RAMBLINGS OF THE MIND

As she was drooling at him, her wings beat more than the usual 200 beats per second. She was immediately in love, definitely in love, absolutely in love.

 

"Oh my queen, am I, like, supposed to be in love?"

 

"No, but you dance really well," Joe'Bee stuttered and for the first time, he too was not sure of himself.

 

"OMQ, OMQ, OMQ, like, was I dancing? Like, really dancing?" and she too was unsure of herself.

 

"So, like, I... like, ah, like..." but before she can finish explaining, Joe'Bee kissed her. He fluttered his wings around her and kissed her ever so gently again, like he was extracting nectar from a flower without destroying the flower in the process.

 

"OMQ, OMQ, OMQ."

 

"I've heard about you and I thought I'd rather die than miss the chance of meeting the most interesting bee that has ever been fertilized," Joe'Bee finally got the courage to say something.

 

He had never kissed a bee before, and he would not mind doing it again.

 

"So, like, I don't want you to, like, feel that I am, like, using you. But, I know you are, like, close to the Queen Bee. Would you be able to, like, ask her to meet me for at least a minute?"

 

"I can try. I will send you an email tonight. But if she agrees to meet you, please don't be late. The Queen Bee doesn't want to miss nor skip her mating schedules. She kind of enjoys every minute of it."

 

Joe'Bee reluctantly agreed to tell the Queen Bee about Stripes and

her ideas on the CCD but also, he was excited to see her again (and again, and again, and again, ad infinitum).

 

Stripes was literally floating the rest of the day, recalling every second of the first kiss from her first love. She didn't realize she was humming, when all of a sudden she was interrupted by the loud, melodically challenged shout of Lil'Bee.

 

"What the buzz are you doing?" she shouted, "Why are you not performing your undertaker duties, carrying food, building combs and producing wax, all of which I have specifically told you to do? Finish it off, and send your daily report. Tomorrow you will start your guard duties and protect the hive entrance."

 

That evening, just after she emailed her daily report, she received an email that would forever change her life. The Queen Bee agreed to meet with her at 9:00 o'clock that night.  

 

The meeting itself went smoothly, especially after Stripes recovered from the initial shock of actually being in front of royalty. It had never happened before in their colony, or in any colony for that matter, that a worker bee was called for a meeting with the Queen Bee.

 

Her presentation was simple but, much like a Steve Jobs launching speech of the latest Apple product, it was very short, simple and precise. She laid out her basic findings and gave a printed copy of the report to all present (including the sleepy Queen's Elite Council).

 

"So, like, Your Majesty, our colony have the signs and symptoms of, like, a collapsing colony."

 

"Can you please refrain from using the work 'like' in every sentence, unless it is a verb?" QB said, shaking her head.