I race to the meeting point down in apples, but eleven pests are already there. I smile at my friend Applejoy and he smiles back. It’s gonna be him and me, like always.

‘Peony? Are you ten yet?’ Foreman asks when he sees me. His fluffy eyebrows push down towards his nose.

‘Yeah, Boz,’ I lie and look all caz.

He nods, and I join the other kids waiting.

Pomegranate digs me in the back with her pointy finger to tell me she knows I’m lying.

‘Cha,’ I whisper.

Foreman tells us what to do to try-out to be a bee. I’ve seen bees working. I know how it’s done. He hands us a leather cord, and when we all have one, Foreman says, ‘Go!’

The pests rush first to the pile of poles and then to the feather box and scuffle over the feathers. I get my pole and stand back. I don’t need those old rummaged-through muck feathers. I reach into my pocket and pull out feathers from my chooks. The best bum fluff. The softest fluffiest feathers. I lash them to the end of my wand just like I seen bees do and then I run to Foreman. ‘I done, Boz,’ I say.

He checks my lashing, nods and hands me a pouch of stamens. He nods towards the trees. ‘Row one.’

I’m proud like I’m gonna bust. This is how I always imagined. Me, first with the lashing.

I run fast down to the apple trees. Pomegranate is right behind me. She got a nod from Foreman and she’s running to row two.

I’m light. I’m quick. But Pomz can run along fence tips wide as my thumb. I seen her practising. She’s long keen on being a bee.

I scramble into the branches of the first tree. Old, thick and spread wide, easy. I dip my wand into the pouch. The other end tangles in the branches. Pomz dips hers on the ground before she climbs. I’m too stupid for not remembering that’s how bees do it. I check over my shoulder. Foreman’s busy checking lashings. Maybe he’s not seen me do it wrong.

I pull the end of the wand out from the branches and start along a branch. A stick jams in my legs and I trip and fall straight out of the tree. I land on my stomach on the dirt. Pomz sniggers and scrambles up her tree. She’s stuck the end of her wand into my legs!

‘Cha!’ I whisper and scramble to my feet. Foreman don’t like bees who fight. He’s ripped bee vests right off the backs of bees who fight. I climb back into my tree. Foreman’s still busy. Didn’t see me fall, but I’ve lost my lead. Pomz is already doing one side of her tree.

I flick the feathers from flower to flower, every flower I can reach, and coz I’m fast and light and a good climber I can pretty much reach them all. This tree will have lots of fruit soon and Foreman will remember that the first row was the one Peony done.

Pomz is running up the main branches of her tree without hanging onto anything. She’s heavier than me but faster coz of her balance. She jumps down and runs to her next tree.

Applejoy has his lashing nodded and he runs past to row four just as I jump from my first tree. ‘Go, P!’ he says.

‘Go, Aaj,’ I say back. I dip the wand in my pouch, with a big show in case Foreman’s watching, so he can see I did it proper, before I climb the tree. The pouch is already half empty. I don’t know if I’ll have enough to finish the whole row. I spilled some when I fell. I don’t want to tell Foreman I spilled some, so when he comes to check my skills I just smile.

‘Good bee,’ he says.

I’m full to busting again. I will be a bee today!