


    "Not much," he replied. "Just over the next rise."


    They continued on and when they crested the hill of decomposed wood, she could see where the trail had been pinched down into a smaller opening. Outside two beetles stood guard. Maybee stopped before them. Her escort was the one that addressed them.


    "I''ve got one to see the king."


    The beetles gave a slight bow and Maybee''s escort gave a motion for her to continue on. She continued on through the opening and into a tunnel that was just large enough for the largest of beetles to make it through and not a touch bigger. It continued on for a while winding around back and forth before opening up into a great space. Before her a single earwig resting on a large knot of wood that had refused to rot away. Other insects stood before him. Their conversation was not over heard by Maybee or if it was it was not understood as they only spoke a fragment before she walked in. Then they were silent.


    "Who do we have here," asked the king.


    The guard nudged her forward.


    "I am Maybee of the great tree. Veha has sent me," said the frightened bee.


    "Well, what is it I can do for you Maybee of the great tree," asked the king.


    "I pardon the interruption your majesty, but I have come looking for answers."


    "Yes, yes." The king motioned her to continue on.


    "Veha has sent me to ask if you know why the flowers refuse to bloom," Maybee said and then bowed in a hasty forgetful manner.


    "I do know why the flowers are refusing to open," said the king.


    "Why?" asked Maybee.


    "What do I get in return for my information."


    "My apologies," Maybee looked up at the king "What would you like?"


    "I notice that you bees like to build your homes within the dark recesses of trees, yet you let no others live with you."


    Maybee said nothing.


    "This to me is unsettling as I have so many in need of homes."


    "You would like others to live with us?" asked Maybee.


    "I believe it would be beneficial to both parties, but if you don''t there will be no ill will held toward you and you will be free to go."


    "But what of my question," asked Maybee. It is not me who seeks the answer but Veha.


    "You may not seek the answer but you need to know more than any other."


    "I understand the need for flowers, but the answer I seek is much different from the one I asked. The one my queen has sent me to find."


    "Oh, and what is that," asked the king.


    Maybee took a long pause wondering if she should say before blurting out the words, "My queen can produce no workers."


    The king studied her words.


    "Every egg she lays hatches into a drone."


    "My dear, the flowers refuse to bloom and your queen can produce no workers. Do you really think that theses things are not related? You ask two questions but seek the same answer.


    "What is that?"


    "Do I have your word," asked the king.


    "You have my word. I cannot speak for my queen, but if what you tell is true, I will do everything I can to make sure your people will have a home in my hive and every hive after. Yet I reserve the right to take back my words if your people become a nuisance in any way."


    "If anyone else had given those terms, I would not have accepted them, but the stories of your honorable deeds has reached my ears long before your presence here," said the king.


    "Does that mean you will tell me what I need to know?"


    "It does," responded the king.


    Maybee waited in silence for her answer.


    "They will not open because they are upset, they feel like they are being taken advantage of?"


    "They told this to you," asked Maybee.


    "Not in words, but when you spend as much time with them as we do you get to understand their language," said the king.


    Maybee looked on.


    "You couldn''t begin to understand. You visit so many flowers in a day but never spend enough time with a single one to get to know it."


    "What must we do to make them open?"


    "You can''t make them do anything, if they don''t want to," said the king.


    Maybee was silent for a moment and thought before asking a very simple question.


    "What must I do to make them want to open?"


    "Ahh, now that is a question indeed," said the great king. "What do you think you must do?"


    "I have no idea, except to talk to them and I have no idea on how to do that."


    "Do not talk, only listen," said the king.


    "And what of my other problem?"


    "By answering one you will answer the other." The king looked over at a termite that had just entered. "Now if you''ll excuse me I have other business."


    The guard who had escorted Maybee in now stepped closer to her and made a gesture with his body for her to go first, in the most polite way possible.


    Maybee was so confused as she turned and left, with the guard following behind. She still had no idea how she was going to fix any of this. Down the narrow passage she stumbled continuing on through the great hall oblivious to all those who stared, and right out the opening. The guard stopped there, but she continued on still staggering and not really seeing where she was going. Although she could fly it took her some time to realize that fact. Then up in the air she went. She must find a flower.


    She looked everywhere trying to spot a single flower, but the dandelions all remained closed, the apple blossoms had all fallen away, not even a single clover was in bloom. Just yesterday she had been out working the fields and now not a single one was left. She flew down closer to the only flowers that existed at all, the dandelions.


    She landed on one and knocked on its closed pod. It didn''t open.


    "Please open up." she begged


    Her pleas made no difference as the flower couldn''t hear. At this point she had no idea what to do, so she tried anything and everything including trying to pry it open with brute force and, although she would never admit to it, gnawing on it. Nothing seemed to work.


    It wasn''t until the wind picked up that she noticed the other dandelions loosen up. She flew up to gather a better gander, but the wind caught her and sent her for a loop. By the time she caught herself and looked down she noticed they had opened up partially. She flew down to take a closer look, and the flower closed back up. She tried another, and it closed too. She tried yet another and another each closing before she could get to them. She flew up to take another look only to get caught by the wind again. She wasn''t sure if it wanted to take her away. It was possible Veha had sent it for her. Even so she was not ready to go. She turned against it, spiraling around. The flowers began to open again. She pitched a yawed against the wind as she tried to maintain her ground. the flowers continued to open. She sank down lower and they began to close. She rose back up, and they began to open up again. She rose even higher doing spins and flips, even a few rolls. The flowers opened up wide as if they had opened their eyes to watch her. She continued on with her acrobatic feats long after the small patch of flowers beneath her had opened up to their fullest. Only then did she make her way with caution toward the flowers which continued to remained open. She sat down lightly upon one and it began to close up. She circled around caressing the petals and the flower relaxed.


    Excited she took leave of the flower and flew higher than before. High enough for the entire field to see her. There she continued her dance, putting on a show like no other, and as she danced the flowers beneath her opened up in a matter so grand that it was a sight to be seen. She took off even higher, high above the tallest trees. There she again performed her act that had enticed so many of the flowers only moments before. When she was done she looked around, but she was so high she couldn''t tell if the flowers had opened up or not. She flew back down only to see they had barely opened at all.


    She was dismayed for sure but hardly heartbroken. She knew what needed to be done and how to do it. She flew back to Veha with such a fever that she worried she would tatter her wings. When she reached her, she tried to speak too fast and the air she expelled to speak was met by the air she gasped to breathe.


    "I can wait, there is no hurry," said Veha.


    Maybee took a few deep gulps of air before catching her breath.


    "I figured it out. We just have to dance for the flowers. They want to feel appreciated," said an exhausted bee.


    "That is magnificent news," said Veha. "I will have to tell the hummingbirds right away."


    "Veha," asked Maybee. "Have you found any reason for that thing we talked about?"


    "I''m sorry, but I haven''t been able to find any reason why your queen can only produce drones, but I have found out all the other honeybee queens share in her misfortune."


    "There must be something," cried Maybee.


    "I''m afraid not. Not at this time anyway, but I will keep looking. Now if you''ll excuse me, I must tell the hummingbirds. They haven''t eaten in so very long. Thank you again Maybee." Her voice fading as she left.


    How would she ever tell her queen she had failed, but she must? It was with a heavy heart she entered the hive. A very busy hive. She made her way to the Queen who noticed her directly.


    "Oh thank goodness you''re back," exclaimed the queen.


    "Yes I''m back," said a meek Maybee.


    "Do you have any news?"


    "No I''m sorry, I wasn''t able to find out about the drones," Maybee said in a quiet tone.


    "What? No. I''m not talking about that. I mean, Yes I''m still worried about that, but in the grand scheme of things it is not exactly a priority right now," said a stressed out queen


    "Why? What''s going on?"


    "The flowers have all closed. There is no where to get food."


    "Oh, that," said Maybee in a calm tone that upset the queen.


    "I don''t think you understand how much these drones eat. Our reserves will be gone before winter,"


    "No, I didn''t mean it like that. It''s just, I already solved that problem." said Maybee with a sly grin.


    "You what," asked an astonished and somewhat disbelieving queen.


    "I solved it," she said again, even slyer this time. "All you have to do is dance for them."


    "Dance," repeated the queen.


    "Yup, send as many bees with you as you can and have them dance for the flowers and they should open up."


    "I can''t spare any bees, all of them are out looking for food anywhere they can," said the queen.


    "What about the drones," asked Maybee. "They''re not doing anything."


    "You''re right, they never do anything. Time for them to earn their keep."


    "If you take the drones as high as you can above the great field I will go from hive to hive and have others join you. The more bees we have dancing the better chance we have of convincing the flowers to stay open," said Maybee.


    The queen agreed. She followed Maybee''s instructions and soon other bees joined her, queens and drones from each and every hive, and they danced. Oh, how they danced. They danced for so long and for so hard that one by one the drones fell from the sky due to exhaustion as they were not used to such strenuous activity.


    Not only did the flowers see the great dance, but they loved it. Each one opening wide in applause. As the flowers opened, the wind picked up their bouquet, bringing a sweetness to the already warm air. When the dance was done, the queens returned to their hives followed by the few drones that remained while the flowers remained open waiting for an encore.


    * * *


    "And that is how Maybee convinced the flowers to open up," said the queen.


    "But what about the other thing," asked one of the bees who was still awake.


    "The other thing," asked the queen.


    "About the drones," said another, barely awake.


    "Oh, yes. Funny thing about that. When each queen made it back to their hive, they found they could lay workers again. They couldn''t quite explain it and the flowers weren''t telling, but ever since then a new queen will take her first flight high above the flowers to do the dance of the Duwaiha. She will do this dance with drones of other hives to ensure she will be able to lay worker bees and that the flowers will never again remain closed."


    She looked around at her children who were asleep around her.


    "I have always liked that story," said an earwig who had been listening in the distance.


    "Me too," she said.

 Chapter 4 - The Bee that wanted to be Queen

    Bees tell time differently than people do. A day to a person is three years for a worker bee, and a month for a queen. You may ask how that can be? It''s because of the honey. You try eating nothing but sugar and then sit still for five minutes you can''t do it. It''s not possible. I dare you. Tell your parents it''s a science experiment.


    * * *


    Young bees were sitting around the nursery only a few days old and already to take on the world. One of the nurse maids asked what they would like to do when they grew up. Which was funny because every bee would eventually take on every job that the hive had to offer. Or almost every job. Not every bee would take on the task of undertaking which was quite all right with most. Still most bees had a favorite job that they excelled at or just really enjoyed.


