Flowers for Bees

Manuel was the grandson of Manelinho Abelha, a beekeeper from the region of Idanha-a-Nova. Grandfather and grandson were the greatest of friends. Instead of a dog or a cat, Manuel kept little bees as his pets. He learned to play quietly between tufts of rosemary and lavender, orange groves and vegetable gardens dotted with flowering sweet peas. When one day he moved to the city for his studies, his grandfather sent him letters to keep him abreast of the busy bees. Every night before falling asleep he would swallow a spoonful of the sweetest and most fragrant honey in the world. Manelinho Abelha complained that man’s attempts to kill bothersome insects also affected good insects and now the numbers of bees and ladybugs were falling every year. And this had come back to bite them. Manuel read and thought about this problem. Under no circumstances would he allow the taste of honey his heart cherished so dearly and which invigorated his health to disappear. He studied hard, travelled widely and sought out the opinions of experts young and old. Finally, one day he returned home with flower seeds for the bees. He warmly embraced his grandfather Manelinho Abelha and promised to change the course of things by bringing back the pollinating bees, the true artisans of this golden nectar that is honey. 20 g