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After that, I started working as an indoor worker bee. The first thing I had to do was prepare the honeycombs. Sometimes I took part in the kiss relay. I soon realized that the kiss relay was a very important task. The amount of water in the nectar is reduced while the nectar is being relayed from mouth to mouth. This process produces excellent nectar. I myself now possess this mysterious ability because I have become a honeybee. Another mystery surrounding the honeybees is that as a honeybee eats a lot of nectar in the nectar cellar, plates of wax come out of four holes on each side of their body. The honeybee catches the wax plates with its hind legs and passes it to its forelegs to create new honeycombs without resting. The queen's wedding ceremony in the castle has just ended. So this work was the busiest of all. I got myself involved in the work, spending an entire week making honeycombs, pausing from time to time in the workshop and seldom returning to Room Q. A number of honeybees worked hard as they bumped into each other in the crowded workshop. After such a labor, I got exhausted to the point that I had actually lost some weight. Then, the long-awaited day came when I started working as a field bee. Exiting from the castle entrance, I felt the bright sun. It felt like the end of May. Then with my wings buzzing, I set out. I followed the first Q and flew up from the grassy plain with my fellow bees from Room Q. "Today, we are not to fly for any long distances. We are to harvest flowers in the vicinity of the castle," said the first Q as we flew. "The season for the most delicious Chinese milk vetch and rape blossoms has already ended. This is the season of clover. We soon came above a large field. The first Q began to descend. We also swooped down on some clover flowers. The first Q showed me how to suck the nectar by plunging her head in the petals. I mimicked her actions. "Hold on a second here. Where exactly is the nectar in this flower?" I tried looking for it again but "Rats. This doesn't appear to be the right place, either." "The clover is a really hard nut to crack because it is composed of many tiny flowers." I plunged my head in many different parts of the flower until I finally found the spot where the nectar was. My mouth was suddenly filled with sweet nectar and a strong fragrance was released in the air around me. I went from one flower to another and collected nectar. "It's time to go." The first Q came to get me. "A little more, please." I couldn't bring myself to stop collecting nectar because I had become so enthusiastic about it now with my newly gained confidence. "Let's hurry. All the other bees have flown away." "Yes." Saying that, I sucked up another mouthful of nectar and finally raised my head. Buzz...buzz...buzz... "Ha. What happened?" "There! You're too heavy to fly, aren't you?" "You should have told me." "A honeybee learns everything from experience. And yet it seems that I have to keep teaching you things all the time." I managed to flutter my wings and extract myself from the flower. Gasping for breath under the weight of my body, I followed the first Q back to the castle. We descended on the stoop in front of the entrance. "This is Q." In a low voice I asked the gatekeeper for permission to enter. The hall was filled with music. Many full bees began to dance. "We have collected nectar in the neighborhood of the castle. So we will do the bottom-swaying dance. Dance as I do." The first Q whispered and started to dance. First, turn to the right, then turn to the left. Sway your bottom. Then draw an eight figure and dance in the same position. I felt bloated and was beginning to get a bit distracted. But I had no other choice but to dance hard to the dance of the first Q. The dance music finally ceased and I kissed a honeybee in the stairway. I passed the nectar to the mouth of my partner and I was finally relieved. But then I heard "Come on! Second round." The first Q called out. I left the hall with my fellow bees from Room Q. Then honeybees from other rooms that came up to me and swung their antennas toward us as we danced followed us. We all flew away from the castle. We were heading for the field of clover straight again. Other bees from our castle joined our swarm of bees. I didn't know where the first Q was or where our fellow bees from Room Q were. It suddenly occurred to me, I hated the idea of going back to the same place again. That flower that I can smell in the garden over there, I wonder what kind of flower it is? I said. " There are so many of us that perhaps only one of us need go there..." I then dove sharply, something I had mastered, to get down nearer to the fragrance. "Oh. a beautiful poppy flower." Resting on a large petal, I found that the flower was just that: a single flower instead of a bunch of tiny flowers bunched together. This time I didn't suffer from the trouble I experienced earlier. I pushed my way through the stamens with my face, taking care not to make any mistakes. But then something unexpected happened. "What!" My eyes and mouth were covered with pollen and I could not breathe. The first Q then lightly descended nearby. "What a fool you are. Always causing me so much trouble. Ha ha ha." The first Q, sitting on a petal saw I was in trouble and laughed. "I really shouldn't have invited a human child to this place." The first Q pulled me out of the flower and jumped over to the next flower. I shook off the pollen and followed her." "Watch me." The first Q, fluttering her widespread wings to hover within a hairbreadth of the flower, passed the pollen she collected with her forelegs to her hind legs without taking a rest. She took a ball of pollen and fixed the ball to the base of her hind legs. "Doing it this way does not bother me when flying. We have baskets for pollen here on our hind legs." "Oh. It's so simple." I moved to the next flower and did as I was instructed. I could do it! When I passed the pollen I collected with my forelegs back, a large ball of pollen was formed at the base of my hind legs. While I was feeling good about this discovery, "Still," the first Q said in a somewhat sullen manner. "While everyone is off heading for the clover fields, you do as you please. You ought to know better than that because you're a honeybee now!" Her words made me realize all the more that I am nothing more than a speck of a human being. I was about to retort with "How come?" But I managed to restrain myself and apologize, saying "I'm sorry." We hurried back to the castle with our pollen balls. We got back to the hall. After we had danced this time, unlike the case of the kiss relay, the honeybees carried their pollen by themselves. I hurried to the nectar cellar through the stairway where relay had been held before. I threw off the pollen ball into a honeycomb. Then back to work, work, and more work. I flew away with new fellow bees that had joined the dance before. |
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Was it coming after me this time!?  |
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