    "I want to be the best dang pollen gatherer ever," said a bee.


    "I want to be just like Maybee," said a bee who had just heard one of her stories the night before.


    "I want to be a nursemaid just like you," exclaimed another.


    "I want to be queen."


    No sooner had those words been spoken that their audience went silent.


    "I''m sorry, what did you say, Wildflower," asked the nurse maid


    "I want to be a queen," said Wildflower more sure of herself now that she had ever been in her whole three days of existence.


    "You can''t become a queen, silly," snarked another bee. "you have to be born a queen."


    "I''m afraid she''s right no one can become a queen. One must be born a queen," the nurse maid replied.


    "I can be a queen if I want. You wait and see. I''ll be a queen," said the defiant Wildflower.


    Some bees laughed at the statement while others were so shocked at it that they didn''t know how to react at all. But, Wildflower was sure of herself so much so that in the days to follow no matter what anyone told her she insisted that she would become a queen.


    The problem was that the hive didn''t need a queen, they already had one. Besides, even though she insisted that she would one day become a queen, she had no idea how she was going to make that happen. Seriously, she didn''t even look like a queen. Her rear wasn''t near big enough, wings not long enough, eyes not large enough. In fact, nothing about her was quite right. She knew this, but she was just far too stubborn to admit she was wrong. She had to figure out a way to become a queen.


    So she started following from afar. She watched as the queen went from cell to cell backing her rear into each one and laying an egg. Each egg standing tall and straight. She continued to follow the queen around but could find nothing to give hint as to how one becomes a queen.


    She was intrigued by the attendants who constantly followed the queen around, feeding and grooming her.


    That''s when she realized she needed attendants. She was pretty sure that attendants wouldn''t make her a queen, but for some strange reason she felt a strong desire to have them. She also wanted those long luxurious wings the queen had. The butt she could live without. She started asking around how the queen became queen. Most just answered that the queen had always been a queen. While she was at it, she also started asking if anyone would be interested in taking on the position of an attendant. That request did not get as many replies. More glares really. It wasn''t until she asked one of the gatherers that she got her first real answer. Not about being her attendant. No one, other than Wildflower, thought that was a good idea. Instead the answer that she got back was on the mysterious origins of the queen. The flyer had remembered a story that the queen once told that said the queen bees ate nothing but royal jelly while in the comb.


    Wildflower was exited. This was her real first lead, and it was a good one. All she needed was the goo that came from every nursemaids forehead. Now all she had to do was get some.


    She paced around the nursery contemplating the different ways of getting the royal jelly. All the ideas were easy enough in theory, just not that practical in reality. One being she could sneak up to one of the brood cells and drink it from there but going unnoticed in a hive was hard if not impossible, and others tended to look down on those that stole food from the brood. She didn''t know what they would do, but she was sure it wouldn''t be good.


    The other idea she had come up with was even less likely than the prior one. This one required her to lick the forehead of the nurse maids in order to collect the jelly. She didn''t think they would go for it.


    It was the first idea, as troublesome as it was, that she would have to go with. She decided that if she took a small amount from each cell it would go unnoticed and that small amount wouldn''t hurt in the development of the young.


    She tried different methods. She tried walking across the cells dipping her legs in as she went, then licked the jelly from her legs when she was away from the cells. She also walked across the cells dragging her tongue sucking up jelly. It was much easier than she had previously thought. there were people all around her, but no one saw her. They were all too involved in their own lives to pay her any attention. Only once did she get any strange looks, and that was when she got a little cocky and started licking the forehead of a nursemaid. In fact, she had eaten so much royal jelly by night fall that her stomach hurt. She was excited. She just knew that with this much royal jelly in her belly she would surely wake up and be queen.


    At the gathering that night she didn''t even listen to the nightly story. She was far too busy living in her head so much so that she drifted off before the story was even done.


    In her dreams she was the grandest of queens with more attendants than anyone had ever seen. She walked through the hive all the other bees declaring their love and wooing over her sweet smell.


    Then she awoke with an abruptness as another climbed across her back. At first she was downhearted to be woken from such a great dream. Then she was exited to see what the new day brought. She turned in circles trying to see her new wings and elongated rear, but no matter how fast or tight she made the circles she couldn''t see them. In a fever she grabbed a passing bee and asked them if she looked different to them.


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    "I don''t even know you," said the bee.


    "Do I look like a worker or a queen to you?"


    "What a silly question," said the bee trying to pull away, but Wildflower held tight.


    "Do I look like a queen?" she asked, more stern.


    "No, no, of course you don''t," the bee said looking quizzically back.


    Wildflower loosened her grip, and the bee pulled away leaving her to take in the information that she was not a queen. Eating the royal jelly had produced no effects. What was she supposed to do now? She felt like a failure. She sulked off into the darkest parts of the hive far from the Sweet smell of the queen. She couldn''t stand the smell of it as it reminded her of what she would never be.


    In the darkness she stayed for almost three full days only emerging to feed on the edges of the comb or get a drink of water and then scurrying back to her lonesome refuge as the first sign of the queens scent.


    It was on the third day that she did something that she had never expected, she laid an egg. She had been feeling a bit off perhaps even a little ill ever since she had entered her world of isolation, but she had payed no attention to it, believing it to be the angst of her sorrow. Somehow that pain was her changing. The egg was proof of that. She could feel more brewing in her belly, what was she to do? Then she smiled. She knew exactly what she was going to do, what she had been trying to do all along, be queen.


    She came out from her hiding and stepped back onto the comb. It felt good. Like it was where she always belonged. She made her way over the comb with a purpose, to the empty cells where the queen laid the brood. She had watched the queen many time, so she didn''t even think of what she needed to do. She just stuck her hind end down in a cell and popped out not just one egg but multiple eggs, she couldn''t help herself. She pulled herself out of the cell, turned around and inspected it. The eggs were scattered down the cell and stuck to the sides. It did not resemble the work of the queen at all. When the queen was done, the egg sat at the very bottom of the cell standing straight and tall. This was going to take more practice than she thought.


    She looked around and spotted another nearby cell that seemed perfect. She tried again and again the same result, awkward eggs stuck halfway down the cell. She moved randomly from cell to cell, thinking that one was better than the other, trying to lay a perfect cell but she couldn''t do it. She thought that perhaps her body wasn''t done changing yet. That would explain why her rear wouldn''t reach the bottom of the cell or why she couldn''t just lay a single egg. It didn''t matter the reason why, she was exhausted. It had taken her all day to lay the fraction that the queen had.


    Wildflower sulked back towards her gloomy hole. Then she thought better of it. Why hide? She had accomplished what she had wanted to, there was no reason to hide anymore. Sure, she wasn''t at where she wanted to be with her new ability yet. That just meant she wouldn''t tell anyone about it for a few days until she had become a real queen. She turned around excited. A real queen, she liked the sound of that. Then she did something that she hadn''t done in a very long time, she nuzzled into the gathering. It felt good, the warmth of the other bees, the sweet scent of the queen and a hum so loud it drowned out all other thoughts of worry. She relaxed in the embrace of the hushida as the queen began to tell a story. She looked up and smiled knowing that one day soon it would be her in front of everyone, the center of attention, telling stories. She wasn''t sure what story the queen was telling. She was so very tired and it had been so long since she had been in the gathering. She had forgotten how comfortable it was. It wasn''t cold like her little hiding hole, not cold at all. Then she was out.


    When she awoke the next day, she felt relaxed and anew. She circled around herself to try to see if her body had changed or more to see if her rear had gotten bigger. She couldn''t seem to catch up to it but she couldn''t tell if that meant it hadn''t grown at all. She hurried off to the comb. Once there she searched out the perfect cell and stuck her rear in it. She couldn''t tell if it touched or not. She pushed out an egg and then pulled herself out of the cell. She turned around and looked. Her heart sank. It wasn''t just one egg it was multiple, and they weren''t resting on the bottom but strewn throughout the cell. There hadn''t been any change at all. Disappointment isn''t even a word she would''ve used to describe how she felt at that very moment. More like failure smothered in sorrow. Yet she continued on. She couldn''t help herself the eggs kept coming. day after day she scattered her eggs throughout the comb with no avail. Then one day a couple of guards caught her in the act. They quickly grabbed her.


    "What are you doing," Wildflower asked?


    "We''re taking you to the queen," one of them answered.


    "I''m a queen!"


    The two guards looked at each other but said nothing to Wildflower as they escorted her to where she knew not. The entire way she protested demanding that they let her go. The two ignored her as they brought her before the queen.


    "What do we have here?" asked the queen.


    "We have brought you the Vajasha," said a guard


    "Oh, I see," said the queen who then turned to Wildflower. "Did you know we''ve been trying to find you for a while, my dear?,"


    "Why," asked a meek Wildflower.


    "Because you have been filling comb for worker eggs with drone eggs," said the queen.


    "How do you know they are drone eggs," asked Wildflower.


    "A queen always knows."


    "I''m a queen," said Wildflower.


    The queen made no gesture of disbelief at Wildflowers last statement.


    "What is your name?"


    "Wildflower," she replied.


    "Wildflower, do you remember the story of the Duwaiha?"


    "I do," she answered the queen.


    "Then you know that since you have not done the dance all of your eggs will hatch into drones. Do you remember that," she asked.


    Wildflower nodded.


    "You must also know what can happen to a hive that is over crowded with drones?"


    Wildflower nodded again.


    The queen was saddened. She didn''t want to speak her next words, but she knew it had to be done. "I''m sorry, but I see no other way out of this. I must ask you to leave the hive.


    "Why," asked a stunned Wildflower.


    "Because, I can''t have you over populating my hive.


    Wildflower bowed before the queen, pleading.


    "Where will I go?" Wildflower asked.


    "I do not know," said the queen with sorrow in her voice.


    "Please don''t make me leave. I''ll stop laying eggs. I promise," pleaded Wildflower.


    "But, you can''t stop can you," asked the queen.


    "No, I don''t think I can." Wildflower hung her head in shame.


    "I know you can''t," said the queen. "That is why I must ask you to leave."


    "No, please. There must be some other way," Wildflower cried.


    "The only other way is if I have one of the guards kill you," the queen said with a tinge of regret.


