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March 14, 2025 • 152 mins
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"The Adventures of Maya the Bee" follows a curious and adventurous young bee named Maya who leaves her hive to explore the world. During her journey, she encounters various creatures, learning valuable lessons about courage, trust, and the interconnectedness of life. Maya eventually returns to her hive, using her newfound wisdom to protect her community from a hornet attack, earning the respect of the queen and a place of honor where she shares her experiences with others.



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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Maya the Bee learns to fly Part one. Maya is
a small, cheerful, and headstrong bee who is very curious.
She experiences many adventures, and that starts right from her berth.
Maya the bee is born as the last bee in
a large beehive near an abandoned ruin in the forest.

(00:24):
She has many brothers and sisters. Miss Cassandra is a
smart bee keeper who helps with the birth of the
many new bees. It immediately becomes clear that Maya is
a terribly curious little bee. The first thing she asks
Miss Cassandra at her birth is why did you name

(00:44):
me Maya, to which Cassandra replies, for no reason, everyone
just needs a name. On the day Maya is born,
half of the bees in the beehive are supposed to
swarm out, otherwise there won't be an space for all
the bees. Maya learns a lot from Miss Cassandra. On

(01:05):
the first day of her life, she meets Willie, a
bee who is very sweet but not so smart. He
is in the class for the second time. We bees
are hard workers, Miss Cassandra explains. We collect honey every day,
so it's good to know which flowers are most suitable

(01:26):
for that, I will teach you everything, and it's important
that you know who your enemies are. Take the hornet,
for example, that's our biggest enemy. The next day, when
Maya wakes up, panic breaks out in the hive. Too
many bees have stayed in the hive, and the commotion

(01:47):
causes the hive to become too warm and the honey
to melt. This is, of course, a big disaster for
the new eggs laid by the queen. The heat from
the hive can only be called by the up and
down movement of the wings of all the bees. Maya
also does her best and notices that by moving her

(02:08):
wings up and down, she is getting higher and higher
in the air. It looks like flying, but she only
gets her first flying lesson that afternoon. She tells the
whole beehive excitedly that she's going to learn how to fly,
and Miss Cassandra is going to teach her. Then it's

(02:29):
time for Maya to learn to fly on her own,
and she loves it. She collects honey and meets Flip
the grasshopper. Flip can't stand still and has to jump
around all the time. That's just what grasshoppers do. He
explains to Maya. He promises to help her if she

(02:50):
gets into trouble, and that's definitely going to happen because
you are so headstrong, he adds. As Maya flies around
from poppy to tulip, she realizes that it's much more
fun to be outside and decides she won't go back
to the hive. Why should I go back, she asks herself.

(03:12):
I don't find it at all pleasant there, and I
don't see the point of all that hard work. I'll
stay outside and have fun. It gets late and dark.
There's a beautiful flower where I'm going to sleep tonight.
Flying around as maados so tired, and she falls asleep

(03:34):
right away and sleeps like a log. Maya the bee
in the House of the Rose. Part two. The sun
has been shining for quite some time. When Maya woke
up in the flower where she had fallen asleep the
night before, the petals swayed gently in the light breeze.

(03:57):
It's like they are dancing, exclaimed Maya, still excited from
all the adventures she had experienced the day before. I
definitely won't go back to the beehive, and when she
thought of Miss Cassandra, her heart beat faster. How clearly
she had shown how terrible it is to have to

(04:18):
fly in and out of the hive forever to collect
and carry honey. No, that was certainly not a life
for Maya. She wanted to enjoy her freedom no matter what. Meanwhile,
her stomach started to growl a little. It was time
to eat something. In the distance, she saw a beautiful

(04:41):
red flower. She flew towards it, and in doing so,
she caused a large drop of water to fall from
the leaf, splashing onto the ground in dozens of glistening
water droplets. What a beautiful sight it was. The red
flower spread a delicious sweet smell. On the lower edge

(05:04):
of the flower. At the entrance of the cup was
a beetle. He was slightly smaller than herself and had
brown wings and a black chest. He looked at Maya
seriously and undisturbed. Maya greeted the beetle with a friendly greeting.
What are you doing here, asked the beetle. What kind

(05:27):
of beautiful flower is this, asked Maya, not answering the
beetle's question, would you be so kind as to tell
me the name of this flower? The beetle laughed, which
bees wouldn't find very polite if there was a serious
question asked. You must be new here, said the beetle,

(05:47):
And he meant that he understood that she was just
born and couldn't know much. Yet it's a rose, said
the beetle, Now you know. Although the beetle didn't have
the best manners, according to Maya, she thought he was
a good natured man. We moved here four days ago,

(06:08):
said the beetle. Do you want to come in and
take a look. Maya hesitated, but overcame her doubts and
took a few steps forward. The beetle pushed a clear
petal aside and let Maya in. They walked together through
the narrow rooms with their muted light and fragrant walls.

(06:29):
What an enchanting house, exclaimed Maya. And it smells so
heavenly in here. The beetle was pleased with Maya's admiration.
Knowing where to live takes wisdom, he said, smiling. Kindly,
tell me where you live, and I'll tell you what
you're worth, says an old saying would you like some nectar? Well, yes, please,

(06:56):
exclaimed Maya, realizing how hungry she was by now, the
beetle left Maya alone for a moment to get the nectar.
Maya pressed her nose into the red petal to take
in the scent completely. Life is so wonderful here, she said.
It's so much better to be here than in the

(07:18):
hustle and bustle of the bees, who only fly back
and forth and worry about collecting honey. The silence is delightful.
Suddenly there was a loud noise behind the walls. It
was the beetle, growling excitedly in great anger. It seemed
like he was pushing someone roughly. A moment later, she

(07:41):
heard the sound of someone running outside. The beetle returned
and grumpily threw some nectar down. It's a shame, he said.
You can't escape those pests anywhere. They don't give you
a moment of peace. Maya was so hungry that she
took some of the nectar without thanking the beetle. Who

(08:03):
was that, mumbled Maya, with her mouth still full. It
was an ant, he burst out angrily. They have it
in their heads to go straight into the pantry without
a thank you. They take without asking. It makes me furious.
If I didn't realize that these ill mannered creatures. Actually
don't know any better. I wouldn't hesitate for a moment

(08:26):
to call them thieves. At this point, he suddenly remembered
his own manners. Sorry, he said, turning to Maya, I
forgot to introduce myself. My name is Peter of the
rose Beetle family. My name is Maya, said the little
bee shyly. I'm delighted to meet you. She looked at

(08:50):
Peter attentively. He bowed repeatedly and spread his antenna out
like two small brown fans. Maya thought it looked beautiful.
You have the most fascinating antenna, She said, thank you,
Peter said, flattered. Would you like to see the other side? Yes, please,

(09:13):
replied Maya. The rose Beetle turned his fan shaped antenna
aside and let a ray of sunshine glide over them. Great,
isn't it, he asked? I think it's very special. Maya exclaimed, mine.
Aunt is remarkably beautiful, oh, said Peter. Everyone has their

(09:36):
own special characteristics. For example, you have very beautiful eyes,
and the golden color of your body is very attractive.
Maya beamed. Peter was the first to tell her that
she looked good. Life was wonderful. She took some more nectar.

(09:57):
Excellent quality honey. She knows notted take some more, said Peter,
rather surprised by his little guest's appetite. There's also some
dew if you're thirsty. Thank you very much, said Maya.
But now I have to fly again. If that's okay
with you, the rose beetle laughed. Fly always flying, he said,

(10:22):
it's in the blood of you bees. I don't understand
such a restless way of life. It also has an
advantage to stay in one place, don't you think. Peter
held the red curtain aside politely. I'll come with you
to our observation leaf, he said. It's an excellent place
to fly from. Oh, thank you, said Maya. But I

(10:46):
can fly from anywhere. That's an advantage over me. Peter replied,
I have some trouble unfolding my hind wings. He shook
her hand and held the last curtain aside for her.
Oh the blue sky, Maya exclaimed, good bye, good bye.

(11:09):
Peter called out, staying on the top petal to see
Maya rise up into the golden sunlight and the clear,
pure morning air. With a sigh, he returned to his
cool rose home and sang a morning song for himself.
Maya the Bee and the dragon Fly Part three. With

(11:33):
high spirits and a lot of enthusiasm for a new adventure,
Maya flew over the green meadows. On the way. She
had already encountered many other insects, who often greeted her cheerfully.
She loved enjoying her freedom, but sometimes she also felt
a little guilty, knowing that her bee colony accomplished their

(11:56):
busy work every day. At the edge of a pond
and Maya landed to rest under the leaf of a
water lily, She was just smoothing her wings when a
blue fly landed on the leaf next to her. What
are you doing on my leaf? Asked the blue fly grumpily.
Maya was taken aback and shouted in a louder tone

(12:19):
than she had intended. Is it so bad if I
rest here for a while? Miss Cassandra had told her
that bees were seen as important in the insect world
and were treated accordingly. Now she could see if that
was indeed true. The blue fly did indeed seem uncomfortable.
She could see that clearly. He hopped from his leaf

(12:42):
to one above Maya and said, you should be working
as a bee. You should certainly be doing that. But
if you want to rest, that's fine. I'll wait here
for a while. There are plenty of leaves, aren't there.
Maya remarked. They're all rented out, said the blue fly.
These days, you are happy to be able to call

(13:04):
a piece of ground your own. If my predecessor hadn't
been eaten by a frog two days ago, I still
wouldn't have a decent place to live. It's really not
pleasant to have to look for a new place to
stay every night. Not everybody has such an organized life
as you bees. But let me introduce myself. My name

(13:24):
is Jack Christopher. Maya fell silent and thought about how
terrible it must be to fall into the claws of
a frog. Are there many frogs in the lake, she asked,
moving towards the middle of the leaf to avoid being
seen from the water. The blue fly laughed, ha. The
frog can see you from underneath when the sun shines,

(13:47):
because then the leaf is transparent. He can see you
perfectly sitting on my leaf. Suddenly, Maya didn't feel very
comfortable on the leaf. She was about to fly away
when Jack Ristpher was picked up by a large, sparkling dragonfly.
Without thinking, she shouted, let the blue fly go immediately.

