It's been a pretty exciting week in our little corner of Castle Rock. On Monday a swarm of bees took up temporary residence in our neighbor's tree. Bogda freaked out. She had just watched some sensationalist documentary about Africanized killer bees and was convinced they were invading our cul-de-sac, intent on attacking our children. It took several "experts" to convince her they were not going to kill anyone and that they would, in fact, move on shortly. In the meantime, the bees attracted attention and served as a unifying force for the neighbors. We would gather in the street, cameras in tow, and discuss the intricacies of bee survival.
John has been having a difficult time at school lately and in a quiet moment of reflection he made an impressive analogy. He explained that his school was like a beehive, with the Principal as the queen. She demands loyalty of all her workers and the majority follow willingly. But there are a few bees that don't feel like being loyal; they don't think the queen is worth their loyalty. When the queen moves to set up a new hive, these rebellious little workers are expected to follow but choose to stay behind and find a better queen. The problem is that unless the queen decides to move, the rebellious little bees are stuck in their reluctant loyalty.
The bee keepers came today and scooped up the ball with the queen in the midst. I felt sorry for the few stragglers that didn't get shut in the box with their queen. Where would they go? Would they be lost? But then again, maybe they just needed a bee keeper to come and release them to go find a better, more suitable hive to place their loyalty.
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