    Wildflower looked shocked.


    "Either way you will be gone and the hive will survive," said the queen.


    "But I''m a queen," stated Wildflower.


    "Yes, in a way you are. If it helps, you will be leaving here as a queen and you will live the rest of your life as a queen."


    "Now could you please escort her out of the hive, but be sure to show her the respect that a queen deserves," the queen said to the guards. "Queen Wildflower, It was a pleasure meeting you. I just wish it could''ve been under better circumstances. I wish you the best of luck in your new life." with that the queen bowed. Wildflower bowed back. The queen turned and left.


    As the queen left, the guards graciously escorted a still bewildered Wildflower to the entrance of the hive where they let her go and even bowed before her. The day grew dark and the other bees were making their way back to the hive for the gathering. She looked back once and only once before she started her walk down the tree as her wings were still too immature to fly.

 Chapter 5 - Maybee and the Zombees

    The queen must always stay at 90 degrees or she runs the risk of freezing to death. The other bees can stand lower temperatures so they will gather around her at night and through the winter in order to keep her at this temperature. It''s like a blanket of bees.


    * * *


    The night was dark and dreary as wind whistled past the opening to the hive. The leaves had all fallen from the trees and the blossoms had died away. The Winter was upon them.


    All the bees, except the drones who had been kicked out previously, nestled together all warm and cozy sipping on honey.


    At that very moment a gust of wind, coated in rain, swept into and across the hive. It made all their hairs stand on end and sent shivers down their backs.


    The queen spoke, breaking the stillness.


    "Have I ever told you about Maybee and the Zombees?" asked the queen.


    They all agreed that she had not and gathered even closer, to hear the tale.


    * * *


    It was nearing the end of the gathering season and all was looking right. The reserves were packed and everyone was in good spirits. That is probably why they didn''t think anything about it when a bee came back to the hive with a small fly riding on her back.


    The other bees collected around her, commenting on how odd the small fly looked. Maybee being the curious little bee that she was, pushed through the gathering crowd, so she could see the fly.


    "Hello?" Maybee said, more questioning than introduction.


    The fly said nothing, but Maybee could hear a faint mumbling coming from the fly.


    "How are you?" asked Maybee.


    The fly did not respond, but the mumbling did grow louder.


    "Hey, could someone do something, or should I continue to stand here while you stare at my backside," asked the bee who the fly was on.


    "Shh," silenced Maybee as the mumbling of the fly increased to the point that Maybee could make out what it was saying. It appeared as if the fly wasn''t speaking words at all but speaking in a strange tongue.


    * * *


    "What does that mean, speaking in a strange tongue," interrupted one of the bees.


    Others danced around in agreement. They didn''t know what it meant either.


    "When someone speaks in tongues," the queen said, "they speak in strange sounds that no one else can understand. Go ahead and try it yourselves."


    The bees created sounds as if their mouths were full of marbles.


    "Now try to pretend that you are creating a language all your own," said the queen.


    The sounds that the others made transformed into something with rhythm and beats.


    "That''s it," said the queen. "Someone who speaks in tongues sounds just like that.


    The other bees continued to speak in their new found language."Okay, okay everyone. I know you''re having fun but the rest of the story awaits, and I assure you, the story is a lot more entertaining."


    The bees quieted down, one by one.


    "Anyway, Maybee had just realized that the fly was speaking in tongues," said the queen.


    * * *


    Maybee leaned in closer to see if she could make out anything that the fly was saying. She couldn''t. It was all gibberish. Maybee cocked her head to one side and poked the fly with her leg.


    "Ow, stop that you dolt," said the fly.


    "So you can talk," said Maybee.


    The fly froze in the face of Maybee''s question and then went back to speaking in tongues as if nothing had happened.


    "Oh, no. It doesn''t work that way. You already outed yourself. There''s no going back now.


    The fly stopped speaking nonsense, looked up at Maybee and said, "My children will eat your brains."


    Before they could even react the fly was gone, flying up and out of the hive. Everyone was silent. It was Maybee that spoke first.


    "I don''t like that one bit."


    "You don''t like it? That thing wasn''t riding you like some sort of parasite. You don''t think it was a parasite do you," asked the bee who the fly had been riding.


    "Calm down. Even if it was a parasite which I''m not sure it was, it''s gone now. No harm done, and no, I didn''t see it sucking your blood," said Maybee.


    "Are you sure? They can be sneaky?"


    "I''m sure. How do you feel," asked Maybee.


    "I feel fine, other than a little freaked out."


    "See, you have nothing to worry about."


    "I guess you''re right," said the other bee who shook off the whole incident and walked into the combs dispersing amongst the onlookers.


    A few days later everything had went back to normal. Everyone had forgotten about the fly and its strange prediction.


    Maybee was just coming back from gathering some nectar when she saw a bee on the outside of the hive, walking in circles. At first she thought it was dancing, but there was no waggle in its step, more of a stagger.


    She moved closer to investigate. The bee continued with its strange behavior.


    "What are you doing?" asked Maybee.


    The bee made no response.


    "Excuse me," said Maybee, trying to get its attention.


    Still the bee kept walking, as others gathered to see what was going on.Maybee stepped in front of the circling bee, blocking her path.


    Another bee spoke up from the crowd, "It''s the bee from the other day. The one that had the fly on its back."


    Maybee looked into the eyes of the bee who now stood, stopped before her. It was indeed that bee.


    "Hello," she said.


    The bee looked back at her with a blank stare and let out a groan as it swayed back and forth.


    Maybee motioned for assistance. "Let''s get her inside, before it gets dark,"


    The other bees helped gather up the bee and escorted her back inside.


    Under her breath she spoke so softly that no one else could hear, "Brains... there''s something in my brains."


    Juai set behind the mountains as they tried to wrangle the bee who continued to struggle against them, even more so now that it grew dark. Halah emerged, and it became almost impossible to hold the bee down. Maybee had to incorporate the help of others to lay on top of her. After a while the bee stopped struggling and relaxed. Maybee was relieved and more than a little exhausted. She lessened her grip on the bee and fell into a deep sleep with ease.


    Somewhere in the night the bee was bumped by a sleeping bee. she lost her grip from the comb and fell silently through the hollow tree landing with the frailness of a leaf on the floor far below.


    In the morning, the others awoke and Maybee was the first to notice that the bee was gone. She asked around, but no one had seen what had happened to her. Maybee with nothing to go on was forced to give up her search and go back to work.


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    Far below them, in the darkness, the stiff corpse of the bee began to move. It rolled this way and that before its head began to separate from its body and maggots crawled from the crack in the neck.


    All of this went unnoticed by Maybee who was out gathering pollen. In fact, it went unnoticed by everyone and the hive quickly forgot about the strange bee. A little over a week went by and the sky went dark with clouds bringing with it a hard rain. The bees huddled together for warmth. Beneath them, thirteen maggots lay stretched out, their soft skin now dark and hard.


    * * *


    Lightning flashed as thunder rolled across the sky. All the bees jumped and gave a little shiver. The queen gave a little laugh. "Don''t be afraid of lightning my children it is only Halah trying to escape her imprisonment."


    "What?" asked another bee. "I haven''t heard that one."


    "That is a story for another time," said the queen."But what causes it?" asked the bee.


    "Another time, my dear, but since you are so interested in lightning and thunder, it should intrigue you to know that it was a strike of lightning that hit when the maggots began to move again and a crash of thunder when the first crack in their skin appeared. Now, I''m not saying that one caused the other but I wouldn''t put it past Halah either. The Queen nestled back into her story.


    * * *


    Again the lightning stuck. The maggots shook violently. Thunder roared and cracks appeared on more of the dark skins. One of the cracks was pulled apart from the inside. Through the crack a pair of black eyes peered out. The bees, unaware of the creatures below struggled to stay warm against the violent winds that sucked the heat from the hive with every passing blow. They pressed against the queen to keep her warm.


    Below them the head of one of the creatures had emerged from its shell. The black eyes that had peered out before were now huge monstrosities, each one taking up the entire side of its face. A few Black hairs formed on its head. The casing of another one shattered open, revealing one of the creatures in its entirety. It was exactly like the fly that had been on the back of the bee. It had the same clear yellow skin, the same tiny size, and the same horrible voice.


    "Join me, my brothers and sisters, tonight we celebrate," it said as the surrounding others climbed from their old skins.


    The bees above did not hear his words. They were muted by the hum of the hive, and the storm outside. Nor did they hear as the party commenced far beneath them where the horrid little flies flew around and danced with each other. No, each one of the bees above was fast asleep.


    The morning brought with it the passing of the storm. The bees began their daily routine, some rushing in and out while others built comb and cleaned the hive. The noise created by the bees woke up the flies, who were not in the best of moods.They raised their weary heads. Some of them let out groans. Other got to their feet. One of them spoke up.


    "Do you hear that, my family? It is the salvation to our species. Go forth and multiply."


    They took to flight, climbing from the depths of the pit and into the heart of the hive. The males creating chaos while the females found host to land on and lay their eggs.


    Chaos broke out as bees fled the hive. Maybee shouted to save the queen. As some rushed out, others rushed to protect the queen, gathering around her creating a barrier of bees. The flies swarmed, and the attack was brief. As soon as it began, it was over and the flies had left the hive. It took longer than that for the bees to figure out it was over. After searching the entire hive, they found no sign of the flies. What they did find was the hollowed out remains of a bee.


    "Send out the scent, let the others know it''s safe to return," said Maybee.


    Another bee nodded in acknowledgment and flew out of the hive.


    It took a while for the scent to spread and all the bees to find their way back to the hive.


    "Is this everyone?" asked Maybee.


    "It seems so, I mean it''s hard to count everybody, but that looks about right," said one of the guards.


    "Okay, spread the word. Have everyone gather at the queen. I have some things that need to be discussed."


    "Will do." said the guard.


    Maybee walked away scanning the other bees and the hive for anything out of the ordinary. Word spread fast, and the bees made their way to the queen anxious of what Maybee had to say. Each one conversing amongst themselves, talking over each other until a dull roar of gossip developed. Most involving unfounded theories of Halah. Silence erupted as Maybee walked among them. Each cleared the way as she walked into the middle of the group. The anticipation of what Maybee was to say caused waves of whispering. Maybee turned around clearing bees from her immediate area and creating a circle around her. Bees gathering on the opposite honeycomb wall looked on. The whispering grew and Maybee silenced it with two words, "It''s bad."