(14:10):
You have no right to want to eat someone at random.
The dragonfly turned to Maya. She was startled by her
large size and shook like a reed. Why not, what's
going on, child, asked the dragonfly in a surprisingly friendly tone.
Please let him go, Maya cried, tears welling up in

(14:33):
her eyes. His name is Jack Christopher, the dragonfly smiled,
Why little one, Maya stammered helplessly. Oh he's such a nice,
charming gentleman, and he's never done any harm as far
as I know. The dragonfly looked thoughtfully at Jack Christopher. Yes,

(14:56):
he's a sweet little guy, answered the dragonfly, and snap,
Jack Christopher went down her throat. For a moment, Maya
didn't know what to say. She listened in horror as
the dragonfly nibbled and gnawed. She looked at the dragonfly, stunned.

(15:16):
Don't be so sensitive, said the dragonfly. Your sensitivity doesn't
impress me. You bees aren't any better. What are you
doing here? Apparently you are still very young and don't
know much about life. Everyone here in nature has their
own place and their own task. You probably have a

(15:38):
lot to learn, so stop lecturing me. Don't you dare
take a step closer, Maya shouted, because if you do,
I'll use my stinger on you. The dragonfly gave her
a stern look and spoke slowly and menacingly. Dragonflies and
bees get along well and don't threaten and each other. Well,

(16:02):
that seems very wise, said Maya. The dragonfly prepared to
fly away, spreading her crystal wings to fly over the lake.
The sunlight on the water created a glimmer on her wings,
and it was such a beautiful sight that Maya momentarily
forgot her friend Jack Christopher and her fear. How beautiful,

(16:28):
she exclaimed, Do you mean me? The dragonfly asked, surprised,
but quickly added, yes, I know. I look fantastic. Recently
I was spotted by people on the river bank, and
they talked about my beautiful appearance people, Maya exclaimed, because

(16:48):
she was very curious about humans. Have you seen people?
Of course, said the dragonfly, But you are probably more
interested in my name. I'm called love dear. Oh tell
me more about people instead, Maya interrupted the dragonfly. Do
humans have stingers too? Oh? No, definitely not, replied the dragonfly,

(17:14):
settling on the leaf beside Maya. No, humans have worse
weapons against us. They're very dangerous. There's not a soul
who isn't afraid of them. Do they try to catch you?
Asked Maia excitedly. Yes. Don't you understand why Miss Lovedear

(17:35):
glanced at her wings. I've rarely met a human who
hasn't tried to catch me. But why, asked Maia, trembling, Well,
you see, said Miss Lovedear, with a modest grin and
a sidelong glance. There's something attractive about us dragonflies. That's

(17:55):
the only reason I know to eat you, asked my No,
I don't think so, said the dragonfly. As far as
I know, humans don't eat dragonflies. It's more of a sport.
Humans are bloodthirsty. They do it for fun. But I
can see from your face that you don't believe me.

(18:17):
Of course, I doubt it, Maya exclaimed indignantly. Miss love
Dear shrugged her glittering shoulders. I'll tell you a terrible story.
My brother had a promising future ahead of him, but
one day he was caught by a child. He was
put in a jar with a lid on. My poor

(18:37):
brother ran out of air and died. That's such a
terrible way to die, don't you think? A tear rolled
down the dragonfly's cheek. I think about him every day, terrible,
whispered Maya, feeling miserable from the sad story. Have you
ever had sadness in your life? Asked the dragonfly. No,

(19:01):
said Maya. Actually I've always been happy until now. Then
you should be grateful to Heaven, said miss love deear.
But now I must go. If you want, I'll tell
you more another time. Good Bye, Maya, and then she
flew away. Maya heard her singing a song. Then Maia

(19:22):
thought it was time to fly away herself and lifted
her own wings to continue on her own path. Maya
the Bee Meets Effie and Bobby Part four. Maya had
slept wonderfully in the crown of a beautiful blue flower.

(19:42):
She woke up to the sound of light tapping on
the flower petals. It was raining. It was the first
time in Maya's young life that she had seen rain.
She thought it was beautiful, but she also knew that
rain was something to be careful of for a bee.
Miss Cassandra had warned her early on about rain. With

(20:04):
wet wings, it was much harder to fly, and the
rain could also be very cold on the body. She
stuck her head between the flower petals to see what
was happening down in the grass. Slowly, her thoughts drifted
to the bee hive, and she began to feel a
little homesick for the protection it provided. The rain would

(20:25):
mean that there would be no work for a while.
The queen bee would make her rounds to greet all
the bees and lay an egg here and there. She
began to feel a little lonely, and she was getting cold.
I hope it stops raining soon, she thought, because as
beautiful as this flower is, it doesn't have much nectar.

(20:47):
Then she realized that the sun was of great importance
in the life of an adventurer. Without the sun, almost
no one would go on adventures, she thought. She felt
proud that she had the courage to starter life on
her own. She had already experienced so much, much more
than the other bees would ever experience in their lives.

(21:09):
Experience was the most precious thing in life, and worth
any sacrifice, she thought. A troop of ants marched by,
singing a song together as they moved through the grass. Suddenly,
a dandelion was brutally pushed aside by a large blue beetle.
It looked like a half sphere of dark metal, with

(21:31):
blue green and occasionally black lights glittering here and there.
Its hard shell looked like nothing could destroy it. The
song of the ant soldiers had apparently awakened him from
his sleep. He looked very angry and shouted, make way,
I'm coming, make way. He probably thought the group of

(21:52):
ants would move out of his way. I'm glad I'm
not in his way, thought Maya, and she withdrew further
in to the flower's bell. The beetle moved with a
swinging motion through the wet grass and stopped still under
Maya's flower. On the ground, she saw a withered leaf
that the beetle moved aside. Underneath, Maya saw a hole

(22:15):
in the ground. Maya kept very still. The only sound
was the soft pattering of the rain. Then she heard
the beetle call through the hole. If you want to
marry me, you must decide now to get up. It's
already day. Several moments passed before the answer came. Then

(22:37):
Maya heard a thin chirping voice rising from the hole.
For heaven's sake, close the door up there, it's raining inside.
The beetle obeyed. He stood up in an expectant posture,
his head a little to the side, and peered through
the crack. Please hurry, he grumbled. A brown insect slow

(23:00):
crawled out of the hole. It had a chubby body,
extremely thin, slow moving legs, and a frighteningly thick head
with small upright feelers. Good morning, dear, Effie, said the beetle.
Did you sleep well, my dearest. I'm not going with you, Bobby,
she replied. People are talking about us. I don't understand.

(23:24):
Stammered the beetle. Must our newly found happiness be destroyed
by such nonsense? Effie, think about it. What do you
care about what humans say. You have your hole. You
can crawl into it whenever you want. If you go
deep enough, you won't hear any of the gossip above ground. Bobby,

(23:45):
you don't understand. I have my own ideas about this. Besides,
you took advantage of my ignorance. You let me think
you were a rose beetle. But yesterday a snail told
me you're a dung beetle, and that's quite different. Isn't it.
Bobby was stunned. When he had recovered from the shock,
he shouted angrily, No, I don't understand. I can't understand.

(24:11):
Love is something you'll feel for each other no matter
who you are, isn't it. Well, it matters to me,
Effie replied. If you are a creature that likes to
roll around a manure, then I have to tell you
that such behavior doesn't suit me. So good bye and poof.
Effie crawled into her hole, as if a gust of

(24:32):
wind had blown her away. Effie was gone, and Bobby
stared in astonishment at the empty, dark opening. It looked
so silly that Maya had to laugh. The beetle shook
his head and his antenna drooped down. People don't appreciate
the strength of character any more, and respect for each

(24:54):
other is hard to come by, he sighed. I can't
admit it to myself, but she's at absolutely heartless. But
even if she doesn't have the right feelings for me,
she should be wise enough to marry me and be
my wife. Maya saw tears welling up in his eyes,
and her heart was filled with pity, goodness, gracious, she thought,

(25:18):
there is indeed a lot of sorrow in the world.
Then she saw the beetle bite off a piece of
a worm and eat it, and the rest of the
worm just kept on wriggling. How incredibly strange Maya thought.
She wanted to ask the beetle about it, and called out, hello, there.

(25:39):
The beetle was startled. Move over, the beetle cried, but
I'm not in your way. Maya said, where are you? Then?
I can't see you, said the beetle. I'm up here
in the blue flower. Maya called out, okay, but I
can't see you. Why did you call me? The other half?

