Much Talk about Bees
A Bee-hoven symphony in just a tad over 1812 words.29 total reviews
Comment from Pearl Edwards
A great read, which often had me smiling. Your descriptions were very visual, and as a former Adelaide girl, it was a bit of old home week reading about Pt Elliot. Love the addition of Winni with this swarm of bees. You seem to attract them by the sounds of it. Really fun read.
reply by the author on 08-Oct-2014
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A great read, which often had me smiling. Your descriptions were very visual, and as a former Adelaide girl, it was a bit of old home week reading about Pt Elliot. Love the addition of Winni with this swarm of bees. You seem to attract them by the sounds of it. Really fun read.
Comment Written 08-Oct-2014
reply by the author on 08-Oct-2014
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I'm so glad you enjoyed this and a little bit of nostalgia to go with it too!
Comment from adewpearl
Excellent detail in telling the history of this place
vivid descriptive detail of the current setting
you have an extremely engaging narrative style - I bet you'd be great as a travel writer :-) Brooke
reply by the author on 08-Oct-2014
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Excellent detail in telling the history of this place
vivid descriptive detail of the current setting
you have an extremely engaging narrative style - I bet you'd be great as a travel writer :-) Brooke
Comment Written 08-Oct-2014
reply by the author on 08-Oct-2014
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If someone would pay me to travel, I'd give it a go! LOL
Comment from Mystic Angel 7777
I enjoyed your tale of the bees and the chivalrous adventures that ensued as a result of their perilous proximity. This is a beautifully written entry for the contest and an enjoyable, as well as informative read. I wish you all the best in the judging and thank you so much for sharing this with me.
reply by the author on 07-Oct-2014
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I enjoyed your tale of the bees and the chivalrous adventures that ensued as a result of their perilous proximity. This is a beautifully written entry for the contest and an enjoyable, as well as informative read. I wish you all the best in the judging and thank you so much for sharing this with me.
Comment Written 07-Oct-2014
reply by the author on 07-Oct-2014
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Thank you so much for taking the time to read and respond to my story. Very much appreciated, as are your generous comments. Best wishes, Tony
Comment from padumachitta
Hi. Well, I did so laugh. I am terrified of bees, wasps, though I love honey. I can well iamgine sitting in my truck hoping non of the wee beasties made it through the air vents.
LOL, go to the sotre and buy a jar...
:-)padumachitta
reply by the author on 07-Oct-2014
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Hi. Well, I did so laugh. I am terrified of bees, wasps, though I love honey. I can well iamgine sitting in my truck hoping non of the wee beasties made it through the air vents.
LOL, go to the sotre and buy a jar...
:-)padumachitta
Comment Written 07-Oct-2014
reply by the author on 07-Oct-2014
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Thank you so much for taking the time to read and respond to my story. Very much appreciated, as are your amusing comments. Best wishes, Tony
Comment from michaelcahill
Excellent writing. A great balance of fact, humor and simple great storytelling. You manage to keep me engaged all the way through in spite of the length and that is a tribute to the quality of the write. You bring it home perfectly with a touching ending too. I think this might win. It's going to be difficult to beat this. Lots of straight forward articles are being submitted. They're okay, but nothing has stood out like this. Well done. mikey
reply by the author on 07-Oct-2014
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Excellent writing. A great balance of fact, humor and simple great storytelling. You manage to keep me engaged all the way through in spite of the length and that is a tribute to the quality of the write. You bring it home perfectly with a touching ending too. I think this might win. It's going to be difficult to beat this. Lots of straight forward articles are being submitted. They're okay, but nothing has stood out like this. Well done. mikey
Comment Written 07-Oct-2014
reply by the author on 07-Oct-2014
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Thanks for taking the time to read this one, Mikey. I very much appreciate your comments as I am never quite sure when to stop editing, untie the strings and release the little monster. Inevitably, just after doing so, I wish I hadn't! This one left me with that awful sense you get when listening to your own voice on a tape recording of 'My God, do I really sound like that?' So your comments were especially welcome.
Comment from Writingfundimension
I really enjoyed the wonderful charm and humor of your non-fiction contest entry. Wow, great prose AND a terrific poem to match. This will be hard to beat!
Good luck,
Bev
reply by the author on 07-Oct-2014
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I really enjoyed the wonderful charm and humor of your non-fiction contest entry. Wow, great prose AND a terrific poem to match. This will be hard to beat!
Good luck,
Bev
Comment Written 06-Oct-2014
reply by the author on 07-Oct-2014
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Thank you so very much for your encouragement, Bev. Much appreciated.
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You're very welcome! :) Bev
Comment from Cajungirl
Very well-written, enjoyable story. My Dad kept bees for a couple of years. We were all so happy when he gave them up. Bee keeping isn't an easy task. Your story provided history and humor. This is a fabulous Non-fiction contest entry.
reply by the author on 07-Oct-2014
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Very well-written, enjoyable story. My Dad kept bees for a couple of years. We were all so happy when he gave them up. Bee keeping isn't an easy task. Your story provided history and humor. This is a fabulous Non-fiction contest entry.
