The Commoner's Princess

7

"So how did you get into beekeeping again?" Miranda asked holding his arm.

"While at university, I met a guy who is now a friend of mine. He told me that his family owned an apiary. For my parting gift. He gave me a hive box."

"A hive box?"

"It's where the bees are kept. They developed a hive on the inside. So I nurtured them and created more."

"I am the second person in town to own one. It's lucrative. After I collect enough jars of honey I sell them in the market...it also has many antimicrobial properties and is good for health."

Ben walked Miranda into his backyard. He took her down a short path through trees until they were at a small clearing.

Miranda could hear the small hum of the bees as they approached the wooden hives.

Some bees were flying around and were gathered on the outside causing Miranda to have a slight nervousness of it all.

"Are you sure it's safe, Ben?" she asked, her voice laced with uncertainty as she eyed the buzzing bees warily.

Ben smiled reassuringly, his gaze gentle as he turned to face her. "Trust me, Miranda," he said softly. "The bees may seem intimidating, but they're actually quite gentle creatures. They won't harm you if you don't harm them. They have everything they need here to survive and we pose no threat to them."

Taking a deep breath, Miranda nodded hesitantly, her heart pounding in her chest as she followed Ben towards the nearest hive. As he carefully lifted the lid, revealing the intricate honeycombs within, Miranda couldn't help but marvel at the sight before her.

"There is so much going on here than what meets the eye," Ben stated. "Right here, you can see some of the food they've stored for themselves." He pointed to the cells filled with honey. "And to think it started off as nectar from flowers but then turned into something great."

Miranda watched in awe as Ben demonstrated, his fingers delicately tracing the edges of the honeycomb. "It's incredible," she murmured, her eyes wide with wonder.

With a careful hand, he turned the honeycomb over, revealing the other side where tiny white larvae wriggled within the cells.

"And here," Ben continued, "are the baby bees. They're still in the larval stage, but soon they'll grow into worker bees, drones, or even a new queen."

Miranda leaned in closer, her curiosity piqued as she observed the tiny creatures within the cells. "They're so small," she marveled. "What happens to the queens and drones that are born."

"There can only be one queen so as soon as she is born. She flies off to create her own colony and some of the worker bees go with her. Or she has to fight the competition which is her mother and only one can survive. I scan the larvae to make sure no queens are being born and if I catch one. I give her food and comb from the hive and bees and place her in a new hive box. The men are only used to mate and then they are exiled. Not many drones are born anyway.

"Wow, that's something." She returned staring at the honey.

Ben put the frame back in the box and grabbed another that just consisted of honey.
He took two fingers and pressed down before scooping the honey up.

"Here, try some," he offered holding his fingers out. "Straight from the source."

Miranda's eyes widened and she blushed. She grabbed his wrist hesitantly and brought it to her lips before sucking the honey off of his two fingers. Ben held back a groan and watched her intently as she looked him in the eyes.