(26:00):
The worm is getting away, Maya said, yes. Bobby said,
they are very lively creatures, but I've lost my appetite.
Then he threw away the piece of the worm he
had bitten off, and even this part of the worm
scurried away, but in the opposite direction. Maya was completely confused,

(26:21):
but Bobby seemed to be familiar with this peculiarity of worms.
Don't think I always eat worms, the beetle remarked, I
prefer roses, but you don't find those everywhere. Tell the
pieces of worm which way it is, other half went.
Maya called out excitedly. Bobby shook his head and spoke

(26:41):
in a serious tone. Those torn apart by fate are
never reunited. And who are you, Maya, of the bee people?
I'm glad to hear that, the beetle said. I have
nothing against the bees. Why are you sitting there? Bees?
You usually don't sit still? Have you been there long?

(27:03):
I slept here, Maya said, I hope you slept well,
Bobby said, sounding angry. Just woke up, Yes, said Maya,
who had cleverly guessed that Bobby wouldn't like it if
she had eavesdropped on his conversation with Effie the cricket.
I'm Bobby from the family of the rose beetles, said

(27:24):
the beetle. Maya had to laugh to herself because she
knew very well that he wasn't a rose beetle but
a dung beetle, but she didn't say anything about it
because she didn't want to hurt his feelings. Are you
not bothered by the rain, she asked, No, I'm used
to the rain through the roses. You know where roses grow,

(27:46):
it usually rains. Maya thought to herself, Now he really
has to stop with all these lies. I won't let
him fool me any longer. Bobby, she said, with a
mischievous smile, what is that under the leaf? A hole?
A hole? You say there are many holes here, It's

(28:06):
probably just a hole. You have no idea how many
holes there are in the ground. Bobby had hardly finished
speaking when something terrible happened. In his attempt to act
like it didn't bother him, he lost his balance and
fell over. Maya heard a desperate cry, and the next
moment she saw the beetle flat on his back in

(28:27):
the grass. His arms and legs were waving in the air.
Oh goodness, squeaked the beetle. I'll never be able to
stand on my legs again. I'll die. I'm going to
die in this position. Have you ever heard of a
worse fate? And Bobby kept trying to touch the ground
with his feet, but every time he managed to grab
a bit of earth with difficulty, he fell back on

(28:49):
his high half sphere of a back. The situation looked
really hopeless. Maia began to worry seriously. He was turning
very pale in the face, and his cries were heard rending. Wait,
she shouted, I'll try to turn you over. If I
try very hard, I'm sure I can do it, but

(29:11):
you have to stop screaming and listen to me. If
I bend a blade of grass forward and bend the
tip toward you, you can use it to get yourself
in the right position. So little Maia flew, despite the rain,
from her protective spot in the flower to a thin
green blade of grass next to Bobby and clung to

(29:32):
it at the tip. It bent under her weight and
sank right above Bobby's wriggling limbs. Hold on to it,
she shouted. Bobby quickly grabbed it, first with one hand,
then with the other, and finally with his legs. Little
by little, he pulled himself along the blade of grass

(29:54):
until he reached the thicker and stronger part of the grass.
Now he could hold on to it better and turn
himself over with it. He let out a huge sigh
of relief. Ah, thank heavens, he exclaimed. That was terrible.
Are you feeling better now, Maya asked. Bobby grabbed his forehead.

(30:18):
Thank you, Maya, thank you very much. When my dizziness
is over, I'll tell you everything about myself. But Maya
didn't hear anything more. A field mouse came hopping through
the grass looking for insects. Maya hid and lay very
still on the ground until the bird was gone. When
she looked around for Bobby, he was gone, so she

(30:40):
decided to go on her way too, because the rain
had stopped and the day was clear and warm. Maya,
the Bee and the Acrobat Part five. Maya had made
herself comfortable in a hole in a tree. It was
safe and dry. To protect herself from all creatures with

(31:02):
evil intentions, she had partially sealed the entrance of the
treehole with bees wax. She had also stored some honey
there so she wouldn't have to go hungry on rainy days.
Today it was dry and she could fly out again.
Today I will meet a human, she exclaimed, cheerfully. On

(31:23):
days like this, people must surely want to be outdoors
to enjoy nature. She had never seen so many insects
in one day. They were coming and going in the air.
The cheerful buzzing of different insects could be heard in
the grass. She saw clovers and decided to take a
sip of nectar from the flowers. On top of the

(31:45):
flower that was leaning over Maya, she suddenly saw a skinny,
green creature sitting. She found the creature terrifying and was
so afraid that she couldn't move. It had a strange,
bulging forehead and long, fine antenna growing from its eyebrows.
Its body was slim and green all over. Even its

(32:08):
eyes were green. It had graceful forelegs and thin, inconspicuous
wings that, according to Maya, wouldn't be of much use.
The strangest thing about it was its hind legs, which
protruded like two hinge like stilts over its body. Are
you done looking, said the creature. Have you never seen

(32:29):
a grasshopper before? Or are you laying eggs at this moment?
What are you talking about? Maya exclaimed in surprise. Laying eggs?
It wouldn't even cross my mind. Even if I could,
I wouldn't do it. Then I would take over the
queen's task. She is the only one who can and

(32:50):
may do that. The grasshopper lowered its head and made
such a funny face that Maya had to laugh at him.
Madam said the grasshopper, you're quite a character. Then the
grasshopper had to laugh too. Why are you laughing? Maya asked?
You can't seriously expect me to lay eggs here in

(33:11):
the grass. Then the grasshopper said, Hopla, and with a leap,
he was gone. Then he came back to Maya with
another hopler. The grasshopper looked at Maya from top to bottom,
from all sides, from front and back. No, he said,
you definitely can't lay eggs. You are not equipped for it.

(33:34):
You're a wasp? Aren't you being called a wasp? Maya
found it a huge insult. How dare you call me
a wasp? She cried angrily, Hopla, said the grasshopper, and
he was gone again. Maya flew away offended. How dare
he call her a wasp? She thought wasps were useless creatures.

(33:57):
It made her very angry. Hoplah, there he was again, Madam,
said the grasshopper. I beg your pardon for occasionally interrupting
our conversation. But it's just in me that I have
to hop occasionally. I can't help it. Occasionally I have
to jump. Wherever can you jump too? He grinned from

(34:19):
ear to ear, and Maya couldn't be angry with him
any more and had to laugh. Who are you? Maya asked,
I would like to know, well, everyone knows who I am,
said the grasshopper. Maya could never tell if he was
joking or serious. I am a stranger to these parts,
she replied kindly. Otherwise I would certainly know you. But

(34:42):
keep in mind that I belong to the bee family
and am absolutely not a wasp. My goodness, said the grasshopper.
You do look very much alike. You've obviously never been
to school, she burst out. Take a good look at
a wasp. Why should good I replied the grasshopper. What

(35:02):
good would it do to perceive differences that exist only
in the imagination of humans. You a bee fly round
in the air, sting anything you encounter and cannot jump.
The same goes for a wasp. So where's the difference?
Hop la? And he was gone. But now I'm going
to fly away, Maya thought, there he was again. Madam,

(35:27):
said the grasshopper. I would like to invite you to
a jumping contest in which I myself will participate in
the forester's garden. I'm not interested in acrobatics, said Maya.
Someone who flies has higher interests. The grasshopper grinned a
grin you could almost hear. Don't think too highly of yourself,

(35:48):
My dear young lady. Most creatures in this world can fly,
but only a few can jump. I have known grasshoppers,
members of my own family, who can jump up to
three high, hundred times their own length, three hundred times
their own length. Imagine that even the elephant, the largest
animal in the world, cannot jump that high. Hopla, and

(36:12):
he was gone again. Maya found him to be a
strange guy, that grasshopper who called himself Flip the Grasshopper.
But in the brief conversation she had with him, he
taught her many new things. Although she didn't agree with
his ideas about jumping, she found him very interesting. He

(36:33):
knew the names of many different kinds of creatures. Would
he understand their language as well? If he came back,
she would ask him, and she would also ask him
what he thought about coming near a human or going
inside a human's house. Hopla, there was the grasshopper again.
My goodness, where do you keep coming from? Maya asked?

(36:56):
From the surroundings, said the grasshopper. But tell me, do
you just jump out into the world without knowing where
you want to land? Maya asked again, of course, why not?
Can you read the future? Nobody can do that. Only
the tree toad knows, but he never tells, said the grasshopper.

(37:16):
The things you know wonderful, simply wonderful, exclaimed Maya. Do
you understand the language of humans as well? Maya asked curiously.
That's a difficult question to answer, Maya, because it hasn't
been proven whether humans have a language. They make sounds
and seem to understand each other. I once heard two

(37:38):
boys blowing into a blade of grass. The result was
a whistle that could be compared to the chirping of
a cricket, although much less in tone quality. Apparently humans
make an honest attempt, replied the grasshopper. Once again, the
grasshopper took off, but this time Maya waited in vain
for him. She looked around in the grass and the flowers.

(38:02):
He was nowhere to be seen. Maya, the bee and
Puck the fly Part six. Maya, feeling drowsy from the
afternoon heat, flew leisurely along the garden towards the cool
shelter of a large chestnut tree. On a flat piece
of grass in the shade beneath the tree, chairs and

(38:24):
tables were set up, likely for an outdoor meal. A
little further on, the red tiled roof of a farmer's
cottage glistened, and thin blue smoke columns rose from the chimneys. Now,
thought Maya. Now she would finally see a human had
she reached the heart of the human realm. The tree

(38:46):
must be his property, and the strange wooden contraption in
the shade below had to be a bee hive. Then
something buzzed. A fly landed on the leaf next to her.
The little creature ran up and down the green leaf
in small jerks. Its legs couldn't be seen moving, and

(39:06):
it seemed to be shuffling around excitedly. Then it flew
from one broad leaf to another, but so fast and
unexpectedly that you would think it had not flown, but
rather jumped. Apparently it was looking for the most comfortable
spot on the leaf. Occasionally, but for no apparent reason,
it flew briefly and buzzed violently, as if something terribly

(39:30):
unpleasant had happened, causing the world to stand still. Then
it dropped back on to the leaf as if nothing
had happened, and started running again. Finally, it sat very still,
like a motionless statue, watching its antics. Maya flew over
to the fly and politely said, how do you do.

