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The Honey Queen from Galway

An exercise in Symbolism

There is a fine seductive reasoning, and it appears as a form of mental sickness. Like the effects of too much of the juice of the barley, it leads men to sit around, confidently bumping their gums. In this type of closed mutual admiration society, there goes on a lot of virtue flaunting and preening.

Where goes Ireland today? With many so-called Republicans calling for 'open borders' and 'Globalism' and apparently enamored with that dusty old fool, Karl Marx…?

Let's look at the busy, hardworking honey bee Queen, that tended all her life to her busy hive in County Galway. Through storms and winters, through cold and drought. Fighting off thieves and raiders, she and her workers & drones protected the hive. The hive had its terrible moments, and there were steady good times. The honey was sweet and nourishing, it sustained life, and was unique to their hive. The huge hive was her whole world, and it meant everything to her. Well, one day, after a period of calm and sunny days, the Queen Bee looked around the hive, and felt that it was good. She felt a warm glow of pride. Yes. They had made it. She thought of all the hardships, all the troubles, all the dark nights, and the fear of hostile attackers. On the spur of the moment, she felt the need to fly up into the sunny skies. And just to fly. And fly. And fly. Her soul singing, for once leaving the burdens and troubles of her busy hive behind, she came at length to a strange landscape. Alighting on a branch, she saw a strange creature looking at her.
“I beg your pardon”, the Queen Bee spoke politely. “But what are you?”
“I am a raccoon from Africa”, the funny creature replied. He looked quite harmless. Almost dumb. He had funny whiskers, dark shadows below his eyes, and a banded tail. He looked like a comic book character. A stage coach highwayman.
“I see”, said the Queen. “What is Africa like?”
The raccoon looked sad. “Well”, he said, “We have many problems. Wars and Hunger. Wars and Hunger. Many raccoons are starving there… they like even the basic necessities.”
The Queen Bee felt sorry for him. She thought for a while. Then she said:
“Well, we can't feed everybody of course, but we do have plenty of honey. There is always some left over. Maybe we could help you?”
The raccoon's face brightened up. “Really? Oh, how KIND of you! How Noble you are! How Enlightened! We'll be back!” And with that, the African raccoon bounded away home. The Queen Bee flew on, humming quietly to herself. “I'm Enlightened!” she thought to herself. She couldn't wait to get home to tell her workers and drones. A little while later, she came upon another strange creature, she had never seen before. It had bright emerald green plumage, a narrow black stripe on its throat, and a black mask that ran through its crimson eyes. It was an exquisite little creature, and looked very harmless. Alighting on a branch again, the Queen Bee asked:
“What are you?” The strange creature eyed the Honey Bee with intelligent, thoughtful eyes. “I'm a bird from Asia”, the creature replied quietly. “I belong to the family Merops Orientalis. And who might you be?”
The Queen Bee puffed herself up proudly, and said: “I am the honey Queen.” She was tempted to add: “And I am Enlightened!” But she thought she had better not. Instead she asked: “And what are things like in Asia?” The little bird cast its eyes down sadly. “Oh!”, she said sadly. “To be honest, there are lots of problems there. There are simply too many birds, and not enough land. We are hopelessly overcrowded. That produces all sorts of problems. If only we could find a place with more room…” The Queen Bee reflected carefully on his words. She felt sorry for the harmless little bird.
“Well”, she spoke in the end,”to be honest, there's plenty of room in Old Ireland. Why don't you come on over to us? We can't take everybody of course, but we can take SOME, like, you know?” The little bird's face brightened up in an instant. “Really? Oh, how KIND of you! How Noble you are! How Wise! We'll be back!” And with that, the Merops Orientalis flew away home. The Queen Bee flew on, humming quietly to herself. “I'm WISE!” she thought to herself. She couldn't wait to get home to tell her workers and drones. A little while later, she came upon another strange creature, she had never seen before. It was a big old thing, kind of hairy, and it lumbered along clumsily. It didn't seem to do anything in a hurry, and it made a lot of noise as it crashed along. You could hear it coming a mile off. Alighting on a branch again, the Queen Bee asked: “What are you?” The strange creature eyed the Honey Bee dully with beady, grumpy eyes. “Can't you see? Are you blind? I'm a bear from the Middle East”, the creature replied sourly. “Everybody should know who I am! And who might you be?” The Queen Bee puffed herself up proudly, and said: “I am the honey Queen.” This time she added: “And I am Enlightened!” She was tempted to add: “And I am Wise!” But she thought she had better not. Instead she asked: “And what are things like in the Middle East?” The grumpy bear cast his dull eyes down sadly. “Oh!”, he said sadly. “To be honest, there are lots of problems there. There are simply too many bears who believe different things, and not enough common ground. That produces all sorts of problems. That causes all sights of fights between different groups of bears. It's been going on forever. If only we could find a peaceful place with more room…” The Queen Bee reflected carefully on his words. She felt sorry for the clumsy creature. “Well”, she spoke in the end,”to be honest, there's plenty of room in peaceful Old Ireland. Why don't you come on over to us? We can't take everybody of course, but we can take SOME, like, you know? The Peaceful Ones? We don't want no fighting, mind!” The dull creature's face brightened up in an instant. “Really? Oh, how Thoughtful of you! How Splendid you are! How Wise! We'll be back!” And with that the bear lolloped away through the brush, crashing and careering into things. The Queen Bee could gear him going for ages. (to be continued) The Queen Bee decided it was time to go home. When she got back, she was excited to tell her loyal workers and drones all about her adventures. She coyly added in the bits about them calling her Enlightened, and Wise, and Kind. Most of her workers and drones thought it was wonderful. They cheered and clapped and positively thundered applause. The massive hive reverberated with their enthusiasm. Their beloved Queen, Wise as always, had done what was right and proper. All hail the Queen! There was just a small group that looked worried. Nobody paid them much attention. They were always worried. Always seeing shadows nobody else worried about. Nobody paid them much heed. In this manner, quite a while went by. There was no real change in the busy daily life of the massive hive. Bees came and went, came and went. After a while, there were some more reported sightings, and bees spotting more raccoons. Off, in the distance. And even more Bears. Away in the forest. Clashing and clattering along, making a terrible noise. As usual. Other bees had seen small pretty birds, with emerald green plumage, and stripes around their throats. As pretty green as they were, nearly all the bees thought these new fellows clearly belonged in Ireland. It was just a tiny minority who demurred. One of those damn troublemakers even claimed that Merops orientalis stood for “Asian bee eater”, but nobody believed him. After all, the Honey Queen was wise, and enlightened, and she knew what she was doing. The reports and sighting off refugee creatures increased over time, raccoons and bears and Merops Orientalis, but nobody worried about it. Except the small handful of dissidents. But nobody paid them any heed. Then, one morning, wholly unexpectedly, whilst everybody was still asleep, the whole hive shook and trembled mightily. Everybody work up with a fright, the workers and the drones, and the Honey Queen in her bed, and everybody peered outside. There, in the early morning light, stood a vast horde of refugees. Bears and raccoons in all manner of shapes and sizes. Merops orientalis fluttered about in dense clouds, almost blotting out the rising sun. The Honey Queen, rubbing the long sleep out of her eyes, said: “Good morning… why are you all here…?” In reply, the assembled throngs replied: “We're here because you invited us. And… we're VERY hungry.”

Francis Meyrick

Last edited by Francis Meyrick on June 10, 2017, 11:56 am