The Bee Wrapup

That's all of them, folks.

Note: this is the final in a series of bee stories I wrote recently inspired by a trip I took.

As Flight 1396 from Seattle eased up to gate A25, Captain Todd clicked on the microphone and said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Captain Todd from the flight deck. Thank you for your patience throughout this challenging flight. We are at our final destination for this Dallas-based flight crew. We’d like to recognize a special group of people on board today’s flight, but before I do that, does anybody know what day today is?”

The pilot clicked off the microphone and paused a few seconds.

“Today is National Beekeepers Day. And with that day we are honored to have on board the leaders from various beekeeper’s associations throughout the country attending their annual convention here in Dallas. There’s been quite a buzz on board about bees and whatnot so I won’t drone on about them except to say that they are a fascinating group of people who tend to pollinate all conversations with honey-like smoothness. It certainly takes the sting out of long and monotonous flights as the plane just hums along. I’ve had less than flowery reports of a bee in the jet bridge, one outside where they were loading luggage, and even one in the cockpit, but that was just me joking around a bit with my co-pilot. If you’ve had honey in your tea or on your toast today, thank a beekeeper probably sitting a seat or two away. And as always, thank you for flying with us today on this festive occasion. That’s what all the buzz was about. Please keep your groans to a minimum. I’ll be available at open mic night at The Improv!”