(39:51):
Welcome to my leaf. You're a fly, aren't you? What
else do you take me for? Said the little fly.
My name is Puck. I'm very busy. Do you want
to chase me away? Why would I not at all?
I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, said Maya. I believe you,
was all Puck said, and then he tried to pull

(40:12):
his own head off his body. Goodness, gracious, what are
you doing, exclaimed Maya. I have to do this. You
don't understand. It's something you, as a bee, know nothing about,
said Puck. Now calm again, and he slid his legs
over his wings until they curved around the tip of
his body. Besides, I'm more than just a fly, he added,

(40:35):
somewhat proudly. I'm a house fly. I've flown here for
some fresh air. How interesting, exclaimed Maya cheerfully. Then you
must know everything about humans as well as I know
the pockets of my pants, snorted Puck disdainfully. I sit
on humans every day. Didn't you know that? I thought

(40:57):
you bees were supposed to be smart, You, sir, curtainly
act like it. My name is, Maya, said the little bee,
rather shyly. She didn't understand where the other insects always
got their self confidence from, not to mention their audacity.
Thank you for the information. Whatever your name is, you're
a fool. You must be careful and cautious, he said,

(41:21):
that's the most important thing of all. But in the meantime,
a wave of anger rose in little Maya. The insult
that Puck had hurled at her was too much. Without
really knowing why she was doing it, she rushed at him,
grabbed him by the collar, and held him tightly. I'll
teach you to be polite to a bee, she shouted.

(41:42):
Puck began to cry hard. Please don't sting me, he wailed.
It's the only thing you can do, but it's lethal.
Let me go, Please, let me go. If you still can,
I'll do anything you say. Can't you understand a joke.
It was a joke everyone that bees are the most
respected of all insects and the most powerful and numerous insects.

(42:05):
Don't kill me, please, there'll be no one to bring
me back to life. Good gracious, no one ever appreciates
my humor, fine, said Maya. I'll let you live on
the condition that you tell me everything you know about humans.
I'll gladly do that, exclaimed Puck. I would have told
you anyway, but please let me go first. Maya released him.

(42:29):
Her respect for the fly and any trust she could
have had in him disappeared. What value could the experience
of such a low being have? What would he know
about people? She would have to learn more about humans herself. However,
the lesson had not been in vain. Puck was now
keeping himself calmer, but muttering and grumbling under his breath.

(42:53):
He straightened out his antenna and wings and the tiny
hairs on his black body that had been horribly crumpled
because Maya the bee had caught him so well, everything
in my body is out of joint. It's gotten completely
out of hand, he muttered in a pained tone. That's
because of your excited way of doing things. But tell me,

(43:14):
what do you know about humans? I think the best
thing I can do is tell you a few things
about my own life. You see, I grew up among humans,
so you'll hear exactly what you want to know. You
grew up among humans, of course. It was in the
corner of their room where my mother laid the egg
that I came out of. I made my first attempts

(43:37):
to walk on their sunshade, and I tested the strength
of my wings by flying from Schiller to Guter. What
are Schiller and Guter? There are statues, explained Puck in
a very superior tone, statues of two men who distinguished
themselves from others. Apparently they're under the mirror, one on

(43:58):
the right and one on the left, but no one
pays any attention to them. What's a mirror and why
are the statues under the mirror? As a fly, a
mirror is good for seeing your belly when you crawl
on it. It's very amusing. When people go to a mirror,
they either put their hands on their hair or pull

(44:19):
their beard. When they're alone, they smile in the mirror,
but when there's someone else in the room they look
very serious. What its purposes I've never been able to
figure out. Seems to be a useless game of theirs.
I myself, when I was still a child, had a
lot of trouble with the mirror. I wanted to fly

(44:40):
into it, but of course was thrown back with force.
Maya asked Puck more questions about the mirror, which he
found very difficult to answer. Look, he said, finally, haven't
you ever flown over the smooth surface of water? Well,
a mirror is just like that. The little fly, who
saw that Meyer was listening to his experiences with great

(45:03):
respect and attention, became much friendlier and more polite. As
for Maya's opinion of Pack, although she didn't believe everything
he told her, she regretted thinking so disdainfully of him
in their earlier meeting, Pack continued his story. It took
me a long time to understand their language. Now I

(45:24):
finally know what they want. It's not much because they
usually say the same thing every day. I can hardly
believe that, said Meyer. They have so many interests and
think about many things, and do many things. Cassandra told
me that they build cities that are so large you
can't fly around them in one day, Towers as high

(45:47):
as the bridal flight of our queen Bee, and houses
that float on water. And then they also have houses
that glide over the land on two narrow silver wheels
that go faster than birds. Wait a minute, Puck said, energetically,
who is Cassandra? If I might be so bold to ask, oh,

(46:09):
she was my teacher. Teacher, repeated Puck contemptuously. Probably a bee.
Who else but a bee would overestimate humans like that.
Your miss Cassandra or whatever her name is, doesn't know
her history at all. None of those cities, towers, and
other human contraptions you speak of are good for us.

(46:31):
Puck made a few zigzag movements on a leaf and
pulled at his head again, to Maya's great concern. Do
you know how you can tell that I'm right? Puck asked,
rubbing his hands together as if he were trying to
tie them in a knot. Count the number of humans
and the number of flies in a room. The result
will surprise you. You could be right, but that's not

(46:52):
the point. Do you think I was born this year?
Puck suddenly asked. I don't know. I survived a winter,
Puck announced proudly. My experiences go back to the ice age.
In a sense, they take me through the ice age.
That's why I'm here too. I'm here to recover whatever

(47:13):
you are. You're certainly a spunky creature, observed Maya. That's
what I would say, Puck exclaimed, and made a light jump.
Flies are the boldest racing creation We never run away
unless it's better to run away, and even then we
always come back. Have you ever sat on a human? No,

(47:33):
said Maya, looking at the fly suspiciously from the corner
of her eye. She still didn't know quite what to
make of him. No, I'm not interested in sitting on humans. Ah,
dear child, that's because you don't know what it's like.
If you had ever seen the fun I have with
the man at home, you would turn green with envy.

(47:55):
Let me tell you. There's an old man in my room.
He often falls asleep on the sofa and starts making
strange noises. For me, they are a sign that I
should come down. I fly there and sit on the
sleeping man's forehead. The forehead is between the nose and
hair and is used for thinking. You can see it

(48:15):
in the long wrinkles from left to right. They must
move when something valuable needs to come out of his thinking.
The forehead also shows if people are irritated, but then
the folds move up and down and around hollow forms
above the nose. As soon as I sit on his
thinking wrinkle and start running back and forth on the wrinkles,

(48:36):
the man reaches into the air with his hands. He
thinks I'm somewhere in the air. That's because I'm sitting
on his thinking wrinkle and he can't quickly determine where
I actually am. Eventually he starts muttering and hitting me. Well,
miss Meyer or whatever your name is, you have to
be smart about this. I see the hand coming, but

(48:58):
I wait until the last moment. Moment, then I fly
skillfully aside, sit down and see what he does next.
We often played the game for a full half an hour.
You have no idea how much endurance this man has. Finally,
he jumps up and spouts a series of words showing

(49:18):
how ungrateful he is. But a noble soul like me
does not seek reward. By that time, I'm already sitting
on the ceiling listening to his ungrateful outburst. I can't
say I like it very much. Maya remarked, isn't it
rather pointless? Do you expect me to put a honeycomb

(49:39):
on his nose? Puck exclaimed, you have no sense of humor,
dear girl, what do you do that's useful? Little Maya
turned completely red, but quickly recovered to hide her embarrassment
from Puck. The time will come soon, she buzzed, when
I will do something big and beautiful and also good
and useful. But first I want to see what's happening

(50:01):
in the world. Deep in my heart, I feel that
it's almost time. As Maya spoke, she felt a flood
of hope and enthusiasm overwhelm her being. But Puck didn't
seem to realize how serious and deeply moved she was.
He zigzagged around for a while in his restless way,
and then asked, do you happen to have any honey

(50:23):
with you? Dear girl? I'm sorry, Maya replied. I would
love to give you some, especially after you entertained me
so pleasantly, but I really don't have any honey with me.
Can I ask you one more question? Ask whatever you want?
Puck said, I will answer. I will always answer. I
would like to know how to get into a human's house.