    "I''m not going to lie to you. Things don''t look good. We have found the remains of a bee. We believe that bee is the same bee that came in with the fly rider on it. I would prefer not to go into the graphic nature of what happened to her body but as I know rumors are already circulating, I shall tell you what I know. The body was found hollowed out. We believe the fly that was riding on her somehow laid eggs inside the body. Later the young hatched and ate her insides like royal jelly using her body as one of our young would use a cell to grow. After emerging from their corpse cell in a manner that I will not go into they attacked us. This attack has no doubt caused more of the hive to be infected."


    Gasps of horror came from the crowd followed by questions.


    "How many of us are infected?" shouted one voice.


    "Are we gonna die?" asked another.


    "What are we going to do?" inquired many more.


    "Now hold on everyone. Just hold on. In a hive this size it is highly unlikely that any one of you is infected. Just to be safe we would like to stress the importance of being on the watch for signs of infection."


    The crowd calmed down. One individual asked what they needed to be on the lookout for. Others agreed with the question.


    "The biggest thing that we need to be on the watch out for is anyone acting erratic and being incoherent," Maybee said.


    The other bees began to look around at each other.


    "Don''t expect to start noticing these traits right away. Last time it took a few days for them to develop."


    More mumbling among the crowd.


    "As we speak, the queen is developing a means of preventing these attacks from happening. I''m sure that in the days to follow, she will be giving some of you new tasks in order to make the hive safer. Please do not groan at these new tasks. I know you all work very hard, but the rest of the hive will be depending on you. Now, are there any questions?"


    There were many questions mostly going over what had already been said, and some asking about things that no one had answers to, since this was all new to everyone. All in all it was good that questions were being asked as the conversation helped the hive remain calm.


    Just as predicted, the first signs of infection appeared a few days later. It all started with a bee whom everyone thought was doing the nectar dance. After a while of watching and still having no idea on where to find the nectar, and the bee refusing to answer their questions, one of them realized that the bee must be infected and got the guards. The guards were able to gather up the bee for supervision without much trouble, but after that, the word was out. Those who had wondered if they had been infected became uneasy, and those who were leery of others became even more cautious. Before long, false accusations were being made, and even a few came down with false symptoms due to their own paranoia. Some were kept under supervision to keep from causing panic among the others. Soon they had an abundance of individuals under supervision. Others began to gather, demanding that something needed to be done. Things began to get out of control and Maybee had to be brought in to address the mob.She stepped in between the crowd and the guards.


    "What appears to be the problem?" Maybee asked.


    "We want to know what you''re going to do about those infected," asked one of the bees.


    "We are going to keep them under surveillance."


    "We need to get rid of them. That''s what we need to do," stated the bee who appeared to be leading the mob.


    "You want us to get rid of them, like kill them?" asked Maybee.


    "If that''s what needs to be done to keep the rest of us safe, sure," answered the bee with hesitation.


    "We don''t even know if all of these bees are infected. In fact I''m sure most of them are not. Are you willing to kill them too?" Maybee''s voice raised into an accusing tone.


    If their death would save the life of the hive, then yes," the bee stated while others agreed with her.


    "So we kill them, then what?" asked Maybee.


    "Then we get rid of them so they can''t do us any harm," yelled the bee in a smug tone, others rallying behind her.


    "If that''s all you want, why don''t we let the infected bees die off naturally, and then discard their bodies outside of the hive?," Maybee asked the bee.


    The other bee remained silent.


    "I mean, that is basically what you were wanting, wasn''t it? Except without the execution of the innocent?"


    The other bee still said nothing.


    "Would you be okay with us waiting?" asked Maybee.


    "Yes," answered a meek bee.


    "Good."


    The other bee retreated into the crowd its antenna hanging low in shame.


    "To the rest of you, let''s remember that these are our sisters. We need to treat them like we would want to be treated in their situation. Please try to be patient."


    The crowd grumbled as it dispersed.


    Maybee turned to one of the guards, "How are we doing?"


    "Not good, I''m afraid. Juai is leaving and they seem to be getting worse."


    "I''ll see if I can get you some more guards," Maybee said as she looked over at some guards struggling to restrain one of the infected.


    The guard nodded as Maybee turned and walked away. Then she stopped. "Let her go," she said.


    "What?" said the guard.


    "Let her go. She''s trying to go somewhere, lets see where," said Maybee.


    "Gotcha," said the guard with a smile.


    The guard turned to the others and told them to release the bee.


    "What?" they said.


    The guard filled them in on the plan and they released the infected bee. The bee made no notice of being released though moved unhindered. Maybee and the guards followed as the bee stumbled and progressed its way to the opening of the hive and flew away into the night. The others did not follow her as no bee would willingly fly into the waiting arms of Halah.


    "Now what?" asked one of the guards.


    "We seal up this opening with as many bees as we can. Nothing gets in, but if anybody else wants to leave, I say we let them go," said Maybee in an assured tone.And that''s what they did. One by one, the infected staggered, blundered, and marched their way to the opening of the hive before flying into the night. Along the way, a few of the suspected infected, became misplaced and search parties went through the hive to find them. A few of the bodies were found in the hives depths and the carcasses were dragged to the opening and tossed out. By morning all the suspected infected had either left the hive by choice, tossed out, or made a full, miraculous recovery. The bees cheered and rejoiced at their small victory, knowing that it would be a couple weeks before they could be sure that their plan had paid off.


    * * *


    The queen paused, giving the illusion that she had finished. "Did their plan work?" asked one of the young bees"Oh, yes, indeed it did. Weeks came and went with no sign of infection," said the queen.


    "So they won?" asked another young bee.


    "That time they did win. It wasn''t until a few gathering seasons later that the infection returned."


    "The infection returned?" asked a slack jawed bee.


    "Of course. We still fight the infection to this day. Why do you think we carry our dead outside? It''s in case they''re infected,"


    "Have you ever seen someone that was infected," asked a young one.


    "Not for a long, long time, but you never know there could be one among you right now," said the queen, suspicion in her voice.


    The young bees looked at each other, then behind them.


    "Rawwrrr," screamed the older bees.


    The younger bees did a little screaming of their own as they ran away in terror. Older bees can be terribly mean.

 Chapter 6 - Dodder the Drone

    Bees really only have two seasons. The gathering season and winter. They are gathering pollen and nectar from when the first flower opens to the day the last petals have fallen. A bee won''t go out if the weather is bad, or the temperature isn''t above fifty degrees. This can lead to cabin fever and very full bladders.


    * * *


    A fuzzy head, new to the world, emerged from a waxy chamber.


    "Oh, look at him he''s so cute," a distant voice squealed.


    "He''s perfect," said another.


    As he pulled himself from his chamber, other creatures brushed the wax from his hair and shoved gelatinous goo in front of his face.


    "Are you hungry?" they asked.


    "Eat, eat," they demanded.


    He sniffed at the goo with his antenna. It smelled delicious. He licked it. It tasted delectable. Without hesitation he devoured it.


    "Eat, eat," they encouraged.


    He looked up at them and smiled as they kept caressing him and feeding him.


    I think I''m going to like this place, he thought.


    A young nursemaid, Thistle, looked down on him. Male bees were such a rarity you couldn''t help but dote on them. Besides, they were so cute you just wanted to cuddle up against them and never let go. There was just something about them that made her heart skip a beat which is why she could understand why the hive was in such bustle today. A new drone always brought commotion along with it.


    As the queen made her rounds, she stopped at the bees that surrounded the new drone.


    "How is our newest resident?" asked the queen.


    "He''s fine," came back the consensus.


    "Very good, glad to hear it," the queen replied.


    The queen continued on her way, leaving the new drone to the care of the others.


    "What should we call him?" asked one of them.


    "How about Fig?" spoke a voice in the back.


    "Persimmon, lets call him Persimmon," said another.


    The rumble of voices grew so loud that no one bee could hear another till a small bee named Blackberry, whispered, "Dodder." A word that even amongst all the noise every single bee seemed to hear, and a silence soon followed.


    Thistle stroked the new drone on the head, "Dodder it is," she said with a smile.


    Time passed and Dodder grew up fast, as all bees do, but not quite as fast as the other bees. In fact it seemed like everything around him moved at an accelerated pace. Every few days new girls would come and pamper him. Heck, there was always someone to pamper him, and it was always the same thing. He had come to the point where he had begun taking flights just to get away from it all, but then he would get hungry and he would have to come back to the hive so the girls could feed him.


    If there was ever a bee who was more outgoing and hard working, it wasn''t Dodder. Oh and trust me it hadn''t gone unnoticed by those around him. In fact that''s why the girls who pampered him changed out so frequently. It just didn''t take long for them to get fed up with his attitude. Sure it was fun for a while, and he was cute, very cute, but one could only take so much ungratefulness before they just gave up on helping at all. The sad thing was that even as one girl grew tired of bowing down before his every command there was another ready to take her place, so it continued. The girls would go collect food and he would go on pleasure cruises of the sky or go hang out with the other guys from other hives.


    Hanging out with the guys is how he found out that each one of them had been spoiled in their own hives. Not only that, but he also picked up little tricks and tips on how to get the most out of his hive.


    "I swear, works every time," said a brute of a bee.


    "Are you sure Bar Berry," asked another.


    "Oh yea, a little back handed comment and you will have them in the palm of your hand," Bar Berry replied.


    A meeker bee in the back raised his hand.


    "Yes Sedge and stop raising your hand. We''ve been over this," said Bar Berry.


    "Can you give us an example?" asked Sedge


    "A good example would be... If that''s the best you can do, it will be fine, I guess," said Bar Berry.


    "What about...," asked another.


    Bar Berry interrupted. "Look just play around and have some fun with it. You''ll figure it out," said Bar Berry.


    "I actually like to compliment them and tell them they are the only one that Salal cares for. I find it makes them want to do extra things for me. Plus, I love to hear them giggle," said a bee with an accent.


    Dodder rolled his eyes. "Yes Salal, we all know what you like to do,"


    "The ladies love, Sal," said, you guessed it, Salal.


    "We know, we know," said Dodder while a few of the other drones just nodded in agreement.


    "QUEEN ALERT, QUEEN ALERT," shouted one of them as a speck in the distance passed.


    "Hey baby, how about you come over here and find out what a real man is," Bar Berry shouted.


