Breakfast with a pioneer

A Pioneer is built of courage, possesses a pure seed of faith in his pursuit, and has an absolute determination to do what is right for others. He is the one, who walks an untraveled road. Boldly following an inbuilt navigation system into the unknown, the Pioneer is seeking out his destiny. Outside the hive, the world can be a flower meadow or it can be an arena full of dangers. The Bee knows that. So much foreign land to explore but out of all places this Bee is steering directly onto the breakfast terrace. It offers an abundance of seating choices, the terrace is large, and the Bee so very small. There, the table of a lone Gentleman reading his Newspaper has room and there is plenty to share. Landing initiated.

Her Home is somewhere hidden in the rocky maze of Sithonia´s dense Pinewoods. A local Beekeeper leads the way through the countless winding roads which are lined with thousands of colorful boxes. 85.000 hives reside here, producing about 32% of Greece’s overall honey products. A deep buzzing sound and a sugary honey odor linger in the air. Our bee shall have no difficulty finding her way home- despite the large neighborhood she has not once knocked on the wrong door.

Could this yummy Jam be a new Food source? It is worth a try.

To become a Pioneer one must be at least 22 days old. Not all “Field troopers“ are Pioneers, most are “Collectors“. At this very moment, the Collectors are probably on one of their 300 daily flower visits. Later today, the bee will report back on whether a visit to Danai is worthwhile. In the service of the Crown, a bee is frequently promoted and every occupation is a heroic deed to sustain the population.

Just a few days ago, our bee was still a newly hatched youngster, her career began in the field of “Internal Affairs“. For some part, she was employed as a Guard patrolling the entrance to the hive but she had also joined the forces of the Food Warehouse. The most challenging role is inside the breeding nest located in the center of the hive. The atmosphere here resembles the steam room of a ship. Countless “Heatingbees“ form a living steam engine: flapping their tiny wings they are required to produce an ever-constant temperature of 35 degrees Celsius. After about 30 minutes the tiny Heatingbees have reached their limits – a troop of “First-Aid-Bees“ is needed to rush in and perform a mouth-to-mouth Honey-feeding to revive their exhausted colleagues.

There is no time to lose, the operations must be run around the clock, 40.000 workers function at their best, and all must dance to the same tune…

The Gentleman at the Breakfast table continues to read his newspaper and is unbothered by the presence of the Bee. Later today she shall report to the Collectors that a visit to Danai is highly recommendable indeed: a splendid place for a breakfast for two – especially with such a companion who cares to share. After all, her little life long she is doing just that.