(50:46):
Fly inside, Puck said, cleverly, But how without getting into danger?
Wait until a window is opened, but make sure you
find your way back out. Once you are insight and
can't find the window, The best thing to do is
to fly towards the light. In every house, you'll always

(51:07):
find plenty of windows. You just have to notice where
the sun shines through. Are you leaving now? Yes, I'm leaving,
Maya answered as she reached out her hand. I have
some things to take care of. Goodbye. I hope you
recover well from the effects of the ice age. And
with her delicate, self assured buzzing that also sounded a

(51:30):
little anxious, the little Maya lifted her shining wings and
flew into the sun on her way to gather some
food from the flowery meadows. Maya the Bee gets into
trouble Part seven. After meeting Puck the Fly, Maya the
Bee was not very happy. She simply could not believe

(51:53):
that he was right about everything he had said about humans,
or that everything he had experienced with humans it was true.
She had a much nicer and more beautiful image of
humans in her head. She did not want that image
to be changed by believing in all these ridiculous ideas
about humanity. However, she was still a little afraid to

(52:15):
enter a house. How was she supposed to know if
the owner would like her visit or not. But she
would make sure that nobody was bothered by her. She
thought back to the things Cassandra had told her. People
are good and wise, Cassandra had said. They are strong
and powerful, but they never abuse their power. On the contrary,

(52:38):
wherever they go they bring order and prosperity. We bees,
knowing that they are friendly to us, we put ourselves
under their protection and share our honey with them. They
leave enough for us for the winter. They offer us
shelter from the cold and protect us from other hostile animals.

(52:59):
There are few creatures in the world who have entered
into such a friendship with humans and willingly work for humans.
Among insects, much evil is often spoken of. Humans do
not listen to them. If a bee city, ever foolishly
tries to return to the wild and try to do
without humans, the city quickly perishes. There are too many

(53:23):
animals that crave our honey, and often an entire bee city,
all its buildings, and all its inhabitants are ruthlessly destroyed,
a pointless act, just because an animal wants to satisfy
its hunger for honey. That's what Cassandra had told Maya
about humans, and until Maya convinced herself otherwise, she wanted

(53:45):
to maintain this belief in humans. It was afternoon now,
the sun was setting behind the fruit trees in the
large vegetable garden where Maya was flying through. The trees
had long ceased to bloom, but the bee still remembered
the radiant splendor of countless blossoms, the delicious scent, the shine,

(54:07):
and the glittering. Oh, she would never forget how beautiful
that was. As she flew, she thought about how all
that beauty would return in the spring, and her heart
beat with delight and joy that she was allowed to
fly in such a beautiful world. At the end of
the garden, the jasmine was in full bloom with large plumes.

(54:30):
The flowers had yellow faces with a crown of pure white.
They smelled deliciously sweet. As Maya floated by on a
soft breeze, she flew between the stems of the BlackBerry
bushes that produced green berries and blossoms at the same time.
But when she took off again to fly further, something

(54:53):
strange suddenly fell on her forehead and shoulders, and it
also quickly covered her wings. It as the strangest sensation ever,
as if her wings were crippled, and she was suddenly
being held back in her flight, and she helplessly fell
down an invisible malevolent force seemed to be holding her feelers,

(55:15):
her legs, and her wings, but she didn't fall. Although
she couldn't move her wings anymore, she still hung swaying
in the air. She went up a little, then down
a little. Then she was thrown there, then the other way.
It was as if she were a loose leaf in
the wind. Maya was distressed, but not really terrified. Yet

(55:38):
why would she be. She didn't feel any pain or
discomfort of any kind. It was just very peculiar, so
peculiar that something dreadful seemed to be lurking in the background.
But she had to keep flying. If she tried very hard,
she could certainly do it. But now she saw an elastic,

(55:59):
silvery thread over her chest, finer than the finest silk.
She grew cold with fear and quickly grabbed it, but
it clung to her hand and she couldn't shake it off.
And there was another silver thread over her shoulders. The
thread lay over her wings and bound them together. Her

(56:19):
wings were powerless, and there everywhere in the air and
above her body and under her body were those peculiar,
glistening glooy threads. Maya screamed in horror, now she knew, Oh,
now she knew. She was caught in a spider web.
Her terrified cries echoed in the quiet summer air, where

(56:43):
the sunshine turned the green of the leaves into gold,
and insects flew back and forth, and birds flew merrily
from tree to tree. Near By, the jasmine sprinkled its
delightful scent through the air, the jasmine she had wanted
to reach. Now it was all over. A little bluish
butterfly with brown spots gleaming like copper on its wings,

(57:07):
flew by. Oh you, poor soul, exclaimed the butterfly, upon
hearing Maya's screams and seeing her desperate condition. May your
death be an easy one, dear child. I cannot help you.
One day, perhaps even to night, I will suffer the
same fate. But in the meantime life is still delightful

(57:31):
for me. Good Bye, don't forget to think of the
sunshine during the sleep of death. And the blue butterfly
fluttered away, rejoicing in the sun, the flowers and its
own joy of life. Tears streamed from Maya's eyes, and
she lost her composure. She tossed her captive body back

(57:51):
and forth buzzed as loudly as she could and screamed
for help. But the more she moved, the tighter she became.
Intent in the web. Now in this great misery, Cassandra's
warnings ran through her head. Be careful of the spider
and its web. If we bees fall into the power

(58:12):
of the spider, we undergo the most gruesome death. The
spider is heartless and cunning, and once it has someone
in its web, it never lets them go. In her terror,
Maya made one last desperate attempt to break free, and
somewhere one of the long, heavier threads snapped. Maya felt
it break, but at the same time, she felt the

(58:34):
terrible spider web everywhere. That's how a spider web works.
The more one struggles in it, the more effective and
dangerous it becomes. So she gave up, completely exhausted. At
that moment, she saw the spider itself very close by
under a BlackBerry leaf. Upon seeing the large monster, still

(58:56):
and serious, crouched as if ready to strike, my horror
grew even greater. The wicked, shiny eyes looked with cool
patience at the little bee, Maya let out a loud
cry of fear. This was the worst of all, death
itself could not look worse than that gray, hairy monster

(59:17):
with her wicked fangs and raised legs under her thick body.
The spider would come running at her, and then everything
would be over. Suddenly, Maya became terribly angry, worse than ever.
She forgot her great fear of death and focused on
only one thing, to sell her life as dearly as possible.

(59:38):
She let out a loud, clear, alarming battle cry that
all creatures knew and feared. You will pay for your
cunning with death. She shouted at the spider, come and
try to kill me. Go on, you will soon discover
what a bee can do. The spider did not flinch.

(59:58):
She had scared bigger c creatures than little Maya. Strong
in her anger, Maya now made another violent, desperate attempt
to break free, and one of the long hanging threads
above her broke. The web was probably meant for flies
and mosquitoes, not for such large insects like bees, but

(01:00:19):
Maya only became more entangled in the web. In one
sliding movement, the spider came very close to Maya. She
swung her agile legs on a single thread and hung
with her body straight down. What gives you the right
to break my web? She rasped at Maya. What are

(01:00:40):
you doing here? Isn't the world big enough for you?
Why are you bothering a peaceful recluse like me? That
was certainly not what Maya had expected to hear. It
wasn't my intention, she cried, but with a glimmer of hope.
However ugly the spider was, she did not seem to
be planning any harm. I didn't see your web and

(01:01:03):
got caught in it. I'm so sorry. Please excuse me.
The spider came closer. You have a funny little body,
she said, letting go of the thread with one leg,
then the other. The thin thread shook. How extraordinary that
such a thin thread could support such a large creature.

(01:01:23):
Oh please help me out of here, meya begged. I
would be so grateful. That's why i'm here, said the spider, smiling. Strangely,
despite all her smiles, she looked mean and deceitful. Your
struggling is ruining my whole web. Just be quiet for
a second and I'll set you free. Oh, thank you,

(01:01:47):
thank you. In advance, Meyer exclaimed, the spider was now
very close to her. She carefully examined the web to
see how Maya was entangled. What about your stinger, she asked, Oh,
how mean and hideous she looked. Maya shuddered at the
thought of the spider touching her, but replied as kindly

(01:02:09):
as she could. Don't worry about my stinger. I'll put
it in and then no one could hurt themselves on it.
I hope not, said the spider. Now be careful, be quiet,
otherwise it's a waste of my web. Maya remained quiet.
Suddenly she felt herself being tossed back and forth in
the same spot until she became dizzy and nauseous and

(01:02:32):
had to close her eyes. What has going on? She
quickly opened her eyes. She was completely entangled in a fresh,
sticky thread that the spider must have had with her.
My dear God, little Maya cried softly in a trembling voice.
That was all she said. Now she saw how mean

(01:02:54):
the spider had been. She had fallen for it, and
now there was absolutely no che answer of escape. She
couldn't move any part of her body. Her end was
really near. Now her anger was gone. There was only
a great sadness in her heart. I didn't know that
there was so much meanness and wickedness in the world.

(01:03:15):
She thought, the dark night of death is waiting for me.
Good Bye, dear bright Son, good Bye my dear bees.
Why did I ever leave you? I wish you a
happy life, but unfortunately I am going to die. The
spider was on guard a little to the side. She
was still afraid of Maya's stinger. Well, well what now,

(01:03:39):
she jeered, How are you feeling? Little girl? Maya was
too proud to answer the false creature. After a while,
she only said when she felt she couldn't take it
any more. Please just kill me now, really, said the spider,
and tied a few torn threads together. Really, dear you

(01:04:00):
think I'm as crazy and animal as you are. You'll
die anyway if you hang around long enough, and that's
when I'll suck the blood out of you and you
can't sting me. If you could see how terribly you've
damaged my web, then you'd realize that you deserve to die.
She dropped to the ground placed the end of the
newly spun thread around a stone. Then she ran back up,

(01:04:24):
grabbed the thread to which little trapped Mire was hanging,
and dragged her captive along. I'll put you in the shade, dear,
she said, so you don't dry out in the sun here. Besides,
hanging there, you look like a scarecrow. You scare other
mortals who aren't paying attention to where they're going. Sometimes

(01:04:44):
sparrows come and raid my web. By the way, my
name is Thalke. I'm related to cross spiders. You don't
have to tell me your name. It doesn't make a difference.
You're a nice, fat bee, and you'll taste deliciously ten
and juicy. So there hung little Maya in the shadow

(01:05:04):
of the BlackBerry bush, close to the ground, completely at
the mercy of the cruel spider who wanted to let
her die by a slow death of hunger. With her
head down an anxious position to be, and she soon
felt that it wouldn't take many more minutes. She whimpered softly,
and her cry for help grew weaker and weaker. Who

(01:05:26):
could hear her now? Her bee colony knew nothing of
this disaster, so they couldn't come to her aid. Suddenly
she heard someone growling down in the grass. Move over,
I'm coming. Maya's heart began to beat fast. She recognized
the voice of Bobby the dung Beetle. Bobby. She cried

(01:05:49):
as loudly as she could.