    Salal shoved past the group and out into the front, "If it is a real man you are looking for, then you are looking for Salal. He is not afraid to cry or to love."


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Sedge just stood there off to the side, waving frantically.


    "False alarm, guys. It''s just a fly," said Dodder.


    Groans of disappointment erupted from the group


    "That''s okay you can keep going. I don''t mind," said the fly who finally thought he''d found some friends.


    At that very moment, if they would''ve had something to throw at the fly they surely would have, but they didn''t so they couldn''t. Instead they settled on boos and hisses until the fly left, a little sadder than when he thought he had some friends.


    "Well as much fun as this has been, I think I''m going to head home," said Dodder.


    "Yup, same here," Bar Berry agreed.


    Dodder headed off towards home. "See you tomorrow."


    Salal headed off towards his own hive, "Sounds good."


    With that, they all went their separate ways as Juai set in the distance.


    Most of the Juai''s light had extinguished itself by the time a weary Dodder climbed his way back into the hive and snuggled his way into an already exhausted bunch of bees, just as the queen began to tell her story.


    "I''m hungry, can somebody get me something to eat?" interrupted Dodder.


    The next morning came fast for our lazy little bee, and his mouth was full of honey before he could even finish his yawn and stretch. In fact it was during this that someone shoved the honey in his mouth. A little surprising to say the least, but not a bad way to wake up.


    After he had woken up, he decided to mosey around the hive. He picked up a few of the younger ladies wherever he went, but mostly he just got in the way. In the nursery he stepped on at least a couple brood before being rushed out by the nurse maids. Then he managed to step on a dead body that one of the undertakers was removing, causing its leg to fall off. He thought the undertaker was yelling at him but couldn''t tell with how fast she was talking. He decided it was best if he just completely ignored her and went on about his way. He bumbled around for a little longer until running into the queen. More like bumping into her which was hard not to do with a hive this crowded.


    "Hello Queen," he said.


    He even bowed and farted. Granted the fart wasn''t on purpose and not anywhere near appropriate, still he couldn''t help but smile a little and laugh a lot. The queen did not seem amused.


    "It''s my scent for clearing out a room," he laughed.


    "Of course," said the queen.


    Her assistants were not so proper, and if I had to pick out one word from their mumblings that stood out more than the others I would have to say, "repugnant."


    He hung his head a little embarrassed.


    "It was good seeing you, Queen," he said.


    "Always a pleasure, Dodder," said the queen as she walked away.


    Her attendants looked back at him and glared, so he stuck his tongue out because he could. He moped around and then stopped a bee who seemed to be in quite the hurry and asked her to get him some food. She looked at him like what she was doing was far more important than getting him something to eat, but whatever, it''s not like he needed to worry about the day-to-day hubbub. Granted he probably should''ve asked one of the girls that had been following him for something to eat but he had taken to ignoring them, for the most part. He continued on for a bit until he could thoroughly tell how annoyed everyone was getting, he decided to see what the boys were up to.


    He left the hive behind and flew out to the where the boys hung out above the old oak tree.


    "Hey guys, hows it going," asked Dodder as he flew up to the group.


    "Dodder," the group cheered.


    Dodder looked around but someone seemed to be missing from the group. "Where''s Bar Berry?"


    "Blue bird ate him," said Salal.


    "Really, when," asked Dodder.


    "Just a little bit ago. I''m really surprised you didn''t see the bird on your way here," said Sedge.


    Dodder looked around frantically. "Should we move?"


    "Nah, the bird flew away," said Salal.


    "Okay, if you say so," Dodder replied.


    They all just kind of hovered there for a second.


    "Did he say anything," asked Dodder.


    "He said poop," said Salal.


    Sedge nodded in agreement, "Yup, he said poop and then he was gone."


    "QUEEN," shouted a high pitch voice.


    "Hey baby, what''s up," asked Dodder.


    "Hey," said Sedge as he waved frantically.


    "Excuse my crass friends they are..," Salal was cut off.


    "I don''t see anyone," Dodder said looking around.


    They all looked around and in fact there was no queen. There was a high pitched laughter coming from the tree below them. They looked down and behold a squirrel.


    "You guys are idiots," said the squirrel.


    "We are not," said Dodder.


    "QUEEN," said the squirrel.


    The drones looked around frantically.


    The squirrel laughed so hard it fell off the brach it was standing on and completely out of the tree landing in the tall grass below.


    "Come on guys lets get out of here," said Dodder.


    They left the squirrel to his tree and his bonked noggin.


    "Have you guys noticed it''s getting colder," asked Sedge.


    Dodder looked back at him. "Actually I have. Down right chilly."


    "That is why I have the ladies to keep me warm," said Salal.


    "That doesn''t sound like a bad idea. I think I''m gonna head home and cuddle up with a couple of them right now." Dodder agreed.


    "Same here," said Sedge. "It really is cold out here."


    So they went their separate ways once again.


    Dodder got back to the hive to find things changed. The other bees were gathered around talking instead of out gathering him dinner. This was not acceptable, but he guessed he could let it slide this once.


    "What are we to do? The winter comes early and we are no where near ready," asked a bee.


    "We shall be fine, I have seen the winter come and go many times, and we aren''t that bad off. we may have to ration our selves but there is no reason that we shouldn''t make it through," said the queen.


    Dodder scrunched into the masses enjoying their warmth.


    "Could you be a dear and get me something to eat," he asked a bee.


    "Oh, heck no."


    Insert an exclamation point because the bee that answered Dodder was not at all happy. This was probably because she was the one who was in debate with the queen.


    "This lackadaisy slugabed wants food, our food. The food that we worked so hard to gather while he does nothing and still manages to eat three times as much as we do," she shouted.


    Dodders head picked up, she was talking about food. He didn''t know what she was talking about but if it was about food, he was all for it.


    "If we are going to make it through the winter we need to get rid of the drones," she said.


    Voices erupted in agreement.


    Dodder looker around. Seriously, was someone going to feed him or what?


    The queen made a motion, and the others quieted down.


    "If that is what you want, then it shall be done," said the queen.


    A moment of silence passed throughout the hive.


    "Dodder," asked the queen.


    Dodder looked around before realizing that the queen was the one talking to him.


    The queen looked into his eyes with remorse.


    "Dodder, it is in the best interest of the hive that I must ask you to leave."


    Dodder just kept looking back at her with a perplexed expression.


    "Dodder, you can no longer stay here.".


    "But, who will feed me," asked Dodder.


    "I''m sorry, but you will have to feed yourself. I wish you the best of luck," said the queen.


    With that the other bees escorted him out of the tree. He looked back at them and not a single one of them showed a welcoming tone. He had no idea what to do, so he did the only thing he did know, he tried to go back inside. When that didn''t work he did the only other thing he knew how to do, he flew off to where him and the boys hung out above the old oak tree.


    He had no idea how long it took him to get to the tree, his mind was swimming with too many things. What he did notice was how cold and lonely the tree was. The sky grew dark as clouds moved in pushed by a wind that made it hard to hover above the tree.


    "Hello," a faint voice sounded.


    Dodder did not hear it.


    "Hello," it sounded again, this time louder.


    Dodder looked up as two black specks approached from the distance. It was Salal and Sedge.


    "What are you guys doing out here," asked Dodder as the two others drew closer.


    "We got kicked out," they said in almost unison.


    "Me too," added Dodder as they met him.


    "What do we do now? It''s really cold out here and I''m hungry," asked Sedge.


    "We could cuddle like they do in the hive," stated Salal.


    So that''s what the three bees did they cuddled on a cold branch of the oak tree as the sky grew dark and a squirrel laughed.


    "You know perhaps we should move in with the squirrel," said Dodder.


    The squirrel stopped laughing.


    "Second that," Salal said shivering.


    The squirrel took off toward his burrow in the tree. As the bees pursued him they shouted, "Queen."

 Maybee and the Keether

    Bees warm up by shivering. It would be the same as you jogging in place. They will do this at night when the hive is clustered to gather. They will also do it to get their body up to 85 degrees, in order to fly. If you ever see a bee looking like it''s about to plant its stinger, it could be that it''s preparing to take off.I like to think of them as tiny pilots getting ready to blast off.


    * * *


    A world of white, rested outside of the hive. The bees gathered inside all huddled together for warmth as the cold collected itself on the world outside. The queen who had been telling stories all day, had just finished the story of "Maybee and the Bear". A clamor arose amongst the other bees as they began to discuss the story. The queen nestled back and took pleasure in that her story had done its job. That was always the good sign of a storyteller. When the audience remained entertained long after the storyteller had stopped speaking. It wasn''t long before a voice spoke up asking for another. This one small voice managed to create a wave of silence which quickly turned to more voices asking the same question. Another story. The queen sighed, she had hoped that she would have a little more time to relax before they had wanted another story.


    "I don''t know, I think I might be out of stories for now," she lied.


    They all let out groans of disappointment and ah''s of sorrow.


    "Okay, okay," the queen relented. "What would you like to hear?"


    "Tell us the one about the Keether," a voice said.


    Others cried out, their voices in agreement.


    "Are you sure," asked the queen. "You''ve already heard it so much."


    "Yes," they all nodded in one form or another.


    "Very well," the queen added beginning her story.


    * * *


    Maybee and the other bees were busy collecting pollen and nectar when a strong gust of wind blew an icy chill across their wings. It was the first time any of them had felt such a sensation and they each gave a shiver. It wasn''t until the second time it happened any of them took notice.


    "What was that," asked one of the bees.


    "No idea," said Maybee.


    It was the third blast, even colder yet and wet with rain that made them stop what they were doing. The rain wasn''t anything new to them and they knew exactly what to do, go back to the hive. Even as they retreated, the wind grew colder and blew harder and with it carried more rain. By the time the last bee had returned to the hive the weather had become so ghastly that no bee dare go outside. Instead, they huddled together in order to battle the coldness. When Halah arrived they had first found out what cold was, but nothing like this and not while Juai was still in the sky.


    While they were huddled together they wouldn''t say anything, but they were all a little scared by this new coldness. It hadn''t been that long since they had planted the seeds in the sky making it so they could no longer talk to Juai. Being on their own in this new unfriendly world had been a little overwhelming.


