There were so many interesting things about bee communication within the colony. In the morning, they send out scouts for food sources. On finding it, they drink a bunch of nectar and return to the hive. On reentering the hive, the scout walks straight in, shakes her tummy like mad, and makes a buzzing sound with her wings. The duration of the dancing and shaking and flapping of her wings tells the others how far away the food source is. Next the scout regurgitates the nectar and it’s gobbled up by other bees, sort of like a wine tasting. I’d read somewhere that the scouts are also covered in the scent of the flower, which helps the bees know which flowers are the grand crus in the garden. It all makes perfect sense. In fact, life seemed to make more sense in the world of honey bees than in ours.

“What am I to do?” I asked them. “She’s a truly dreadful woman of biblical proportions. I’m not kidding. She’s so definitely the wrong queen for their hive. I know I only met her once, but she’s so wrong for Archie and she’s going to absolutely ruin what’s left of the boys’ childhood. Wasn’t it bad enough to lose their mother? A stepmother should be a buoy, a source of strength, but also a chance for those little fellows to have more joy in their lives. Sharon is anything but joyous. The only consolation is that at least they’re just next door, so I can still keep an eye on things. But don’t worry. I’m going to be very careful around her. I’ve got to be. She would shut me out if she thought I was doing the least thing to undermine her position. I know that. What do y’all think?”

They just buzzed all around me and then left me to forage. There seemed to be no solution.

Momma had her appointment with Sharon that afternoon. Leslie drove her there, and because Sharon did not know Leslie or Momma from Adam’s housecat, she wouldn’t have recognized either one of them. I was coming home from work just about the same time they were returning from the city.

“I’m going to make us a pitcher of iced tea,” Momma said.

“Perfect!” Leslie said. “I’ll cut us a slice of cake.”

“I’m starving,” the queen said.

“Espionage is completely exhausting,” I said, thinking I was pretty clever for once. “How did it go?”