Speaker 2 (01:05:51):
Bobby, Dear Bobby, move over, I'm coming, but I'm not
in your way, Bobby, Maya shouted, no, I'm hanging above
your head.

Speaker 1 (01:06:03):
The spider has caught me. Who are you? Asked Bobby.
So many people know me. You know that, don't you.
I'm Maya, Maya the bee ah. Please help me, Please,
Maya Maya Ah. Now I remember you met me a
few weeks ago. You're in a bad shape. If I

(01:06:25):
may say so, you certainly need my help. Since I
happen to have a little time, I won't refuse. Oh, Bobby,
can you tear these threads? Tear those threads? Don't insult me.
Bobby flexed his arm. Muscles look, muscles as hard as steel.
I can do much more than smash a few spider webs,

(01:06:47):
you'll see. Bobby crawled on to the leaf, grabbed the
thread on which Maya was hanging, clung on to it,
and then let go of the leaf. The thread broke
and they both fell to the This is just the beginning,
said Bobby. But Maya, you're trembling, My dear child, What

(01:07:08):
are you so afraid of death? For you must look
death calmly in the eye, just like I do. So
I'll get you out now. Maya couldn't speak. Tears of
happiness rolled down her cheeks. She would be free again,
fly in the sun, fly wherever she wanted. She would
live again. Bobby freed Maia from the spider web, but

(01:07:32):
then she saw the spider come down along the BlackBerry bush. Bobby,
She screamed, The spider is coming. Bobby continued calmly and
just laughed to himself. He was truly an exceptionally strong insect.
She'll think twice before coming closer, he said. But then

(01:07:54):
the mean voice sounded above them. Rubbers help, I'm being robbed,
you fat bump. What are you doing with my prey?
Don't worry, madam, said Bobby. If you say another word
that I don't like, I'll tear your whole web to
shreds Now, tell me, why are you suddenly so quiet?

(01:08:14):
I'm defeated, said the spider. You better leave here now,
remarked Bobby. The spider threw Bobby a look full of
hate and venom, but reconsidered when she looked at her
web and slowly turned away, angry, cursing and grumbling. Fangs
and stings were of no use. They wouldn't even leave

(01:08:35):
a trace on the thick shell that beetles carried with
violent muttering about the injustice in the world. The spider
hid in a withered leaf, from where she could spy
and watch over her web. Meanwhile, Bobby had freed Maia.
He tore the threads around her legs and wings. The
rest she could do herself. How happy she was, but

(01:08:58):
she had to move slow, as she was still weak
from the shock. You just have to forget what you've
been through, said Bobby. Then you'll stop trembling. Now, see
if you can fly. Try it. Maya rose up with
a soft buzz. Her wings were still working perfectly, and
to her great joy, she felt no part of her

(01:09:20):
body had been injured. She flew slowly to the jasmine flowers,
drank eagerly from the deliciously fragrant honeysap, and returned to Bobby,
who had left the BlackBerry bushes and was sitting in
the grass. I thank you with all my heart and soul,
said Maya, deeply moved and very happy with her regained freedom.

(01:09:42):
A word of thanks is in order, said Bobby. But
that's just me. I always do something for other people.
Now fly away quickly. I advise you to go to
bed early to night. Do you have a long way
to go? No, said Maya. I don't have far to
I live on the edge of the beach forest. Goodbye, Bobby.

(01:10:04):
I will never forget you, never, never, as long as
I live. Goodbye, Maya. The Bee and the Butterfly, Part eight.
Her adventure with the spider gave Maya something to think about.
She resolved to be more careful in the future and

(01:10:26):
not to act so recklessly and hastily. Cassandra's warnings to
be cautious of the great dangers that threatened the bees
she had to take seriously, and there were plenty of
opportunities to discover. The world was such a big place.
There was so much to do and see for a
little bee, especially in the evenings when dusk fell and

(01:10:48):
Maya was all alone. She thought about this, but the
next morning, when the sun shone, she usually forgot everything
she had worried about. Her desire for new experiences drove
her back into the happy rush of life. One day,
she met a very curious creature. It was angular but flat,

(01:11:09):
like a pancake. Its shell looked rather neat, but whether
it had wings that was not entirely clear. The strange
little creature sat completely still on the shady leaf of
a raspberry bush, with its eyes half closed, seemingly lost
in meditation. The delicious scent of raspberries filled the air.

(01:11:32):
Maya wanted to know what kind of animal it was.
She flew to the nearby leaf and asked, how are you.
The stranger did not answer, well, how are you? Maya
tapped his leaf. The flat object opened one eye, aimed
it at Maya and said, a bee. The world is

(01:11:54):
full of bees, and closed its eye again. What a
strange creature that it is, thought Maya, and she was
determined to uncover the secret of the stranger. It piqued
her curiosity more than ever, so she tried, with honey.
I have plenty of honey, she said, may I offer

(01:12:15):
you sam. The stranger opened one eye and looked at
Maya pensively for a moment or two. What will it
say this time? Maya wondered, But this time there was
no answer at all. The one eye just closed again,
and the stranger sat very still tight on the leaf
so you couldn't see its legs. You could almost think

(01:12:37):
that the creature had been flattened with a thumb. Of course,
Maya realized that the stranger wanted to ignore her. But
you know how the little bee is. She doesn't like
to be ignored or snapped at, especially if she hasn't
yet discovered what she wants to know. Whoever you are,
Maya called out, I can tell you that insects have

(01:12:58):
a habit of greeting each other, especially when one of
them happens to be a bee. The insect sat still,
without moving, and didn't open its one eye. It's certainly sick,
Maya thought, how awful to be sick on a beautiful
day like this. That's why it stays in the shade.
She flew to the leaf and sat next to the creature.

(01:13:22):
Are you not feeling well? She asked, as kindly as possible.
On this The funny creature began to move away. Move
is the only word to use, because it didn't walk, run, fly,
or hop. Really, it went on as if pushed by
an invisible hand. It has no legs. That's why it's

(01:13:44):
so angry, thought Maya. When it reached the stem of
the leaf. It stopped for a moment, then continued, and,
to Maya's amazement, she saw that it had left a
small brown droplet on the leaf. How strange, she thought.
But then she quickly put her hand in front of

(01:14:04):
her nose and held it tightly. A huge stench came
from the small brown droplet. Maya almost fainted. She flew
away as fast as she could and sat on a
raspberry where she held her nose closed and trembled with
disgust and excitement. Why would you want to touch a
stink bug? Someone above her called out and laughed. Don't laugh,

(01:14:30):
Maya yelled. She looked up. A white butterfly had landed
on a thin, swaying branch of the raspberry bush and
slowly opened and closed its broad wings. It sat still
and content in the sunshine. The butterfly had black corners
on its wings and round black spots in the middle
of each wing. How beautiful. Maya forgot her annoyance, and

(01:14:56):
she was also happy to talk to the butterfly. She
had never met one, although she had seen many flying by. Oh,
she said, you're probably right to laugh. Was that a
stink bug? That's what it was, he replied, still smiling.
The kind of creature to stay away from. You are

(01:15:16):
probably still quite young, well, may remarked, I wouldn't exactly
say that. I've been through a lot, but that was
the first specimen of that kind that I've ever encountered.
Can you imagine doing something like the stink bug dead?
The butterfly laughed again. You know what it is, he explained.

(01:15:38):
Stink bugs like to keep to themselves. They're not very popular,
so they use the fragrant drop to draw attention to themselves.
Without that drop, we will probably forget about their existence
fairly quickly. It serves as a reminder, and they want
to be remembered anyway. Mayo continued to talk to the butterfly.

(01:15:59):
Your wings are beautiful, really so gorgeous, Maia said. May
I introduce myself, Maya of the bee people. The butterfly
folded its wings together and it looked like only one
wing standing straight up in the air. He made a
slight bow, fred, he said casually. Maya stared at the

(01:16:22):
butterfly in amazement. Fly a little, she asked, Shall I
fly away?

