bees have two pairs of
narrow transparent membranous
wings with few veins
the hind pair being smaller
bees are narrow waisted
with mouths for chewing & licking
bees are pollenivorous
having abandoned
wasps' carnivorous ways
a bee is a flying penis
covered with plumose hairs
that pick up protein-rich
pollen grains and sugary nectar
from bursting anthers
depositing them on sticky stigma
H
Y
M
E
p t e r o N o r e t p
O
P
T
E
R
A
hymen
membrane
pteron
wing
bees need flowers
for nourishment
flowers need bees
for reproduction
flowers and bees
agree
timing is every-
thing
{ BEE }
{ DAY }
the bee’s body
is a clock
which measures
the day
any point
within that day
is remembered
in its body
exactly
but it cannot
count
beyond that day
(Karl Von Frisch)
bee day
April–September
bee night
October–March
bees are the souls
of the summer
the clock
whose dial
records moments
of plenty
(Maurice Maeterlinck)
COMPRESSED CIRCLE
comb
BEEHIVE
cell
the discipline of bees and the
rare fabric of honeycomb
(Jeremy Taylor)
selecting that form
which contains
the most angles
to hold most honey
for least wax
the hexagonal cell
is ideal for a structure
such as comb
bearing weight and stress
having an equality
that relates to
the bees themselves
(Pappus the Alexandrine
& D’Arcy Thomson)
CELL
larder
CELL
cradle
stigmergy
local chaos programs
the algorithms
of global orders
there are no architects
no blueprints
only genetic codes
rules and feedback loops
that guide the form
of each construction
warming thermoplastic wax
bees are mechanics
and heat engineers
whose structures grow
flow and expand
around the builders
(Hölldobler & Wilson, The Superorganism)
in the garden, Friendly Street
the very first time I held
a comb of live bees
I was a thousand years old
today I clambered
around the hive
replacing the trellis
brood in the supers
stores in the brood
all very irregular
my hive stands four square
a William Butler Carr
the bees use upside-down
in a bee suit
I feel like a monk
in a skep
they all come out together
like office girls
for a smoke
the most precarious
manoeuvre
is the landing
attending to my bees
I wish that we were
more anthropomorphic
(David Connearn)
on the bench, Friendly Street
I recall their giving
the flowers in the garden
season and reason
a highlight of chats
protected by your
precautionary roll-ups
The Bees of South London
there’s a contemporary novel
waiting to be written
intimations
.