It’s a bee’s life

By Barry, the Brummie Bee 🐝

It’s a tough life buzzing around Brum all day.

It’s surprisingly hot for one thing – or at least it has been during my own lifetime (which I know isn’t long, just a few weeks some people say).

Those same people probably say that bees shouldn’t hold views and opinions, but I would beg to differ.

A bee has as much to say about what it sees as anyone else.

Perhaps more, given our unique perspective. Ever seen one of those micro cameras attached to an insect? You should. It’s a real eye opener.

For one thing, my corner of the city is certainly changing. No quicker do I fly over to Centenary Square and back, and that big black building with all the steel has grown ever higher!

I do like Centenary Square with that nice water feature and those stone seats. Very European (not that I’ve ever been to Europe, but I sure would love to fly over there one day).

But my favourite square is undoubtedly Chamberlain. I don’t know who Chamberlain is, the Queen says he was a very important person about 45,000 bee years ago (or 140 human years) and that he quite liked fresh honey, so any friend of honey is a friend of bees.

The steps and the nice bushes by that white stone building with the columns are particular good for nectar and for hanging out in the sunshine. If you fly above the building with the columns you can sometimes get caught on a mighty breeze that can blow you across several streets in one gust.

You might think a bee could get lost in such a scenario, but no. We have an excellent sense of direction, even an internal compass based on the position of the sun (even through clouds).

I do love being a bee, so much so I hum a little tune as I go about by extremely busy work. And it goes a little like this:

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