The Wolf and the Bee

            There once was a bee who did not like to do her work. Since she was born she was expected to go out and collect nectar for the hive. All year long it seemed she was busy preparing for the coming winter, when the flowers closed up and did not provide food until spring came again. The leaves were already turning, which always caused the queen to go into a frenzy, nervous that there would not be enough rationed food in the honeycomb for the younger ones. One day the bee was humming to herself while scouting out a meadow for any flowers with fresh nectar. Noticing something different from the previous time she had flown through that part of the forest, she came across a giant silver wolf taking a nap under a tree. Curious about what the wolf was doing outside of his cave, she darted over to him, landing square on his nose. Clearing her throat loudly, she hoped to politely garner the attention of the wolf, but the wolf stayed fast asleep. “Ah hem!” she said, and one sky blue eye opened.

“Yes?” asked the wolf.

“Why hello! I am a bee and I was wondering, why are you are acting so lazy? Not only is winter coming, but you are so comfortably lying down right in the open! Shouldn’t you be preparing food for your pack?”

“I do not worry about food in the winter; I trust that it will be there for me.”

“But what if the deer leave the forest?”

“I know they won’t, because they need to eat the berries.”

“And if the berries die off?”

“They won’t, because they are eaten by the smaller animals, who spread the seeds.”

“So what do you do in preparation for winter?”

“I spent the summer teaching my young how to hunt. When the winter comes the deer will be scarcer but we will still eat enough to survive until the spring.”

“Oh dear! That would never be allowed in the hive. If the workers don’t do everything the queen demands of us we may be thrown out in the cold!”

“Oh? Well, if you do get sent away from the hive I feel confident you could handle yourself. You could even start your own hive in protest. Just don’t eat any of my deer!”

Thinking the idea of eating an entire deer both disgusting and overwhelming, the bee scrunched her tiny nose, and replied “I have always been frustrated with having to listen to the queen’s demands. If I am able to find enough nectar, perhaps I will! Thank you for your time wolf.” Meandering onward, the bee continued to think about the wolf, and how confident he was that the deer would still be there to eat in the cold.