Margarita Engle | Bee-Stealing SeasonFarm town newspaper, front page, lead story
Renegade Beekeeper Steals One Hundred Hives...
I smile, relieved, no murders today, no bodies
of migrant laborers discovered in orchards, old barns, canals...
And yet, it's disturbing, bees stolen out-of-season, after the almond bloom
not before...
And the math, just try it yourself, multiply one hundred hives times the rental
to have a hive placed under fruit trees, you'll see, it's the heist of a fortune
in pollination fees alone, not to mention the cost
of pallet, hive, bees, wax, transportation and honey...
The grieving apiarist, when interviewed, mourns
this sudden loss of safety for bees
in the past he's only been robbed by twisters, hail, mites, fungus, a bear...
never this, never a renegade fellow keeper, small circle of experts
a neighbor
a friend...
So he drives the backroads, searching grimly for the music
of his own hives, a hum of wings he will certainly recognize
as his pickup approaches the crest of a hill
and he hears that familiar chant
almost lost in the buzz
of five million swarming, outraged
territorial
voices...
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