    Soon Halah appeared in the sky. The bees in the hive were too busy trying to stay warm to notice as bees on the outer edge crawled overtop the other bees in order to find a warmer real estate. This caused the other bees to be pushed to the outside who would soon continue the cycle themselves. If they had bothered to look outside, they would''ve noticed something strange about Halah, part of her face was missing.


    The next day Maybee was woken by a chill that blew across her back. She gave out a shiver, pumping her abdomen, in order to warm herself up.


    "Dang it''s cold," she shivered under her breath.


    "You can say that again," said another bee who had barricaded herself under a bunch of the other bees to hide from the cold.


    Maybee smiled at the other bee and gave out a stretch. She moved away from the others and toward the opening of the hive. A bright light poured through it as did the immense cold. With each step closer to the opening the cold grew sharper. She had to force herself on as it became more intense. As she came to the opening, she peered outside into the blinding light. As her eyes adjusted she was silenced at what was before her. White, it was everywhere, and it covered as far as the eye could see. She didn''t know what to do or say. All she could do was stand there in amazement. It would be awhile before others joined her and their surprise turned to panic.


    "It''s the end," a bee cried out.


    Others agreed with her.


    "We need to do something," another bee yelled.


    The queen tried to calm them, but it was taking work.Maybee made her way to the crowd gathering around the queen.


    "Everybody please calm down," said the queen in a composed tone.


    "What are you going to do?" demanded one of them.


    "What would you like me to do?" asked the queen still composed but somehow commanding.


    "We need to find out what is going on," said a bee in the back.


    "And how would we do that?" asked the queen.


    "We need to send someone to find out," answered yet another bee.


    "Into that, the thing we know nothing about? No, it is far too cold and far to0 dangerous out there. We are safe here. we have food and we are not in any immediate danger. We will stay here for now," stated the queen.


    "But," bickered a bee.


    The queen interrupted, "If, and when our situation becomes worse, we will change our plan, but not until then." With that the queen turned and walked off, her attendants at her heel.


    The other bees talked amongst themselves in ill-tempered tones, but they were soon to subside as there was nothing they could do. The queen had given her order. One by one they took their turns peering outside to see if anything had changed. When they had seen it hadn''t, troubled talk would spark up once again, expressing their worries to anyone who was within listening distance.Maybee did not join in on these conversations. In fact she hadn''t said much since she had first peered outside. She was more than happy to do nothing and hope that it would all pass away. The truth was, she was scared. She had never seen anything like what awaited them outside. None of them had. There was the cold as well. She knew no words to describe it other than it felt like death and she wanted nothing to do with it.


    The day came and went without a change and at the gathering they all hoped that when they woke everything would be different but worry made for a restless nights sleep.The next day when Maybee awoke there was no need for her to go running to look outside, she could hear the others talking.


    "It''s worse than before," said a voice.


    "What are we to do now?" asked another.


    She looked around and saw that the few bees that were up all spoke in tempered tones.


    She snuck past them with a quiet grace as she wasn''t ready to talk to anyone quite yet. She only wanted to see what they were talking about. The brightness was not all consuming as it had been the previous day, more of a grey dullness. She poked her head outside. They were right, it was worse, a great deal worse. The whiteness had grown. It had grown taller than the grass itself. and the tree limbs hung heavy with their burden.


    "Beeshadea," she said


    "I think that sums up our situation quite nicely," said a voice.


    Maybee turned to see the queen standing at her side. Her attendants hurriedly trying to cover as much of her as possible in order to keep her warm.


    "What are we going to do?" asked Maybee.


    "That seems to be the question everyone is asking, and one I have no answer for," the queen replied.


    Maybee hung her head.


    "I was able to convince everyone to do nothing and wait yesterday and perhaps I can do the same tomorrow, but if this keeps up I won''t be able to stand back and do nothing for long. I''m not even sure we should, but I have no other plans, or even the faintest idea of what to do."


    "If there''s anything I can do, just let me know," asked Maybee.


    "I need you to stand by me," replied the queen.


    "What?" asked Maybee.


    "The others look up to you, if you were to back me up on the decision to do nothing, it would strengthen their resolve in my decision. At least for a day or two."


    "Oh, I have no problem in that. Have you looked out there? Sending anyone out in that would be a death sentence," Maybee shivered even at the thought of it.


    "Good, I might need you to speak later if the hive gets restless. If not possibly tomorrow."


    Maybee bowed before the queen fluttering her wings in the process.


    The queen left, leaving Maybee to her own distress. She hoped things would get better. That she would not be needed. She wanted no part of this. For the rest of the day she spent her time on the outskirts of the colony hoping everyone would forget about everything including her, but she could tell it was not to be as she could hear the whispers of worry growing. When even she was ready to scream and tell everyone to shut up, the queen spoke up.


    "Might I have your attention?" asked the queen in a firm tone that was more telling than demanding.


    The bees quieted down with shushing of anyone who dared to speak.


    "I know you have all been very patient, and I appreciate that. I only ask that you be patient a little longer."


    Her audience groaned.


    "Now, now, hold on. I''m just asking for a little time to solve this. By tomorrow we should know more." The groans grew louder.


    Maybee spoke, she hadn''t intended to.


    "I''m with the queen," she called out.


    The hive was silenced as they turned and looked at Maybee.


    "She''s right we can''t just go out there and not have a plan."


    The hive murmured amongst itself.


    "You have my word that we are not going to stand by and do nothing," said the queen over the crowd


    The hive became calm and the other bees seemed to lose interest in both Maybee and the queen. As the crowd dispersed, the queen spoke up one final time.


    "I will let you know what we have come up with tomorrow."


    Followed by her attendants, the queen came up to Maybee.


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    "Well done," said the queen. "Not exactly how I had planned on bringing you in, but well done all the same."


    Maybee said thank you by bowing.


    "You should know that we are really going to come up with a plan. The hive won''t wait much longer," stated the queen.


    Maybee only nodded. She had known the same thing.


    "Tomorrow we will talk," the queen turned and walked away.


    Maybee snapped out of it at the queens departure to say only one word, "Okay."


    * * *


    Early the next morning the queen made good on her promise and Maybee was fetched by one of the queens attendants. The queen walked among the brood as Maybee was brought to her. The Queen''s attendants gathered around her to keep other from hearing distance.


    Maybee looked at the queen who kept a steady pace without having to stop.


    "You''re not laying any eggs." said Maybee, concerned.


    "I haven''t been able to since this started," replied the queen in a nonchalant tone.


    That''s when Maybee realized that this was even more serious than she had thought.


    "Have you had time to think of a plan?" asked the queen.


    Maybee hung her head. "No," she answered.


    The queen let out a sigh.


    "You?" asked Maybee.


    "I have," said the queen. More of a contingency plan than anything else."


    Maybee nodded ready to listen.


    "The plan, as of right now, is to tell everyone that we''re sending a bee to the earwig king to find out what''s going on, but instead the bee just flies up into the tree finding a nice place to stay warm until just before Juai sets and then come back from their hiding with good news."


    Maybee was quiet for a moment and then asked, "Why not just send them to the king?"


    "With this weather it would be a surprise if they made it, and if they didn''t return, it would do more to morale around here than not sending someone at all."


    "Send a group of bees," said Maybee.


    I don''t expect good news even if we were able to get to the king. One bee can keep a secret, five cannot."


    This time it was Maybee who sighed.


    "Who is this bee that you are going to send."


    "I have thought about this and I need a bee who the others look up to. Someone who cares about this hive as much as I do. Someone who I can trust and isn''t afraid to do the right thing," rambled the queen.


    "It''s me isn''t it?"


    The queen nodded, "I''m afraid it is.


    Maybee let out another sigh, "When do I do this?"


    "Tomorrow morning," replied the queen. Today I''ll let everyone know, and then we''ll have a celebration in your honor. It will do everyone good to have a little party.


    "Yay," said a depressed little Maybee who was not happy about her situation.


    "Cheer up, you get to be a hero and all you have to do is hang out in a tree for a day."


    "I guess," said Maybee.


    Maybee''s gloomy attitude might''ve been hers alone, but it was not the only negative attitude in the hive. This became apparent when the queen called her meeting just as Juai had climbed her highest. The bees that attended, grumbled and groused. Then she told them her plan. There was still the grumbling and the grousing, but there was a lot less of it. Most of it had been replaced with praise for Maybee. Then she told them that there would be a party in Maybee''s honor. She hadn''t even been able to finish her sentence before the cheers erupted. All anyone heard was party, and that''s all it took. The queens plan had worked, morale was back up and the party hadn''t even happened yet.


    She concluded the meeting and everyone went about there, well, not so busy day. They hadn''t been busy since the white had covered the land. As they passed Maybee, they thanked and commended her. She tried to smile in return, but it was hard. Even though she hadn''t said anything she felt as if she was lying to her friends. She understood why it needed to be done she just wasn''t sure if it was the best way to go about it. All day long her sisters came up to her and confessed their admiration and each time she felt a little more wounded.


    That night at the party she didn''t feel much like joining the others in their cheery mood or drinking honey. The fact that she wasn''t participating in the celebration went unnoticed by most who had already drank so much that they had become slow and tipsy and ready for a nap. Although most hadn''t noticed the queen had, who came up to Maybee.


    "Hello Maybee. How are you enjoying your celebration?" asked the queen.


    They walked along the outskirts of the hive.


    "It''s great, thanks so much," replied a drab Maybee.


    "Are you all ready for tomorrow," asked the queen.


    "I am. It''s just," she paused. "Are you sure what we''re doing is right?"


    "It''s the best for the hive. Right now they need hope above all else," replied the queen.


    "But shouldn''t we be trying to find out what''s really going on?"


    "We will, but only after they have their hope. Then I will sneak a few bees out to see if they can find anything. If they find out bad news or they don''t return to the hive, it will be unknown to the hive and they will go on in high spirits."


    "Shouldn''t they know the truth?"


    "Why?" asked the queen. "Even if they knew the truth, they would be unable to do anything about it. It would only upset them and cause chaos in the hive. Much like we had earlier. If Chaos is left unchecked, it can lead to the death of a hive."


    For a moment they continued to walk in silence.


    "No it is better that we alone carry the burden."


    Maybee understood.


    The next morning Maybee was greeted by eager bees excited to see her off. She had a little honey. Just enough to keep her full but not enough to slow her down. Bees continued to gather around her, watching as if everything she did was the most amazing thing they had ever seen. She finished eating and looked around. It was very uncomfortable.


