I Was Told To Buzz Off!

I am not sure that Karl's dog, Heinz, is all that polite.  Possibly I wasn't that polite to him just now.  But I didn't like that he was digging in my favorite flowerbed.  Here's what happened.  I was busy gathering pollen, as near the cottage as I could so I could overhear anything for my gossip column, and Heinz, who is a couple of years old now, and his little brothers started digging in Gerd'a flowerbed.  I buzzed down and told them that wasn't a good idea.  I even offered to show them a better place to bury a bone.  The smallest one just looked up at me and barked out, 'Buzz off'.  I was insulted.  I got him back.  I went to find Karl and told him what was going on.  He came and stopped the destruction.  Gerda saw Karl save her flowers and gave him some cookies.  Gerda always has cookies.  Karl knew I had helped so he let me land on a cookie crumb that had some gooey syrupy sweet stuff.  I am so glad that the fairies enchanted Thimble Farm so everybody can talk to each other.  Buzz at you later.  Delbert signing off.

THIMBLEWYCK HONEY THE BEST IN THE WORLD

You know I travel.  I travel a bit more than the average bee.  It's because I am so curious.  Recently I overheard Gerda, Lina's mom, tell Tom, Lina's poppa, that she had got a better price than usual for honey she had sold at the fair in Montrachet.  The storekeeper told her that his customers were willing to pay double for honey that they knew came from Thimble farm.  He said that he was going to put some with a traveling merchant who goes all over.  Maybe even across the border to Chaga, a whole other country.  Imagine that.  I know that our honey has to be good.  We are happy bees around here.  Gerda and the fairies do all they can to make sure the flowers are happy.  We help pollinate the flowers and that helps everybody, fairies, humans, flowers and bees.  Plus honey is more than just sweet.  It really does keep people healthy.  I wonder what it would be like to travel with that caravan to Chaga. Maybe not.  Things around here are in a very good balance.  If people over there have to buy honey they may not be treating their plants or flowers just right.  Besides that I might miss my friends.  I don't just mean my hive.  I really do like visiting everybody on Thimble farm, or Thimblewyck, as we call it now.  Here every creature can talk to each other.  It is a very friendly place.  The news of the day is that we also have the best honey in the world.

BEES REMEMBER THAT AWFUL FIRE YEARS LATER

Hi, this is Delbert.  It has been a good spring.  A lot of flowers.  Plenty of nectar to take back to the hive to make honey.  We bees have even been able to be a bit lazy.  We are still "as busy as a bee" of course.  But it's good to be able to sit on the edge of a flower and chat a bit from time to time.  Yesterday several of us were sitting on some very bright red flowers and someone mentioned that it was a fire red.  Right away we all got quiet.  We remembered that awful fire that burned in Montrachet a few years ago.  The smoke was so bad that some of us passed out.  It put us right to sleep.  That fire was miles away from our hive but it was dense and strong.  Kind of weird actually, kind of yellow gray and a worse smell than usual for smoke.  Of course we later found out that a bit of evil had been involved in that fire.  Very bad time for all of Thimblewyck.  Yes,we all sat around and remembered that fire.  It caused the death of Lina's parents.  Very bad.  People think bees just fly around and work, work, work.  We do a lot more than that.  We know what's going on.  We talk about it too.  Well, I have been sitting a bit.  Better get to work.  Buzz at you later.

What Is Fairy Time?

Hi, It's Delbert here.  I've been busy in the hive.  Been telling a lot of stories about things I know to while away the winter.  In the stories about Thimblewyck some of the fairies, Marus especially, can twist time.  It's very useful.  He can put off things quite well that way.  He can also speed things up to bring wonderful things to one sooner.  Once his sister, Hilda, rescued some people by making time speed up for some goblins, so they worked themselves into exhaustion.  When they fell asleep their captives were able to simply walk away, out of the cavern.  I kind of go back in time when I remember things, and forward when I anticipate things.  But I can't actually twist time.  When I go back or forwards in time I usually have some emotion connected with all that.  Sometimes that's good.  Sometimes it's not so good.  Fairies seem to be able to fly above bad times.  I suppose you could call fairy time the ability to be light, airy and happy.  I can do that, I guess.  When I'm out among the flowers I feel that way.  Right now, remembering my Summer of flying from flower to flower makes me feel light, airy and happy.  So I guess I hooked into fairy time a little bit.  Happy times to you all.  Buzz at you later.  Delbert.

Winter In Thimblewyck

It's winter and I am cozily spending time inside our hive.  But I know that the first winter after Lina was kidnapped was a tense time at Thimble Farm.  Finally the wood sprite, Camber, told her parents that the wind song of the trees had let him know she was safe in a warm burrow.  They were still worried but they had to turn their attention to the refugees that came to their farm because of several natural disasters in the area, such as floods and fire.
Lina didn't know any of this. She was living with Clarissa, a small mouse and learning to read, among other things.  You may wonder how a mere bee, tucked away in a hive, can know so much.  Remember, I have a nose for news.  Every plant, every living thing that gets near my nose tells me things. One of the things I am now being told is that I must join in in fanning the queen bee.  But I will find a way to tell you more about all the citizens of Thimblewyck.  Stay warm and cozy.  Tell wonderful stories by your own fireside.

Is Zenna Too Inventive?

I don't know about you, but I kind of think bees and bugs and spiders and things should just stick to being bees and bugs and spiders and things.  But that  spider, Zenna,has figured out how to make wings for creatures who don't have wings naturally.  She has also adapted her webs for the work of nets and screens.  What will she invent next.  I hope it isn't something that keeps me away from my precious flowers. Of course it was a good thing to develop wings for Lina.  She is a small as a fairy and it was very hard for her to get around before she learned to fly.  She rode in Tom Thimble's pocket a lot and between the ears of that big horse, Thor.  I wonder if I could invent something.  What could it be?  Maybe I could create a social club among the best flower patches. A bee needs to socialize from time to time.  I wonder if it should have music.  Maybe Zenna could develop a harp that we could play, and maybe dance to the music of it.  Maybe I have just changed my mind.  I guess anybody that has an idea should go ahead and try to work it out.  Well, I have to buzz off.  I have an idea that there are some really good roses just over the hill,  full of great nectar.  Talk to you later.  Delbert.

Heroes of Thimblewyck

I have been so busy that I haven't written any news lately.  But important things have been going on.  There are a lot of heroes at Thimblewyck and heroic doings.  Marus was quite a hero when he snatched Lina's soul from the fire so she could have life.  Some people don't even know what a hero is so I suppose I should explain.  A hero is someone who takes on an important and unusual challenge.  Many times a hero saves a victim from a villain.
A victim is someone who can't recover from something bad without help.  A villain only cares about himself and
will do anything to get his way.  Gordon Mole was a hero when he helped Lina escape from Clarissa and her sharp scissors.  Our queen, who is very wise, says that everybody can be a hero in their own life.  She says that we have to go out, figure out how to solve challenges and come back the better for it.  I found some most excellent flowers today, with good pollen and wonderful nectar.  Then I let the other bees know where they were with my bee dance.  I suppose I was a hero today.  Heroes of Thimblewyck, I salute you.