The Bee Yard

Samuel stood quietly beside Rusty as the afternoon sun settled over the young orchard.

The bees came and went in a steady stream.

No confusion.

No collisions.

No shouting.

Each one simply knew where she belonged.

Samuel watched for several minutes before speaking.

"You seem to admire them."

Rusty smiled.

"I do."

He sat down on an old stump.

"Let me tell you about something I saw years ago while logging."

The apprentices gathered nearby.

Rusty rested his elbows on his knees.

"I cut down what looked like a perfectly sound oak."

"When it struck the ground..."

"...the trunk split wide open."

"The whole tree was hollow."

"Inside were beautiful honeycombs from one end to the other."

Samuel smiled.

"A bee tree."

Rusty nodded.

"I grabbed a five-gallon bucket."

The apprentices laughed.

"I figured as much."

Rusty grinned.

"I started pulling out the combs."

"If a bee crawled where my hand needed to go..."

"I'd simply move her gently aside."

He looked at his hands.

"Pretty soon..."

"...I had bees on my face."

"My neck."

"My arms."

"They were everywhere."

Samuel looked at him in disbelief.

"And you weren't stung?"

Rusty slowly shook his head.

"Not once."

One apprentice finally asked,

"How?"

Rusty answered softly.

"I wasn't fighting them."

"I was simply working."

The whole group grew quiet.

Rusty looked toward the hives.

"But that's not what stayed with me."

He paused.

"I sat down afterward with a cup of coffee."

"I happened to look into the woods."

"I saw something dark moving through the trees."

"At first I thought it was smoke."

"Then I realized..."

"...it was thousands of wasps."

"They had smelled the honey."

Samuel leaned forward.

"What happened?"

Rusty's eyes never left the orchard.

"The bees came out."

"The whole colony."

"I watched them meet those wasps in the air."

"It wasn't chaos."

"It wasn't panic."

"It was purpose."

"The bees drove every last wasp away."

The apprentices stared silently.

Rusty continued.

"I stood there holding my coffee..."

"...wondering if anybody would ever believe what I'd just seen."

Samuel looked toward the nearest hive.

"So peaceful..."

Rusty nodded.

"They're peaceful because they have work to do."

He paused.

"But when something threatens their home..."

"...every bee knows exactly where she belongs."

The orchard fell silent except for the gentle humming of wings.

Samuel watched one worker disappear into the hive carrying bright yellow pollen.

Another left almost immediately.

Neither hesitated.

Neither waited for instructions.

Neither asked who was in charge.

They simply did their work.

Finally Samuel smiled.

"I believe I've learned more than beekeeping today."

Rusty looked over.

"What did you learn?"

Samuel answered quietly.

"I've been walking through this settlement visiting every shop."

"The blacksmith."

"The wheelwright."

"The creamery."

"The tailor."

"The leather shop."

"The brickworks."

He looked back toward the hive.

"I thought we were building buildings."

Rusty smiled.

"And now?"

Samuel watched the bees.

"Now I think we're building a hive."

Rusty's face slowly broke into a smile.

"A good hive."

Samuel nodded.

"Where everyone has a place."

"And everyone has work worth doing."

Rusty looked toward the orchard where thousands of blossoms swayed gently in the breeze.

"The bees know something people sometimes forget."

Samuel waited.

Rusty smiled.

"No single bee makes the honey."

The two men sat quietly.

Neither spoke again.

There wasn't much left to say.