    A bee whispered in her ear, "Are you ready to go?"


    She nodded.


    The bee looked up at the queen and fluttered its wings.The queen raised herself above the crowd. It wasn''t hard as she was much larger than any other bee in the hive.


    The other bees took their gaze off Maybee and looked up at her.


    "Today Maybee ventures out into the unknown, not for her own curiosity but for the good of the hive."


    A few bees cheered in the background.


    "It takes a courageous bee to put the needs of others above her own," continued the queen.


    More bees joined in the cheers.


    "For that our thanks will never be enough, just know that it comes with our admiration and our love."


    The cheers grew even louder.


    Two of the guards gathered at Maybee''s side and started to clear the crowd.


    Maybee looked around at her admiring supporters as the guards cleared a path leading to the entrance. She turned and looked at the white light of the opening. "I guess they''re no time like the present," she said to herself.


    "We wish you a safe trip and a quick return," declared the queen.


    Maybee walked toward the entrance. The crowd erupted. As she drew closer she shivered, warming up her body and wings for what was about to be the coldest flight of her life. She looked out the opening, and the crowd went silent in anticipation.


    The whiteness was falling from the sky. This was not going to be fun, but all she had to do was fly out and find a place to hide in the higher limbs. A place where all of this white couldn''t touch her. She had never been so excited about the queen''s plan than at that very moment. As long as she didn''t have to fly out into it, she would be okay. She swallowed up her fears and left the hive.


    No sooner had she escaped the warm and safe confinements of the hive than a rogue gust of wind grabbed her, yanked her out into the white and twisted her around. She tried to gain her bearings, but it was hard. The falling white created a barrier that distorted everything. She tried to fly in the direction of her hive but she couldn''t be sure if she was heading the right way or not. She flew as hard and as fast as she could for the nearest tree, but it was difficult work dodging the falling white. As she did, she noticed the white made a very strange sound as it fell. A cross between the burning embers of a fire and the hissing of a snake. It was a sound she had never heard before.


    "Look it''s the defiant one," a voice sizzled in her ears.


    "I see, I see," said another. A twin to the first with a crackle in its tone.


    Maybee tried to look around but could see no other.


    "Strange that we should see her here," sizzled the voice.


    "Strange indeed," crackled the other.


    The voices seemed to come from all around her.


    "Who are you?" asked Maybee.


    "We are the Keether," said the voice.


    "We are the daughters of Halah. Her slaves, her minions."


    "What are you doing here," asked Maybee as she readied herself to land on a nearby branch. A gust of wind grabbed her and threw her back into the open.


    "We were freed when the stars were set into the sky," said the voice.


    "You were the one who did that. You are the defiant one," said the other.


    "You''re welcome?" replied Maybee.


    "We are not here to thank you," said the voice.


    "Never thank you," said the other.


    "We are here to take you back to Halah."


    Maybee flew away toward the trees. The wind grabbed her and yanked her back into the open.


    "We control the winds, and now you," said the voice.


    "How can you control the winds? They belong to Veha," said Maybee.


    "Winds are easily manipulated," said the voice."And never to be trusted," whispered the other.


    The wind picked up and pushed her higher. She tried to fly in the opposite direction but the wind was too strong. She flew upward with the wind, then turned abruptly and tried to drill her way down through it. The wind meet her head on and forced her back up even higher. She tried dodging the gusts of wind, but with each pitch and yaw she was met with another gust of wind. For every bit of progress she made she was pushed back twice as much. The voices only laughed at her failed attempts. Then she did the unthinkable, she stops flying all together, and the exhausted Maybee gave up. Her flightless body tumbled and rolled as the wind carried her toward her final destination. Then the wind died off, and she fell. Another gust of wind came up and met her. Her body rolled off of it before it took hold and carried her some more.


    It soon died off and once again she fell and again, she was met by another gust of wind and then another and another.


    "We have won," said the voice.


    "Yet we are losing," said the other.


    This last part snapped Maybee to attention. They were losing? How? Then she hit the ground. Or more precise, the layer of Keether that covered the ground. She tried to get up, but she was too cold to move. She shivered to make herself warmer, but it was useless. She was too cold and too tired.


    All around her the Keether spoke. Not just the two anymore but thousands. Each voice canceled out the other so that only their tempered tone was left behind. Then everything went dark.


    "Are you okay," a voice called out above the others.


    What a silly question. Did she look okay?


    "Climb into my fur and hold on."


    Fur? Who was talking? The Keether didn''t have fur. She opened her eyes. A giant distorted face looked back at her, with great long teeth and pointed ears, and a nose that proceeded to move even when everything else was still.


    "Come on, you have to do it."


    It was a brown rabbit.


    "Hey rabbit," said a tired Maybee.


    "Climb," said the rabbit rubbing its nose up against Maybee.


    She did as she was told. With all her strength she climbed up and into it''d fur. The rabbit took off. Maybee could feel the motion as the voices of the Keether cut through the fur.


    "You will never be able to hide from us. We will search the land over and over until we find you," said the voice as the rabbit escaped into a hole descending so deep that not even the voice of the Keether could follow them. The rabbit stopped.


    "Are you okay," the rabbit asked


    That silly question again.


    "Yea, I''m okay," said a shaky Maybee as she climbed out of the Rabbits fur.


    "Please don''t climb out of there. You are cold. Stay and warm up," said the rabbit.


    The invitation was too tempting. She climbed back into the deep fur, but not before climbing a little closer to the rabbits ear.


    "Thank you," she said faintly before collapsing into slumber. The rabbit made a few hops before it nestled itself into an alcove in the warren.


    When Maybee awoke, it was with a jolt.


    "I need to get back to my hive," she blurted out.


    A startled rabbit replied a simple, "Huh?"


    "I need to let my hive know what is going on," said Maybee.


    "That is the last thing you need to do," said the rabbit letting out a gigantic yawn.


    "What was that," asked Maybee. "Are you okay? Are you going to die?"


    "What? No. I just let out a yawn."


    "A yawn? It looked like your head was about to fold in half."


    "You don''t yawn," asked the rabbit.


    "I do not, and I can''t see why anyone would ever want to."


    "It''s not something you do because you want to, it''s something... You know what, never mind."


    "Can you get me back to my hive?"


    "Wow, you are just all over the place. Look you don''t want to go back to your hive. If you do those things will find out where you live, and then your hive will never be safe."


    "What do I do then," asked Maybee.


    "You''ll have to lead them away. Let them chase you until they are so far away from your hive, they will never find their way back.


    "I can''t," said Maybee. "They''re much too fast and strong for me. If I try, they''ll just catch me again."


    "No worries, I have a plan."


    "That''s great, but I''m not exactly sure how much I can trust a rabbit whose name I don''t even know."


    "It''s Raerah one of the fastest and most assuredly the trickiest of any animal you have ever met," said another rabbit.


    Maybee turned and looked at the rabbit surprised. She hadn''t realized they weren''t alone


    "Thank you, my friend," said Raerah.


    "So what''s the plan," asked the other rabbit.Maybee turned back toward Raerah with a new found excitement, and in that alcove, deep in the warren, far from the prying ears of the Keether, Raerah told them the plan.


    * * *


    Up above the warren the Keether gathered, covering the opening to the tunnels with a thick coating so great that one would never have even known that the opening was there. Then the Keether stirred. Mounding up, as if it was growing into some sort of creature. The mound burst open like a bubble and a grey rabbit appeared. It stood there for a second looking around and sniffing the air.


    "Where is Maybee?" demanded the Keether.


    The rabbit bolted, and the Keether took chase. Another rabbit appeared in the opening. The Keether circled around as it took off in the opposite direction as the first. Then another rabbit bounded from the hole, then another and then another. All heading out in separate directions from one another. The Keether didn''t know what to do. They stormed around following a brown rabbit, then changing directions to follow a white one before splitting off to follow more than one.


    Maybee rode between the ears of the brown rabbit Raerah. The Keether whistled past them but never saw the little bee hiding in the fur. When they were far enough away that the Keether had abandoned their pursuit. The brown rabbit stopped and turned around to face the Keether.


    "I have defeated your master, just as I have defeated you," said Maybee.


    The whirlwind of Keether turned and screamed toward Maybee.


    "You are no match for me. You never were, and you never will be," cried Maybee as Raerah turned and fled from the Keether. They ran across valleys and over mountains. The whole way Maybee spurring them on with her insults and the Keether following, determined to catcher her.


    * * *


    "Some say that they still run to this day, her and Raerah. Others, that Maybee lost the Keether, but had ran so far by then that she was never able to find her way back to her hive. What we do know for sure was that the Keether were never able to find her," said the queen.


    "How is that?" asked a bee.


    "Because if they had, they wouldn''t be outside looking for her right now, would they," answered the queen.


    A spark of realization crossed over the bees who hadn''t already heard the story.


    "If Maybee never found her way home, what happened to her," asked another bee.


    "Some believe that she traveled from hive to hive looking for her own but never found it. You never know, she might be here right now," said the queen.


    All the bees who were still awake looked around at each other and wondered if the bee next to them was Maybee.


    "Now please, it''s late. Try to go to sleep. There will be more stories tomorrow possibly even one of your own," saying that, the queen settled into the warm mass of bodies that were her children and went to sleep. The others followed shortly after.

 Chapter 8 - The Queen Leaves

    A hive can swarm multiple times a year. Each time it does it will take half the hive and the current queen with it leaving a new queen to take over. The numbers of bees in a swarm can range from 3,000 to 30,000. That like being in a traveling rock concert where the music is so loud that your conversations become games of charades.


    * * *


    It was getting so a bee couldn''t turn around. It had been over a month, and the season of gathering was growing long. If one of the scouts didn''t find a new location soon there would never be enough time to establish a new colony and get it ready for winter. Things in Burntwood hadn''t exactly been delightful either. Everyone seemed to be on edge due to the long hours of work and the tight confinements of the hive. Some bees were even becoming restless at the queen''s rule. Her majesty had heard the whispers. It was hard not to in a hive. Sure they would congregate outside to tell their gossip, complain about the queen, and talk of superseding her. They tried to keep those things outside and away from the queen''s ears, but those whispers always had a way of following them back inside, where they would rustle throughout the hive.


    She pretended not to notice; she had not told them of her plan. She couldn''t, not until she knew there was a place to go. She prayed she would hear word soon. If not and the whispers in the hive grew louder, it wouldn''t be long before they rose against her. She would be forced to leave before she was ready, which meant an almost certain doom for her and her followers.