Comment Written 06-Oct-2014
reply by the author on 07-Oct-2014
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Thank you so very much for your encouragement. I played around with this for ages before releasing it and am delighted that you enjoyed it. I don't think I'd make a very good bee keeper!
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you are very welcome.
Comment from Dorothy Farrell
Hello Tony - What a lovely story. All about bees - but as they say 'it's the way you tell 'em'. I found myself upset about al the dead bees as we are now being told that disease is killing off large numbers of bees. I found the swarm interesting as I have been in a similar situation where my neighbour's bees swarmed and I had to rush indoors, run around closing windows in a panic. I was able to identify with some of your story - uncovering blocked up fireplaces, wondering what we'd find behind. It's an old. converted woollen mill. Also, I live with, in this case, pigeons on the chimney stacks and the noise they make echoes down the chimneys. So your story, so very well written with a good helping of humour, was particularly interesting. I'll be surprised if anyone write's a better one. Good Luck in the contest. Warm regards Dorothy x
reply by the author on 07-Oct-2014
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Hello Tony - What a lovely story. All about bees - but as they say 'it's the way you tell 'em'. I found myself upset about al the dead bees as we are now being told that disease is killing off large numbers of bees. I found the swarm interesting as I have been in a similar situation where my neighbour's bees swarmed and I had to rush indoors, run around closing windows in a panic. I was able to identify with some of your story - uncovering blocked up fireplaces, wondering what we'd find behind. It's an old. converted woollen mill. Also, I live with, in this case, pigeons on the chimney stacks and the noise they make echoes down the chimneys. So your story, so very well written with a good helping of humour, was particularly interesting. I'll be surprised if anyone write's a better one. Good Luck in the contest. Warm regards Dorothy x
Comment Written 06-Oct-2014
reply by the author on 07-Oct-2014
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Thank you so much for reading this, Dorothy, and for responding at such length. I very much appreciate your time and am delighted that you thought the story worth six stars. We are generally happy to let the bees settle where they will, but sometimes they can be a bit too close for comfort. The local bee keeper who generally helps me to preserve the swarm wasn't able to do much about the one in the chimney, two storeys high with very tall and ancient chimneys. I'm told by Laurie that they won't sting when they are swarming, so perhaps I shall be braver next time!
Comment from mfowler
This is a wonderful compendium of bee tales, Tony. It's made more enjoyable, I think, by the fact that I know all of the environmental factors you write of, quite intimately. We have a honeycomb of some size, deep in a cavity in our garage. We have inconsistent visits from the little beggars, and we always end up hiring a man to give them the concoction. You have told your tale with liberal splashes of humour and immaculate prose. There's enough variety in the telling to keep a reader engaged throughout. I wish you all the best for the vote.
reply by the author on 07-Oct-2014
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This is a wonderful compendium of bee tales, Tony. It's made more enjoyable, I think, by the fact that I know all of the environmental factors you write of, quite intimately. We have a honeycomb of some size, deep in a cavity in our garage. We have inconsistent visits from the little beggars, and we always end up hiring a man to give them the concoction. You have told your tale with liberal splashes of humour and immaculate prose. There's enough variety in the telling to keep a reader engaged throughout. I wish you all the best for the vote.
Comment Written 06-Oct-2014
reply by the author on 07-Oct-2014
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Thank you so much, Mark, for taking the time to read and respond to my story. Very much appreciated. Glad you enjoyed it. I floated this one to test the reaction. There are enough anecdotes about Brooklands over the past fifteen years to fill a small book!
Comment from gypsymoth
Enjoyable read. I would like to know why (2nd sentence) the
crew felt "relief" on a 4 mo. Voyage,on a ship hardly large enough to swing a cat,and 23 people died? Possibly you meant
"regret".
Gypsymoth
reply by the author on 05-Oct-2014
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Enjoyable read. I would like to know why (2nd sentence) the
crew felt "relief" on a 4 mo. Voyage,on a ship hardly large enough to swing a cat,and 23 people died? Possibly you meant
"regret".
Gypsymoth
Comment Written 05-Oct-2014
reply by the author on 05-Oct-2014
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Thanks very much for your review, Gypsymoth. The 'relief' expressed by the crew was because there was not enough room to properly swing a cat o' nine tails. A feeble attempt at humour on my part.
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The relief expressed by the crew wasbecause there was barely enough room to swing a cat o' nine tails. A feeble attempt at humour on my part' The cat o' nine tails, commonly shortened to the cat, is a type of multi-tailed whip that originated as an implement for severe physical punishment, notably in the Navy .
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Sorry, I was pituring a cat thinking how small the ship must have been. So I guess I was the only one who didn't catch what you meant. Sounds typical for me. Gypsymoth
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I probably should have added a footnote. The origin of the term comes from England.
