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I am waiting for a day that is warmand without wind. I need a splitfor my mediums, a spring swarmto find my trap and deign to use it.I’ve painted boxes, placed lavendersprays in line to wick the top feeder,used lemongrass oil as lure. Howeverempty my frames are now, I shallContinue Reading

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When bees are born, we’re told we have a singular purpose: to serve the colony. Worker or drone, our job is to make sure the future of the colony is secure. In plain terms, we exist to support the queen. And if she ever stops doing what her singular purposeContinue Reading

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A firstborn sorrow buffers its descendantsIn the same way early bees in a hiveSmear propolis into every crackEncasing the queen in darkness Estée Arts Crenshaw is a doctoral candidate in the department of Writing & Rhetoric Studies at the University of Utah. She received her MFA in creative writing fromContinue Reading

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Back in the old days,It would be busy, I could still smell the fresh honey…Every car would make their stop. That quick stop to that convenience shop,My grandparents sharecrop.Passengers grabbing honeypots and honey buns. Back in today’s days,It is so dusty.It is like my sunset, rusty. I can smell theContinue Reading

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Rebecca Patrascu works as a library associate for the Sonoma County Library. Her writing has appeared in publications including Smartish Pace, Glint, The Shore, Bracken Magazine, Prairie Schooner, Colorado Review, and Valparaiso Review. She has an MFA from Pacific University and is the author of the chapbook Before Noon. SheContinue Reading

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Sisters,I would not unwild younor attempt to keep. Look at your wings! Say gossamer& have it be too thicka word for the whir of you! Some fool men define your liquor asdistillation of fallen rainbows, they say,constellations made dew you gather, but I know better- how females strive, orchard orContinue Reading

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We’ve suited up into our white coveralls, gloves, hard hats, elasticized netting. Tom says he feels like a volunteer firefighter on a last-minute call, pulling on equipment, rushing out the door. My suit is stained with splotches of honey and propolis and old smoker residue. In three years, I’ve neverContinue Reading

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Bees crashing,Fights gaining wind,I feel the stings in my legs… Hunting down my queen in a slow pace,Fertilising her at one go,She goes flying by mating flight.Disappearing as she would. Bleeding with each beeping,I feel the stings in my legs… Misbeliever!I am ejected from my nest!Only for the sake ofContinue Reading

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Rebecca Patrascu works as a library associate for the Sonoma County Library. Her writing has appeared in publications including Smartish Pace, Glint, The Shore, Bracken Magazine, Prairie Schooner, Colorado Review, and Valparaiso Review. She has an MFA from Pacific University and is the author of the chapbook Before Noon. SheContinue Reading