    She let out a sigh and continued on her queenly duties. One of her attendants came up and offered her some nectar. She turned her head away; she wasn''t hungry. How could she be, with so much going on?


    Tansy entered the hive. It was good to be back on that old black wood. That, and the mix of the queens perfume that clung to the backs of all of those in the hive signified home more than anything else. It was a calming quality. Tansy climbed down through the hive and over bees, as she continued down to the brood section, paying no heed to the grumbles coming from those that had been stepped on. Excited she called out for the queen before the queen could even hear her. "Queen, oh Queen," she cried out. The vibration of her voice getting swallowed by the hum of the hive. Yet again she cried out, over and over, her voice falling short and getting lost. She rushed past the pollen packers, cleaners, cappers and even smacked into an undertaker who was not pleased with having its corpse tampered with.


    "Do you mind?" cried the undertaker.


    Tansy continued on, without apologizing, without looking back. It was strange, she had flown all that way and now that she was so close to the queen, now she was out of breath. It was the excitement that had gotten to her. She hadn''t realized until that very moment that everything was going to change. She saw the queen up ahead. She called out again. The queen looked up, acknowledging her. Tansy froze, quiet. Everything was going to change, nothing would ever be the same.


    The queen looked at Tansy who had just moments before been calling for her but now stood frozen at the edge of the brooding field. The queen waited on but Tansy refused to move. Please don''t let there be a mite infestation, that''s the last thing we need right now, she thought to herself.


    Tansy crept closer.


    "It''s okay my child. Come here," the queen persuaded.


    Tansy came to the side of the queen.


    "What is it, my dear?"


    "I have found the place," Tansy said, with a shaky voice.


    "It''s okay, what''s wrong?"


    "I don''t want to leave this place." Tansy said.


    "That''s okay, you don''t have to. You can stay here if you want."


    "But, I don''t want you to leave either."


    "Oh honey, I must leave. Just as Juai must rise, she must fall."


    "But, I don''t want things to change. I like them the way they are."


    "Shush now, everything changes whether you want them to or not. Now you stop your sorrows and tell me of this place you found."


    Tansy took a deep breath and told the queen all about the place that she had found in an old barn. As she did, so she smiled, because even though the thought of change made her sad, the idea of something new made her excited.


    That night, during the gathering, the queen didn''t tell a story. Instead, she told the hive her intentions to leave the colony. Her announcement was met with mixed emotions. But what really got them going was the choice that the queen put upon them, to follow or stay. A question that sounds easier to answer than it is. Either way loved ones will be left behind. It is a question with no right answer, just one that you must live with.


    The next day the hive was all hustle and bustle as they tried to get ready for the queen''s departure. Four oversized cells were being made, each one fit for a queen. The queen passed by, laying an egg in each of the low hanging chambers.


    Tansy was also busy as she was leading groups to the new location in order to prepare it for the queen''s arrival. There was a lot of work that needed to be done. The new home needed to be inspected for pests and it needed to be cleaned. Tansy explored around as the other bees did their things.


    "Hello," said a small voice.


    Tansy looked around but saw no one nearby.


    "down here," the small voice chimed.


    Tansy looked down to see a small earwig waving.


    "Why hello," replied Tansy, "How are you?"


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    "Oh, I''m very good, and you?"


    "Can''t complain, I guess," Tansy said.


    "If you don''t mind me asking, what are you doing here?" the small voice asked.


    "We''re moving in."


    "Oh good, it shall be nice to have some neighbors besides those dreadful mice."


    "Mice?" Tansy asked. A little concern building up in her throat.


    "Oh yes, of course. I mean, it is a barn after all. I wouldn''t worry about them though. They aren''t new to living with bees and it should be some time before they forget and try anything."


    Tansy gave a little sigh of relief. That was one bridge they could deal with when it came time to cross it.


    "I''m sorry, what was your name?" she asked.


    "I am Derma, son of Patera, grandson to Gideon and great grandson to Gota," the young earwig said with pride and a slightly puffed up chest."We''ll I''m very pleased to meet you, Derma. I''m Tansy, Tansy from Burntwood," She said that last part with a little giggle in her throat."The great Burntwood?" Derma asked.


    "I guess," Tansy said unsure of what he was asking.


    "Oh, it shall be a privilege to live with the bees of Burntwood. My father has told me a great many stories of your exploits."


    Tansy looked over at the overly excited boy, who was nearly shaking. "Well Derma, it shall be my privilege to live next to such a fine young man."Derma smiled up at her, with a smile so big you''d think his pinchers were going to snap off.


    The work continued for the next couple of days. Work crews continued to prepare the new home while nurse maids cared for the queens to be. On the fourth day the nurse maids brought royal jelly to the princesses, feeding them as much as they could eat. From now on that is all they would eat until one of them became queen.


    At that nights gathering she informed the hive that in a few days time the princess cells would be capped signifying the end of her reign and she would leave the following evening taking with her anyone that wanted to go. Murmurs and whispers began to drown out the queen as she spoke.


    "Calm down, calm down," the queen said. "You don''t have to go if you don''t want. In fact I believe it is best if at least half stay here. Another thing you should know is that it is tradition for a great feast the night before the departure. This feast will of course have food and dancing, but will also be a great way to say goodbye to the loved ones that leave and that we leave behind."


    The murmurs grew louder turning into a joyous buzz.


    "Tonight we sleep, for tomorrow we have a feast to prepare for," the queen stated.


    Cheers erupted throughout the hive.


    "Now sleep my children, sleep."


    The cheers died down to low whispers.


    "Please Queen, tell us a story," a voice begged from the crowd.


    "Very well, which one would you like to hear?"


    "How about, Maybee and the Bear," asked a voice.


    "Maybee and the Bear, it shall be."


    So, they all settled in for a tale of the little precocious bee, Maybee.


    A few days later everything was in full flow as they prepared for the feast. Fox Glove, a bee new to gathering packed some pollen from the apple blossom to her back legs. Another bee flew overhead and landed on a nearby blossom."Hey, have you figured out if you''re staying or going yet?"


    Fox Glove looked up, "Oh, hey Aster. I haven''t yet, you?" "I think so. I mean, I don''t know. It should be fun right?"


    "I guess."


    The two bees hop-scotched to other blossoms.


    "What do you think?" Fox Glove asked a nearby bee.


    "She''s not from our hive," Aster stated.


    "Oh," Fox Glove said, "I''m sorry."


    "It''s okay. My hive just swarmed a little while ago. It was tough at first, but in the end it was all for the best," the new bee said.


    "Did you go or stay?" Aster asked.


    "I went, but I was getting bored with the same thing day in and day out."


    "I don''t know what I''m going to do yet," said Fox Glove.


    "Well, do what you want. There''s no wrong answer," she said before flying off to another flower.


    "She makes it sound so easy."


    "Don''t worry Fox Glove, you still have a couple days. You''ll figure it out." Aster comforted


    "I guess, I just hope I make the right decision."


    "Who''s to say you have to stick with the decision you make? It''s not like we won''t know where each other are," Aster stated.


    "You''re right, what am I worrying about?"


    The two bees headed off back to the hive to unload their pollen and nectar.


    Days passed and excitement built until soon the feast was upon them. The other bees stood by, cheering as the princess cells were capped, and when the last sliver of light retreated from the sky, it began.


    Oh, what a celebration it was, even the earwigs came out to say their goodbyes. There was eating and dancing, even sobs of sorrow as bees announced their intentions to go or stay. There were also cheers. They were sad to see loved one''s leaving while happy to see loved one''s staying. Sad to be leaving their home yet happy for what awaited them. It was a very complicated emotional time for everyone. One that was dealt with by more dancing and more eating until the cries, cheers and laughter of their reminiscing melted into one of happy heartbreak.


    They continued way into the night until one by one they fell into a deep sleep, crashing comfortably on top of one another.


    The next morning no one got up early, not until the queen had a few of her servants roust them from their slumber. Once they were more awake than asleep, she made her announcement.


    "Listen up my children, the time has come for me to go. I understand that this is a somber time for us all, those of us leaving have a long journey ahead of us, and those of you who stay will be missed and loved. In my time, I have lived many seasons, had many children and had many homes, but I have never loved as much or as strong as I do this day. You are my family, more than any before you or any that will come after. To the great Burntwood I say goodbye. You have been a fine home and will continue to stand long after I''m gone. It saddens me I must leave, but it is the way of things. Those of you going with me please gather outside the hive when you have finished with your goodbyes. I love you all."


    The queen majestically walked from the hive as bees came up and thanked her, saying how much they loved her. The queen in turn took each one and acknowledged them, taking a little longer with her gratitude in order to make each one feel special.


    The other bees gathered around each other to say their goodbyes. When it came down to it, all of them were more scared than excited to leave the hive, so they procrastinated and dragged their feet. Eventually, with all their dilly dallying they ended up outside. Some bees changed their minds at the last moment, some deciding to stay, and some deciding to go. It was late afternoon when all were decided and the swarm took flight. The Queen was at its center and Tansy in the lead. Fox Glove looked back and waved as Aster peered from the opening of the hive, waving back. Some bees fanned perfume so that those leaving could always find their way back home. With the roar thousands of bees left the hive as a black wind and flew out of sight.


    The next couple of days were a bit strange. Everyone was sad that so many of their friends had left but excited about the new queens. On the third day, the first one emerged. The attendants quickly surrounded her. They told her what the queen had told them. They told her how there could only be one queen and for the good of the hive the others must be dethroned. She went to the other cells and opened them up, ensuring her place as queen. The attendants quickly pulled the quashed queens from their cells and escorted them out of the hive.


    The new queen looked around and said, "What do I do now?"


    The bees looked at each other.


    "There''s nothing to do now. The day is almost done, and the night approaches. It is time for sleep," said one of them.


    "You could tell us a story?" asked another.


    "Oh yes, please tell us a story," pleaded another with gusto.


    "A story about Maybee," they were all chiming in now.


    "Who''s Maybee?" the queen asked.


    "You don''t know who Maybee is?"


    "I''m sorry, I don''t."


    "She''s the greatest bee to ever live."


    "Let''s tell her the story of, The Duwaiha," piped a voice in the back.


    So they did. They all gathered around the new queen and told her a story of Maybee.