The Adventures of Maya the Bee | Page 3

your queen."
The little bee nodded yes, and returned her old monitor's kiss and
embrace. She went to bed in a flutter of secret joy and excitement and
could scarcely fall asleep from curiosity. For the next day she was to
know the great, wide world, the sun, the sky and the flowers.
Meanwhile the bee-city had quieted down. A large part of the younger
bees had now left the kingdom to found a new city; but for a long time
the droning of the great swarm could be heard outside in the sunlight. It
was not from arrogance or evil intent against the queen that these had
quitted; it was because the population had grown to such a size that
there was no longer room for all the inhabitants, and it was impossible
to store a sufficient food-supply of honey to feed them all over the
winter. You see, according to a government treaty of long standing, a
large part of the honey gathered in summer had to be delivered up to
human beings, who in return assured the welfare of the bee-state,
provided for the peace and safety of the bees, and gave them shelter
against the cold in winter.

"The sun has risen!"
The joyous call sounding in Maya's ears awoke her out of sleep the
next morning. She jumped up and joined a lady working-bee.
"Delighted," said the lady cordially. "You may fly with me."
At the gate, where there was a great pushing and crowding, they were
held up by the sentinels, one of whom gave Maya the password without
which no bee was admitted into the city.
"Be sure to remember it," he said, "and good luck to you."
Outside the city gates, a flood of sunlight assailed the little bee, a
brilliance of green and gold, so rich and warm and resplendent that she
had to close her eyes, not knowing what to say or do from sheer
delight.
"Magnificent! It really is," she said to her companion. "Do we fly into
that?"
"Right ahead!" answered the lady-bee.
Maya raised her little head and moved her pretty new wings. Suddenly
she felt the flying-board on which she had been sitting sink down,
while the ground seemed to be gliding away behind, and the large green
domes of the tree-tops seemed to be coming toward her.
Her eyes sparkled, her heart rejoiced.
"I am flying," she cried. "It cannot be anything else. What I am doing
must be flying. Why, it's splendid, perfectly splendid!"
"Yes, you're flying," said the lady-bee, who had difficulty in keeping
up with the child. "Those are linden-trees, those toward which we are
flying, the lindens in our castle park. You can always tell where our
city is by those lindens. But you're flying so fast, Maya."
"Fast?" said Maya. "How can one fly fast enough? Oh, how sweet the

sunshine smells!"
"No," replied her companion, who was rather out of breath, "it's not the
sunshine, it's the flowers that smell.-- But please, don't go so fast, else
I'll drop behind. Besides, at this pace you won't observe things and be
able to find your way back."
But little Maya transported by the sunshine and the joy of living, did
not hear. She felt as though she were darting like an arrow through a
green-shimmering sea of light, to greater and greater splendor. The
bright flowers seemed to call to her, the still, sunlit distances lured her
on, and the blue sky blessed her joyous young flight.
"Never again will it be as beautiful as it is to-day," she thought. "I can't
turn back. I can't think of anything except the sun."
Beneath her the gay pictures kept changing, the peaceful landscape slid
by slowly, in broad stretches.
"The sun must be all of gold," thought the baby-bee.
Coming to a large garden, which seemed to rest in blossoming clouds
of cherry-tree, hawthorn, and lilacs, she let herself down to earth,
dead-tired, and dropped in a bed of red tulips, where she held on to one
of the big flowers. With a great sigh of bliss she pressed herself against
the blossom-wall and looked up to the deep blue of the sky through the
gleaming edges of the flowers.
"Oh, how beautiful it is out here in the great world, a thousand times
more beautiful than in the dark hive. I'll never go back there again to
carry honey or make wax. No, indeed, I'll never do that. I want to see
and know the world in bloom. I am not like the other bees, my heart is
meant for pleasure and surprises, experiences and adventures. I will not
be afraid of any dangers. Haven't I got strength and courage and a
sting?"
She laughed, bubbling over with delight, and took a