Nancy A Henry
Bigger Barns
“The honeybee’s great ambition
is to lay up great stores” John Burroughs 1879
Beehives came on ships
to colonists starved for sweetness;
they found no honeybees here
those industrious and productive
systematic architects,
“white-man’s fly”.
Native American bees
lead solitary lives, independent
of the hive.
The female, mated,
settles alone in a narrow hole
or rotting tree to nest.
There are special bees for squash flower,
morning glory.
Some night-flying bees
pollinate exclusively evening primrose
the bumblebee’s tongue is long
for fishing nectar from red clover hearts.
There are bees that secrete polyester
from abdominal glands
to waterproof their cells.
So many kinds of useful bees!
I cannot help but note
the Europeans brought the kind
that are a factory.
Page(s) 34
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