The Tale of the Beekeeper and the Huntsman
A towel was taped to the windshield to cut the blinding glare of the unseasonably hot January sun. Viktor sat in the shade of the towel and ran data sets on his computer. The experiment was at a critical phase. I chewed my lip nervously as I pondered my dilemma--what to do about the many bees that were trapped in the car trunk.
Earlier in the day, I had noticed one curious bee exploring the open trunk. I was unconcerned, as the trunk offered nothing to interest a bee. It was full of the tools of industry--rubber gloves, wrenches, bolt cutters, an absurdly large pipe wrench four feet in length....
In due course, I noticed that my little buzzing friend was no longer alone. Four bees turned into eight bees, and when that number increased yet again, I closed the trunk feeling a mixture of mild panic and triumphant cleverness.
As I retired to the car's cold, dark interior, I suddenly remembered why the trunk would be such a lure, namely, "The Great Margarita Trunk Disaster of 2012." That was an incident which ended with bees and about which my barrister advised me not to speak publicly.
For a time I nursed a quiet sense of unease. This eventually gave way to a vague feeling of horror. I realized that the bees would be annoyed by their confinement. Annoyance would turn to anger. But if I freed them, how would they react? Would they attack, swarm, ruin our experiment, or simply fly away? Why, oh, why in college had I been so foolish as to sleep through apiculture class?
There was a time when Viktor and I tried to capture a bee in a soda can. This was to prove a theory that a bee could create auditory hallucinations within a metal can. It was an unsuccessful experiment. The bee was too wily to be thus lured. Of course, we didn't have this propitious device that, though it claims to keep insects out of cans, it could also be used to keep bees inside cans.
Suddenly, I remembered the wisdom of the Countess de Vita, a former beekeeper, who once told me, "Always think in circles, shapes with soft curves, whenever you find yourself near a bee."
The Countess de Vita explained to me that bees are very attuned to human thoughts. Circles are calming for bees, apparently.
"Can the power of thoughts have an effect on bees? What thoughts might upset to them? Straight lines? Jagged circles? Could I make a bee sleepy by thinking in waves?" So many ideas for experiments raced through my head.
But another thought interrupted."What if the Countess told me a tall tale?" Sadly, I am afflicted by a startling inability to recognize sarcasm, and have fallen victim to tall tales before.
Indeed, just the night before, we had dined with The Huntsman. He had taught us about how to capture a falcon, should the need ever arise.
How to Capture a Falcon:
1. --Place a mouse into a trap made of string. The falcon will swoop down and his claws will become entangled in the trap.
2.--Calmly walk over and pick the falcon up and place a small hood over his head.)
The Huntsman went on to say that falcons never developed any evolutionary strategies to defend themselves against capture, and as such, can easily be overwhelmed and rendered completely docile.
I was amazed by this story until Viktor mentioned that it might be a set-up for a prank. He suggested that The Huntsman might have wanted to see if we were gullible enough to attempt to trap a bird of prey, only to be reduced shortly thereafter to a shredded pile of pain.
The Huntsman does have an odd sense of humor.
"Einida, the pipe wrench in the trunk--I must have it!," Viktor declared.
The time had come to face my yellow-and-black demons. I was about to discover whether or not the Countess had spoken the truth.
As I yanked upon the lever that opens the trunk, I concentrated on images of circles. I got out of the car, and, taking a wide path and a slow stride, made my very indirect way to the trunk, giving the bees ample time to fly far, far away. I cautiously opened the trunk still further as I muttered, "Soft shapes...circles...curves...," and my muscles tensed up, readying me to flee the scene....
The bees were gone.
I hastily grabbed at the pipe wrench and dashed back to the safety of the car.
Had the bees returned to the hive for reinforcements? I decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and that I would be no good to science with bee stingers embedded in my flesh. I resolved to stay in the car for the remainder of the experiment. While my scientific curiosity is broad and wide, and could one day include research into whether or not human thought patterns affect bees, it ends well north of testing the capacity of bees for violent retribution.