Buzzing Through Life

by Sophie Mills, Namadgi School

The luscious grass was ever-growing green. 12 inches high it stood. Untouched by mankind, it only had prints of kangaroos and emus, the tracks still fresh. Tunnels and tubes of grass made it almost impossible to see the scavenging creatures beneath the tops of the fresh growth. Dragonflies, moths and butterflies flutter above. The breeze mingles in treetops, complementing the birds’ melodies, as the cliffs are continuously bleached by an almost mystical salty spray.  

Below the towering sea-cliffs, a hunt! Krill swarming, fish surrounded; sharks, dolphins and seals form an unlikely team, whilst sea-birds and whales gather to feed on runaways. At the bottom of the seafloor, a reef, starfish, coral, anemones and more take shelter from the storms above. The battle is brutal and endless, and at the same time gentle and undisturbed.

At night crickets roam the ground, hiding from bettongs, quails, quolls, sugar-gliders and more. Owls sing to the moon. A tawny-frogmouth brings a soothing peace to the night, while bush-stone curlews and Tasmanian Devils scream fear and worry into our hearts. The moon and stars shine down from above, providing a dim light through the trees.

The water turns to a chilling ice, and snow coats the land, causing plants to freeze and air temperatures to rapidly drop below freezing. Food becomes scarce, and it’s a fight for warmth with the absence of the sun’s heat. Many hide away below the ground’s top layer, sheltering with siblings and cousins. Many others go on holidays, away from all the silence. The only noise is the whistle of the wind and the roar of the waves, but still life is embraced by all.

The snow is melting and the ice is thawing. The air heats up and the sun’s warmth returns.

New plants emerge. Greenery takes over the dullness. Drying up, the luscious green turns to a vicious brown. The fauna and flora are craving water. Homes are abandoned in search of fluids. Only the fittest survive. It is too hot. Burning them. Chasing them. The flames swallow the forests and surrounds. Ash covers everything. White, grey and black are everywhere. The ground is still hot.

As the ground cools, moisture sets in. The ground is now wet. The depressing brown is back to loving green. The rainfall is here. Lakes and rivers fill. The flash floods begin and the island is draining out. The excess water leaves. Enough water, enough food, not too hot, not too cold. It is rarely just right. But for a brief, precious moment in time, it is simply perfect.

Getting colder now… the ice is coming – it has started again. The cycle of nature has returned once more.

However, this year was going to be a little different. For an adventure was on the rise. A single heart was going to make history and life for many would change.

As chaos roamed the land, forming barriers for many, a small bumblebee would take on the challenges and chaos for a lifetime. Miracles happen to her, and she is an inspiration of hope to many. With her strong-willed heart and her persistent nature, she survived the harshness of the native wilderness. This is a snippet of sight into her labouring life.

She lay dormant in her egg. The Queen Bee was guarding her and her sisters with her life. Her sisters had all hatched, tasting the sweet nectar of the late summer wildflowers, whilst all she did was lay immobile in her chamber in the honey hive.

Soon enough her hive was discovered by the mover ants. She is being picked up. Someone is carrying her. They move her swiftly out of the nest and just as swiftly, appear to drop her, causing a sickening sensation as she fell. The small black figures that invaded her home slowly disappeared out of her blurred vision. Defenceless and alone, she lay unconscious on the ground for days, still trapped in her egg. She began to wiggle; the egg wobbled. She started to breathe air. The shell had split; the larva was born.

A nearby worker bee saw the newly hatched larva lying on the broken brown leaves. Feeling sorry for her, he picked up the small beige coloured grub-like creature, and carried her to his Queen’s hive, unaware of his wrongdoing. She had been immobile since she emerged, so she couldn’t move. One of the Queen’s larva had just passed, but the Queen didn’t know. The worker bee put the dead larva near an ant’s nest and replaced him with the young he found in its place. Soon after, the young bumblebee’s hero passed. No one knew what he had done yet, but they were soon to discover his accidental threat.

The young bumblebee was fed and nurtured by the other Leafcutter bees. She was already at full size and nearly in adulthood before they realized that she was a phony. Her size was much larger than the other worker bees and her stinger was hidden. With a much softer appearance and a distinctive, but cute, white stripe on her abdomen, many didn’t want to make her leave. Even so, she was still escorted out of the nest in a rapid commotion.

She flew for days, feeding on nectar from the icy winter daisies. She inspected holes in the ground. Finding near death in many, eventually she found one to her liking and, after inspecting it for danger, she moved in. She laid a few eggs, cuddling up close to them to stop them freezing to death.

Her larvae hatched in no time and her workers now served her, finding food and the necessities to build her nest. As she laid more eggs, and raised more workers, her nest grew. She was now a queen. There were worker bees repairing and enlarging the hive, and honeybees, building honeycombs and pollinating flowers, spreading life further beyond where the seeds drifted.

Spring brought quick growth, soon leading to a busy nest. She laid one more set of young. These ones were special as they were responsible for looking after the next generation of bees. As she laid her last set of young, she also laid a single egg. This one was going to grow into a drone. He was to mate with her, giving her the ability to lay the next generation of queens.

It all happened so soon. The dreading winter ceased, allowing the delight of spring to arise. After her queens hatched and grew, they killed her. There was a great war between the sisters and only three of the twelve young survived. One took over her hive and the other two defeated bumblebees retreated, scattering off to build a colony of their own. Although, finding an abandoned burrow to begin a hive was going to be harder due to the activity of everyone around them. Beginning a colony that would last would be easier for them as more food was available to be stocked up for the first winter.

Outside their home many other hives faced the same pleasures and displeasures, but their chaos was not the only activity in their landscape. For every creature, and every plant, had a story of its own to share; a unique story which could never be replaced.