COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER

Bees are dying mysteriously. A bee hive is one of the most sterlie places on earth and a sick bee will not contaminate the hive, taking itself off to die elsewhere. Audio version: http://snd.sc/HFpzOX

 

(Deep in hive where bee poet is addressing his sad Queen)

 

           Can but try

Do no good

          Can but try

They will not listen

          Can but try

They can not listen

          For the hive

My hive is dying

          For other hives

Will be no other hives

          Don't cry royal Queen

Who are you?

           But a bee

A dying bee

          Your loyal bee

My poet bee

          Say the word my Queen

I need you here

          What can I do?

Comfort me

           I will come back

No, you know you won't

          Perhaps not

We're dying, poet, all dying

          Don't cry Queen!

What else is there?

          Try to make them listen

They have no ears, poet

          I must try Queen

Then go poet, if go you must, fly to them!

          With your blessing?

With my blessing poet

          Gracious Queen!

I will miss you poet

          I will be back Queen

 No, poet, no

          But I must...go

I know, I know

          I will find one who will listen

I hope you do poet, hope you do

          Farewell Queen, may Summer's kiss...

Farewell sir poet, go. Go!

(exit)

 

(Deep in man's mind staring at face in mirror while shaving)

 

Right ear lobe to chin

Draw razor across face

To chin: three strokes...one, two...three

Rinse razor

Five or six lesser strokes beneath lower lip

Buzzing?

Left ear lobe to chin

One smooth stroke of blade

What IS that buzzing?

Pay attention

No nicks, not today of all days

Focus man

That EFFING buzzing!

February, frosty?

Central heating woken a sleeper

Rinse razor

Five strokes beneath nose

 

(Man flinches on glimpsing flight of insect in corner of eye, but being late, persists with shave until... Bee lands on head of electronic toothbrush standing on glass shelf beneath mirror. Man studies bee in amazement.)

 

How baroque!

And how you dance, sir bee, as bees are want.

Is that not so?

The dance of a bee?

Is this what I see?

The dance of a bee?

And how your antenna do twitch!

As if...

As if what?

Come on bee!

As if what?

 

(Bee falls from the toothbrush onto sink beside brushed steel tap, lands on back, struggles, lays still, struggles anew, turns a circle on his back, dies.)

 

Unbelievable!

What was that about bee?

 

(Man, now late, gingerly picks bee up by wingtip, holds up to examine closely.)

 

Amazing.

The death ... of a bee.

 

(Man drops bee into toilet, flushes toilet, looks round for towel, dries face.)

 

Audio version on soundcloud: http://snd.sc/HFpzOX

 

Author's Note

Audio verssio: http://snd.sc/HFpzOX

Reviews

[Bubo]

Orlando
awesome brain you have..........this is brilliant.............I felt sorry for the bee's in the first part, such sorrow........

Comfort me

I will come back

No, you know you won't

Perhaps not

We're dying poet, all dying

Don't cry Queen!

And I am not a fan of bee's, I had no idea hives were in trouble!
Then the twist of the distracted shaving man, who ponders, reflects no more as the bee is flushed away............I had no idea bee's won;t return to the hive if sick. So he came to die.
Such a sad piece, and thats amazing you made me think, and feel for a bee, feel sad!!
I will no doubt see bee's differently now.........
wonderful work.......loved the way you set this out, like a story, a play..........short life of a bee.

[Steven Pottle]

The death of the bee will be the death of man- you were right when you said that Einstein predicted that if the honey bee was to be extinct then man would last no longer than four years- now the honey bees are dying.
This piece filled me with so much sadness especially towards the end where the distracted man just flushes the tiny life away.
Well done again Orlando.

[Gandré]

To me, this is the ultimate art, this is creation. What a wonderful idea when bees are behaving like we people, this is also allegory or representation of a moment, one usually wouldn't think about... I loved this:
How baroque!

And how you dance, sir bee, as bees are want.

Is that not so?

The dance of a bee?

Is this what I see?