Speaker 2 (01:16:29):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (01:16:30):
No, I just want to see your big white wings
move in the blue sky. But never mind, I can
wait until later. Where do you live nowhere special? A
fixed abode is too bothersome. Life only became really delightful
when I turned into a butterfly. Before that, I was
a caterpillar. All I did was sit in the cabbage

(01:16:52):
all day and eat and quarrel. What do you mean exactly,
asked Maia, bewildered, before I was a caterpillar, Fred explained
that could never have been possible. Meyer exclaimed, well, well,
said Fred, pointing both his antenna straight at Meya, every

(01:17:13):
one knows that a butterfly starts out as a caterpillar.
Even humans know it. Maya was completely perplexed. Could something
like that really happen? You'll really have to explain it
more clearly, she said. I couldn't just take what you
said for granted, you can't expect that from me. The
butterfly sat down next to the little bee on the slim,

(01:17:36):
swaying branch of the raspberry bush, and they swayed together
in the morning breeze. Meanwhile, he told her how he
had started life as a caterpillar, and then one day,
when he shed his last caterpillar skin, he emerged as
a chrysalis. After a few weeks, he continued, I woke

(01:17:57):
up from my dark sleep and broke through the sh
shell of the chrysalis. I can't tell you, Maya, what
a feeling comes over you when you suddenly see the
sun again after such a long time. I felt as
if I was melting into a warm, golden ocean, and
I loved my life so much that my heart started pounding.

(01:18:20):
I understand completely, said Maya. I felt that way too
when I first left the everyday life of our bee
city and flew into the bright, fragrant world of blossoms.
The little bee fell silent for a moment thinking about
her first flight, but then she wanted to know how

(01:18:40):
the butterfly's large wings could grow in the small space
of the chrysalis. Fred explained it to her. The wings
are completely folded up, just like the petals of a
flower in the bud. When the weather is clear and warm,
the flower has to open. It can't help it and
the petals unfore, so my wings were first folded up

(01:19:03):
and then unfolded. No one can resist the sunshine when
it shines. No no one can resist the sunshine, mused
Maya as she looked at the butterfly, sitting in the
golden light of the morning, pure white against the blue sky.
People often accuse us of being frivolous, said Fred, But

(01:19:25):
we are truly happy, just that, simply happy. They wouldn't believe.
How seriously I sometimes think about life. Tell me what
you think about oh, said Fred. I think about the future.
It's very interesting to think about the future. But now
I would like to fly. The meadows on the hills

(01:19:48):
are full of yarrow and other beautiful flowers. Everything is
in bloom. I would like to be there. You know.
Maya understood this very well, so they said good by
and flew off in different directions. The white butterfly swayed quietly,
as if driven by the gentle wind, and little Maya

(01:20:10):
flew with the buzz of the bee around a flower,
the sound we hear on beautiful days, and that we
always think of when we think of summer. Maya, the
Bee and the Lost Leg Part nine. In the tree
hollow where Maya had settled for the summer, there also

(01:20:30):
lived a family of beetles. Fridolin, the father, was a
hard working beetle who made great efforts to take care
of his large family. He was very proud of his
five energetic sons, who had all dug their own twisting
tunnels into the trunk of the pine tree. One early morning, Fridolin,

(01:20:52):
as he often did, came to wish her good morning
and asked if she had slept well. Aren't you flying today?
He asked, No, it's too windy. It was indeed windy.
The wind howled, tossing the branches up and down and
blowing the leaves off the trees. After every gust of wind,

(01:21:15):
the sky cleared, but the trees became more bare. Even
the pine tree where Maya and Fridolin lived creaked and
groaned in the wind. Freedol inside, I worked hard all night.
You have to do something to get somewhere. But I'm
not happy with this pine tree at all. Another tree

(01:21:36):
would have been better, he said to Maya. Freedol inside
and said with concern, Ah, life would be really beautiful
if there were no woodpeckers. Maya nodded, yes, indeed, you
are right. The woodpecker eats up every insect he sees.
If that were all, if he only ate the careless creatures,

(01:21:59):
then I say a woodpecker also needs to live, but
that he follows us deep into our tunnels in the
tree is really inappropriate, observed Friedolin. But he can't do that.
He's too big, right. Friedolin looked at Maya with a
serious expression, raised his eyebrows, and shook his head two

(01:22:20):
or three times. He seemed to feel really important because
he knew something she didn't. His size doesn't matter, my
dear bee, we're afraid of his tongue. Maya looked at
him with wide eyes. Freedolin told her about the woodpecker's tongue.
It was long and thin, round like a worm, and

(01:22:41):
like barbed wire, and sticky. He can stretch his tongue
ten times my length and then stick it deep into
all the cracks and crevices of the tree in the
hope of finding something there. That's how he gets into
our homes too. I'm not easily frightened, said but this
is scary. Oh you don't have to be afraid. You

(01:23:05):
have a stinger, said Fridolin, a little jealous. But it's
different with us beetles. Maya sat listening with a pounding heart,
thinking of her own adventures in the past and the
accidents that could still happen to her. Suddenly, she heard
Fridolin laughing. She looked up in surprise. Look who's here,

(01:23:27):
he exclaimed. Maya saw a remarkable creature climbing up the
trunk slowly. She didn't know such creatures existed. Shouldn't we hide,
she asked? When fear overcame her amazement, don't be silly,
answered the beetle. Sit still and be polite to him.
He is very learned and also kind and funny. Look

(01:23:50):
what he's doing now, he's struggling with the wind, said Fridolin,
and laughed. I hope his legs don't get tangled up.
Are those long thread's really his legs? Asked Maya, her
eyes wide open. I've never seen anything like it. Meanwhile,
Maya could see them, you comer better. His body on

(01:24:12):
his long legs seemed to sway in the air, and
it looked like he had to hold on to all sides.
He cautiously stepped forward, the small brown ball of his
body moving up and down, and he clung to the
tree with all his legs. Maya clapped her hands. Well,
have you ever even in your dreams, such delicate legs

(01:24:35):
would not exist? They are as fine as hair, and
you can use them just like that. I think it's amazing, Freedolin.
Then the stranger joined them and looked down at Maya
from his high, pointy legs. Good morning, he said, what
a wind, and he clung to the tree as hard
as he could. Fridolin turned around to hide his laughter,

(01:24:58):
but little Maya politely agreed with him and explained that
she did not fly because of the wind. Then she
introduced herself. The stranger peered at her through his legs.
Maya of the bee people, I am glad to meet you.
I myself belong to the family of spiders, the spiders
with long legs. My name is Hannibal. Spiders have a

(01:25:20):
bad reputation among small insects, and Maya could not hide
her fear completely. She thought back with fear to her
adventure in the web of the spider Thelcha. But she said,
I can always fly away. He has no wings and
his web is somewhere else. If you don't mind, I'll
come and sit on your branch too. Well, of course,

(01:25:43):
said Maya, making room for him. There are so many
different kinds of animals in the world, she thought, a
new discovery every day. Suddenly, she exclaimed, Hannibal, you have
one leg too many, you finally noticed, he said sadly.
But actually I am missing one leg, not one too many.

(01:26:06):
Why do you usually have eight legs? We spiders have
eight legs and we need them all. I lost one
of my legs, really too bad, but I make the
best of it. It must be terrible to lose a leg,
said Maia sympathetically. Hannibal rested his chin on his hand
and arranged his legs under him so they were not

(01:26:29):
easy to count. I'll tell you how it happened. Of
course a human was involved. We spiders are careful, but
humans are careless. Oh, please tell me the story, said Maya,
settling in listen, said Hannibal. We spiders hunt at night.
I live in a garden shed where I could easily

(01:26:50):
crawl in and out. One night a man came with
a lamp, paper and ink because he wanted to write
down his thoughts. He wrote about insects. But humans really
know very little about our insect people. One evening, as usual,
I was sitting on a window sill and the man
was sitting at the table. It irritated me terribly that

(01:27:12):
a swarm of small flies and mosquitoes, which I depend
on for my livelihood was sitting on the lamp and
looking into it. They would be better off outside under
the leaves, where they would be safe from the lamp
and where I could catch them. On that fateful night,
I saw a few mosquitoes die under the lamp. The

(01:27:32):
man left them there, so I decided to go and
get them myself. That was my downfall. I crawled up
the table leg and carefully walked to the lamp. But
when I passed the bottle, the man grabbed me. He
lifted me up by one of my legs and swung
me back and forth while laughing hard. And I just
stared into his big eyes. Hannibal sighed, and Little Maya

(01:27:57):
remained very still, her head spun from the story. Do
humans have such huge eyes? She finally asked, Please imagine
what it was like for me, Hannibal cried angrily. I
was hanging there by one leg in front of those
big eyes. A terrible, really terrible Fortunately my leg broke off,

(01:28:21):
otherwise something much worse would have happened. I fell on
the table and ran as fast as I could. He
put my leg, which was still moving, on a white
piece of paper. Did your legs still move? Maya asked incredulously. Yes,
our legs always move when they are pulled off. My

(01:28:42):
leg ran Because I wasn't there, it didn't know where
to run. Impossible, Maya said, A leg that's pulled off
can't move any more. You are still too young to understand.
But our legs keep moving even when they are detached
from our bodies, said the spider angrily. I can't believe

(01:29:02):
it without proof. Do you think I would cut off
a leg just to satisfy you, said Hannibal, even angrier.
I never want to see you again. Nobody has ever
doubted my words. Maya didn't understand what had upset the
spider so much, or what terrible things she had done.

(01:29:25):
It's not easy to deal with strangers, she thought. They
don't think like us and don't see that we mean
no harm. She looked sadly at the angry spider. Hannibal
had apparently mistaken Maya's kindness for weakness. Now, something unusual
happened to the little bee. Suddenly she became very brave.

