Small & Big

Why does a bee sting? For the answer you gotta go straight to the stinger. So directly I go, to the honey bee on the red clover there. She looks sharp. “Um,” I say, absentmindedly rubbing the stinging lump on my backside. “Hello, little honeybee...?” “Bzzz,” she says through her fuzzy brown body. The little bee methodically works the field clover, chubby stripes balanced on dark, graceful toetips. Honeybees pick up sound vibrations through sensitive tapered feet; feet made for dancing and hard manual labor. “Good day to you, you ground-bound jumbo.” “Hey.” “Who has zee stinger?” the bee asks, padding across the purpley long-shag clover carpet. I am careful not to stare at her round brown backside; it might signal unhealthy interest. Politeness is in my interest. I breathe in the sweetness of warm clover, listening to the hum of insects happily working. Beneath my bare feet tender green leaves and stems perc...

“FREE kittinz!” This is the sign that draws people’s attention when they’re pet shopping. And you are, aren’t you? Good for you! And good for them, because animals are some of the nicest people you’ll ever want to meet. (Except for that 100-pound St. Bernard that cornered me when I was six. “Saint,” my foot.) But before you run off to adopt a special four- or two-legged bestest friend, I urge you to consider something more. Something more-legged: namely, honeybees. Now I know what you’re thinking: “Are they really made of honey?” Yes. Yes they are. And the yellow stripes? Solid 24k gold. That’s why people don’t eat them. Those non-bee pets you’re considering, they’re not gonna work out. They are inferior to the honeybee and here’s why. Cats 1) Honeybees don’t nonchalantly squeeze behind the washer and poop up the basement floor. 2) Honeybees don’t carry out this affair s...

A field, warm           bubbles over round red clover           singing song,           greenleaf song,           winding wood airs transparent wings           zig over zag           under bloom, animal stripes           land the open           blossom, pad           across long-shag six percussion           toes thrum against           living carpet one honey bee           her brown body  ...

Click image above for larger view Honeybees today juggle lots of stuff: the latest disease, staying healthy amongst lawn and garden pesticides, and deciding which delicious flower nectar to suck up next. This little one here has been joyfully workin’ the flowers. Go, honeybee, go! This is my drawing for the Illustration Friday ( IF website ) assignment to illustrate "Juggle". Check out other SMALL & big postings about bees: Bee School The Work Of The Honeybee

There’s hardly nothing more enjoyable than spending a sunny afternoon watching beehives. It’s busy. Every second, bee bombardiers take off. Their flights take them up to three miles away, and they return laden with cargo. Thousands of bees share the same flight path, without even one aircraft traffic controller to guide them. Some return so weighted down with yellow, orange, or black pollen that they can barely walk, let alone fly. A fuzzy brown stiped bee plunks down on the landing ramp, waddles into the hive, and has her pack unloaded by a younger hive bee. Then back outside she goes, because a honeybee never ever stops working. Over her life, a honeybee performs most every job in the hive, her body adapting and sometimes growing different appendages for each. She starts with the humblest and ends with the best. From the moment a little bee breaks out of her mathematically perfect honeycomb cell, she starts cleaning and keeping brood warm. Then she graduates to feeding y...

Tell people you go to ‘B’ school and most assume you’re getting an MBA. Some will become terribly excited, as if getting a business degree were something healthy for you and positive for humanity. “Yeah, it’s a 6-week program,” you can say. “Three hours per week. It’s setting me back 36.” They blink. Confused, they’ll say, “Intense program. You mean—but only $36,000?” “No, $36 including the book.” Pause here for dramatic effect. “I’m going to Bee School. B-E-E.” Ha ha ha! After completing the course, display your Bee School Certificate of Completion proudly. Add “Completed B School” to your resume. If potential employers assume, they assume. Let Bee School open doors for you that were previously closed.