The dance of a bee?

And how your antenna do twitch!

As if...

As if...

As if what?

Come bee!

As if what? ---------there are many great lines in this brilliant creation, my dear my new favorite of yours. It says to me how I have to see myself with the eyes of a bee. Bravo.

[Hedra Helix]

Nice weird idea there. The bestest. Super interesting read! This is my fave part:

Don't cry royal Queen

Who are you?

But a bee

A dying bee

Your loyal bee

My poet bee

Say the word my Queen

I need you here

What can I do?

Comfort me


can you touch up the rest to flow as effortlessly? I think you can. play with the ebb and the flow.
I know everyone else said it was awesome as is and it is but you could polish me thinks, though the story is bombtastic as is. Super mind.
That is all.

[J. Hampton]

Well Orlano ~

No doubt past the point of interest.... but I finally caught up with my neighbor the bee keeper.
He gave me three major reasons...

1) certain insecticides ...commonly used on gardens and crops affect their sense of direction and they cannot find their way home.

2) There is a parasite ...a mite that attatches itself to the bee and weakens it unto death.

3) yet another mite causes an infection in the bees respiritory system

He uses organic methods ....
spraying the bees with a mix of menthol and canola ....
the canola makes the mites slip off...and the menthol clears their breathing

He sprinkles the bees with confectionary sugar and this causes the mites to fall off onto a board he slides beneath the hive.....he coats it with oil ...the mites stick to it
he takes a vague count each time to know how many doses its taking to cure each block of bees.

he pulled out a few bee boxes...
I crept in real-close...its not at all like the sound effects on movies or the tele...
but a one-of-a-kind wonderful...really perfect and harmonious sound ....
It felt like it was inside me....not unlike the effect of parade music
I fell in love with that

Of course he told me the latin names for all the conditions and bee physiology .....but I neglected to write them down....and they've done a geratric stage left from my dome.

That's it really

Hope alls well

Blessssssssssssssss

[SM Davis]

A buzzing bee can be a beautiful thing. You've outdone yourself again...I love the humanity of this piece.

[J. Hampton]

It was the "frogs" ....and now the "bees"
Crazy everybody seems to bee talking about it...
all-the-buzzz you know.

seriously ...only you Orlando could work a piece like this...
Your work is an experience....beyond itself

Hate Bees...near me...I think they are fascinating though
The guy two doors down is a beekeeper....I always ment to ask him about this trend
I will...

Blesssssssssss

[Maleficent]

This is absolutely bee-rilliant! So poignant. I love how you have tied the whole story together, showing the point of view of the queen, the dying bee and the human. It shows just how much we take for granted. Thank you so much for the heads-up on this piece. I won't look at bees in the same way again.

[[untitled]]

I always expect something different from you and I was not dissapointed by this tender piece. I felt sorrow for the bees and I have always thought that they are such busy little buggers! They are the true workers of the planet...the queen bee is a ruthless woman! Not sure whether there is some metaphor behavior in this piece, but if so...you are spot on! A sad demise for the poor little creature with no home. I will never look at a stray bee in the same way again.
A great thought-provoking piece from a writer with fabulous observaton skill...
Chees,
Helen :-)

[Raef C. Boylan]

brilliant style...human ignorance and dismissal and sympathy all at the time.
i enjoyed the ye olde-type language.
the messenger is dead
so we are to assume
that the colony never makes it
all because of a breakdown in communications
lol
it's sad and funny at the same time
because of the casual chaos
dranatic tension, when the audience knows something a character doesn't
it works well in this piece

the script-type insertions
letting us know the setting and speaker
are a helpful touch too

thanks for sharing this one with me
great work

p.s.
"And how your antenna do twitch" (antennae = plural? I'm not sure)

[Blackbirdsong]

I'm sitting here almost in tears thinking about that poet bee and his sad end. You really have such a gift for taking something that most of us might not even notice and making it into something that is sublime and heart-wrenching. This one goes in my favorites. Thanks for sending this to me :)