Bees

RECREATION

One of the bees called a meeting. Remarkably, it wasn’t to grumble about Bee 641 or anything else. It was about a new way for us to combat despair and pass the time. The bee called it breakdancing.

We formed a circle as instructed. One bee took her place in the middle while the rest watched, swaying our abdomens rhythmically behind us. She showed us each move, so we could get the hang of it.

The six-legged moonwalk.

The head spin.

The robot. (Bees are especially well-suited for this move, as we love doing things with precision.)

Everyone laughed at the worm. We’d met a few worms in our day, and imitating them was quite satisfying.

We breakdanced with fervor. With four thousand bees, it took a long time for everyone to get their turn in the circle. Oh, but we had fun. We celebrated a couple of weddings this way. We imagined the possibility of celebrating a birth, too, if things were to change. We felt alive with culture and togetherness. The queen looked on, beaming at the unity of her hive in the midst of hardship.

The problem was we were desperately hungry again after all that breakdancing, which only served to reignite the crankiness of our melancholy.