the robber bee runs

The honeybees buzzed the alarm for their keeper. “Help us,” their actions cried, as they circled their home in response to the siege. A hungry horde from a neighboring hive came upon the stocked cells of their victims. “Here, here,” they wiggled and wagged their bee bottoms, swarming the hive. Breaking open wax caps in the healthy hive, the robber bees wreaked havoc as they scooped up honey and pollen gathered by their victims. Heavily laden with this sweet booty, the thieves dropped down before rising in flight when they stepped off the entrance landing.

The woman was in another part of the garden, and heard the commotion before seeing it. Bees circled the hive at midday when they should have been busily alighting on flowers, sipping water from the edges of puddles. These bees were looking for ways to enter the hive. The resident bees tried to fight off the intruders, but there were too many. The beekeeper leapt into action, rushing to the bees’ defense.

“Damned honey robbers, stay away from my bees,” the keeper yelled. She grabbed a bedsheet and soaked it under the tap, then tossed it on top of the hive. Take that, she said.