Aug 29 2008
The Boy Who Wished Away The Bees
In honor of Aiden’s second birthday today and in retrospect of the hornet activity on the morning of last weekend’s birthday party, I wrote a fictional short story about a little boy who inadvertently causes an international honey shortage (among other things). It’s much longer than my usual blog post, so click “Read More” below to read the whole story.
The Boy Who Wished Away The Bees
Somewhere in the Chicago suburbs lives a little boy named Aiden, and today is his birthday. His parents have set up rides and games and tents and fun of all sorts in the backyard, but he can’t have his party out there now. Bees are living in his backyard. A swarm has parked itself around his basketball hoop, the new one that he just received last night for being a good boy (good boys get one birthday present early). The hoop was just three feet all, just a bit bigger than him, and just big enough to house a thousand bees inside.
BEE TRACKING COMMENCING says the monitor at the National Entomology Research Center. Bee colonies migrate naturally according to the seasons. However, the recent migratory patterns seem to have shifted in North America. They don’t seem to be where they’re supposed to be over the course of a regular summer. Concerned clerks are tracking the many migration patterns of each national region one at a time. All bee activitiy in the first region seems to have disappeared completely, but field members on the ground are still searching.
Aiden wanders around the house listlessly, waiting for people to arrive. He knows that everyone is coming to see him, to wish him a “Happy Birthday”, but he would rather be playing outside. Aiden loves playing outside. He happens upon a folding table in the living room; it has a colorful plastic tablecloth across it and one wrapped box on top. It dawns on him that this is where his presents go, and his mood suddenly perks up. He’s all smiles now, reaching for the box.
A red overhead light signals high alert status at the National Entomology Research Center as clerks check and recheck the figures splaying across their computer monitors. Larger central screens show digital maps of the United States, some states blinking blue for unchecked, some blinking red for checked and null. A collection of government types are in the “war room”, debating the possible causes for a sudden decrease in the bee population, while others discuss the possible ramifications of such.
The package opened, Aiden reaches inside and finds… a yard gnome. He doesn’t want to travel anywhere today. What could this be? The yard gnome suddenly looks at him square in the eye. Aiden, too young to fear such an ominous occurrence, laughs and says “Hi!” The gnome, with his long white beard and tall conical hat, returns the greeting in his old, gravelly voice. This might be the best birthday present ever! Aiden idly wonders who gave it to him.
Southwest region check complete at the Research Center, with no sign of activity. Even the migration route of the dreaded Africanized honey bees is gone. Have all the bees flown south? That would make no sense whatsoever. Is something happening in North America to cause the bees to leave, like animals running from a forest fire? Global climate change could be a possibility. Perhaps insects are more sensitive to the increasing climes? Doubtful, or else all insect life should go as well.
“What would I wish for?” Aiden asks himself, just as the gnome had asked him a second earlier. He looks outside at his party decorations, hanging from the tents outside, near where the hundreds of bees have taken up residence. The only thing that Aiden wants right now is to go outside and eat his birthday cake. But how? He looks at the gnome and states, “I wish the bees would go next door and stay there.” The gnome, thinking carefully, as gnomes are known to do, replies with a question, “All of the bees?”
The numbers from the Southeast region have come back. Same as the others. The President should be notified of this, but the Secretary of Agriculture is reluctant to include him in what is quickly becoming a fiasco. The economy will survive without the contributions of honey plantations, but the lack of plant pollination could quickly affect other areas of the economy. Domestic honey bees pollinate over ninety varieties of fruits and vegetables in the United States, feeding a $15 billion a year industry as well as one-third of the world.
Aiden cannot believe the number of bees outside. It’s strange that they won’t leave the confines of the neighbor’s yard. They’re even filling up his house. Bees of all types cover the garage, the patio, the roof, five and six layers deep in most places. Aiden didn’t even know that there were that many bees in his basketball hoop, not realizing that there are far more here now. Everyone is terrified. The people from the TV are here, with large cameras and journalists in suits. It would be kinda funny, in a way, if it hadn’t completely canceled out his party.
Migratory patterns have run completely cold in all regions. Except for the Midwest, where the emergency services agencies report an extraordinary amount of activity. Impossibly extraordinary. News reports are coming online throughout the war room at the Entomology Research Center: all of the bees in North America have situated themselves in a single 40 foot by 60 foot plot of land near Chicago, Illinois. What could have caused such a thing? What can be done to fix it?
Two days later, the neighbor returns to his home after a long, well deserved vacation. As he pulls into his driveway, he is concerned that something is not right. To his disbelief, his yard is covered in 5,736,472 dead bees. He is very careful where he steps.
Meta-Tags:
Aiden, bees, Birthday, Chicago, party, second birthday party, Summer
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