The Worker´s Tale

A strong hive might contain five thousand workers, my apiaries might be home to forty thousand in the summer. In the spring, the queen will lay as many as a thousand eggs a day, most of them will become worker bees, which will take on different tasks at different stages in their lives. Typically they live for a few weeks; only the queen can expect to live longer.

Crocus, willow, daffodil,

Apple, pear and dandelion,

Thistle, blackthorn, teasel,

Then mint, mallow, allium.

Thyme and clover, lavender,

Bramble, lime and chestnut sweet,

Borage, forage, plunder,

Back to hive, my sisters' meet.

Campion, rosemary, gorse,

Wax, propolis, brood, quick swarm,

Forget-me-not, chestnut, horse,

Judas tree, wasp, hornet, alarm.

Queen, drones, workers, brave sister,

Nurse, scout, forager then guard,

Old, hairless fetch-water,

Sparse winter stores: Discard!