(01:29:47):
She stood up, raised her beautiful transparent wings, buzzed her
high clear buzz, and said, with a sparkle in her eyes,
I am a bee, mister Hannibal, I beg your pardon,
he said, and without saying good bye, he turned and
ran as fast as someone with seven legs can run

(01:30:08):
to the tree trunk. The wind was almost calm, and
it promised to be a beautiful day. Maya thought of
the meadows full of flowers and sunny slopes behind the lake,
and she flew like a happy bee, high through the air,
heading for the meadows with their cheerful carpets of flowers,

(01:30:30):
and she was glad to be alive. Maya the Bee
and the Wonders of the Night part ten in the summer.
Little Maya happily flew around and had many adventures, Yet
she missed the other bees and the kingdom. She longed
for useful work. Bees are restless creatures, However, Little Maya

(01:30:55):
was not yet ready to live in the bee kingdom forever.
Not every bee and a apt well. Just as with people,
we must be careful not to judge them, but give
them a chance to prove themselves. Beneath their peculiar behavior
lies a deep longing for something more beautiful than everyday life.
Little Maya was a pure and sensitive being with a

(01:31:18):
genuine interest in everything the world had to offer. Yet,
it is difficult to be alone, even if you are happy,
and the longer Meyer experienced her adventures alone, the more
she longed for companionship. By now, she had grown from
a small bee into a beautiful creature with strong wings

(01:31:39):
and a sharp stinger, and she was a true adventurer.
She wanted to do something with everything she had learned
along the way. Sometimes she wanted to return to the
beehive and ask the queen for forgiveness, but her desire
to get to know humans was greater. According to her,
no one was more intelligent, more powerful than humans. One day,

(01:32:04):
she saw a sleeping girl among the blossoms. Maya stared
at her in amazement and found her very sweet. She
immediately forgot all the horrible things she had heard about humans,
and after a while, a mosquito passed by and greeted her.
Look at that girl over there, See how good and

(01:32:24):
beautiful she is, exclaimed Maya delightedly. The mosquito threw a
surprised glance at Maya, then slowly turned around and looked
at the object of her admiration. Yes, she is a
good human. I just tasted her. I stung her look,
my body is shining red from her blood. Maya was shocked.

(01:32:48):
Will she die? Where did you injure her? How could
you do that? You are a predator? The mosquito giggled. Oh,
I just stung her through her stockings. You're ignorant and
is truly amazing. Do you really think humans are good creatures?
I have never met any one who voluntarily gave me
a drop of blood. I don't know much about humans,

(01:33:10):
I admit, said Meyer. But of all insects, you bees
have the most to do with humans. That is a
known fact. I left our kingdom, Maya confessed, shyly. I
didn't like it. I wanted to learn more about the
outside world. And how do you like the outside world.

(01:33:30):
I admire your independence. I would never agree to serve humans,
but humans also serve us, said Maya, who couldn't stand
the mosquito's criticism. Maybe which tribe do you belong to?
I come from the bee tribe in the castle park.
I've heard of that. I respect your kingdom where there

(01:33:54):
was a recent uprising? Is that correct? The mosquito said. Yees, yes,
said Maya proudly, and deep in her heart, she felt
the homesickness for her people, and the urge to serve
the queen. She didn't ask the mosquito any more questions
about humans. She thought the mosquito was a cheeky lady.

(01:34:16):
I'm going to get another nice sip, the mosquito exclaimed
as she flew away. Maya quickly went away. She couldn't
stand to see the mosquito hurting the sleeping girl, and
how could she do this and not die herself. If
you sting a human, you'll die. Despite this event, her
desire to get to know humans well was not satisfied.

(01:34:40):
She vowed to be braver and never stop until she
achieved her goal. Her desire to get to know humans
would come true in a more beautiful way than she
could have ever dreamed. On a warm evening, she went
to bed early and suddenly woke up in the middle
of the night. When she opened her eye eyes, she

(01:35:00):
saw that her bedroom had a silent, bluish glow. The
glow came from the entrance, and it looked like a
silver blue curtain. At first, Maya was afraid to look,
but along with the light came a delightful calmness and
a harmonious sound. Could be heard. She looked outside, and

(01:35:22):
the whole world seemed to be under a spell. The
trees and the grass were covered in a silver veil,
and everything was wrapped in this soft blue glow. This
must be the night, whispered Maya. As she folded her wings.
A silver disk hung high in the sky, and a

(01:35:43):
beautiful glow streamed into the world. Maya saw countless small
lights in the sky. Everything was so quiet and beautiful.
She saw the night with the moon and the stars.
She had heard of them before, had never seen them.
Then she heard the sound that had awakened her again,

(01:36:06):
a fine chirping. She could no longer stay in her
room and flew out into the beautiful night. Just as
she was about to fly further into the silver night,
Maya saw a winged creature land on a beech leaf.
It raised its head and wings to the moon, and
there came the silver chirping that Maya had heard earlier

(01:36:29):
that night. How beautiful it sounds heavenly, whispered Maya. She
flew to the leaf, but when she touched the leaf,
the chirping stopped. There was a deep silence. There was
almost eerie. Good night, said Maya, politely. I'm sorry to interrupt,

(01:36:51):
but the music you make is so beautiful, and I
had to find out where it came from. The cricket
looked in surprise. What kind of crawling creature are you.
I've never met any one like you. I'm not a
crawling insect. I am Maya from the bee people. Oh,

(01:37:12):
from the bee people. You live by day, don't you.
I heard about your race from the hedgehog. He told
me that he eats dead bees thrown out of the
hive in the evening. Yes, said Maia, somewhat fearfully. I
also heard about the hedgehog. He comes out when dusk

(01:37:32):
falls and eats dead insects. But are you friends with
that creature? He is terribly rough. We snowy tree crickets
get along just fine with him. Of course, he tries
to catch us, but he can never succeed. We always
tease him with great pleasure. So you are a tree cricket,

(01:37:53):
said Meyer. Yes, a snowy tree cricket. But now I
have no time to talk. I really have to make music.
It's a beautiful night with a full moon. Midsummer night
is the most beautiful night of the year, said the cricket.
That's all I can tell you. Listen to my music

(01:38:14):
and you'll hear it. And the cricket started chirping again.
The little bee sat quietly in the blue summer night,
thinking deeply about life. Then the silence fell. There was
a soft buzz, and Maya saw the cricket fly into

(01:38:34):
the moonlight. The night makes her bee sad, too, she thought,
so she quickly flew to her beloved flower meadow. On
the way, she saw beautiful irises along the stream that
gleamed in the moonlight. She landed on one of the
blue petals. Where does all that water from the stream go?

(01:38:57):
She wondered, I know so little about the world. Suddenly,
a delicate voice rose from the flower next to her.
It sounded like a clear bell and was unlike any
sound Maya had heard before. What could this be, thought
the little bee. Then a small creature emerged from the

(01:39:20):
flower with a glowing body. Dressed in a white garment.
The creature raised its arms to the moonlight and its
face began to radiate with bliss. Then two white wings unfolded.
Maya had never seen anything so beautiful. The glowing creature

(01:39:42):
began to sing a song about the soul of things
that always remains, which deeply touched Maya's heart. She even
started to cry. Who is crying, asked the white creature.
It's just me, Maya stamped, sorry for disturbing you. But

(01:40:03):
why are you crying? Maybe just because you are so beautiful?
Oh tell me you're an angel, aren't you? Oh? Now
I'm a flower elf? What are you doing here so
late at night? Asked the elf, looking kindly at the bee.
Maya told her about her adventures and what she still

(01:40:26):
longed for. When she finished, the elf stroked her head
and looked at her warmly and lovingly. We flower elves,
she explained, live for seven nights, but we must stay
in the flower in which we were born, or we
will die at sunrise. Hurry up, hurry up, fly back

(01:40:48):
to your flower, cried Maya in alarm. The elf shook
her head sadly and said it's too late. But most
flower elves are happy to leave their flower because great
happiness is associated with our departure. Before we die, we
can fulfill the dearest wish of the first creature we meet,

(01:41:12):
So we make someone very happy, how wonderful. Then I
would leave the flower too, it didn't occur to Maya
that she was the first creature the elf met. Do
you die, then, asked the bee. The elf nodded. We
live until dawn. Then we are carried away in the

(01:41:35):
gossamer veils that float above the grass and flowers. It
seems like a white light shines from these veils. Those
are the flower elves. When it becomes day, we turn
into dewdrops. The plants drink us, and we become part

(01:41:55):
of their growth and bloom until we come back as
flowers elves from the flower petals after a while. So
you were once another flower, elf, Maya asked with great interest.
That's right, but I've forgotten my past existence. We forget

(01:42:15):
everything in our flower sleep. Oh what a beautiful fate.
That's actually how it goes with all earthly creatures, said
the elf. Oh I'm so happy now, exclaimed Maya. But
don't you have a wish? Asked the elf. I have

(01:42:36):
the power to fulfill your dearest wish.

Speaker 2 (01:42:40):
Me.

Speaker 1 (01:42:40):
I'm just a bee. No, that's too big. I don't
deserve that. You're so good to me. No one deserves
the good and the beautiful. The good and the beautiful
come to us like sunshine, said the elf. Maya's heart
was racing. Oh, of course she had a wish, but
she didn't dare to say it. The elf seemed to

(01:43:03):
sense it and smiled wisely. I would like to learn
about people at their best and most beautiful, said the
little bee shyly. The elf stood up and looked at
her with eyes full of trust. She took Maya's hand
and said, come, let's fly together. Your wish will come true.

(01:43:28):
Maya the bee flies with the flower Elf. Part eleven,
and so Maya and the Flower Elf set off together
on a clear midsummer night. Little Maya was so happy
that she could trust this beautiful white being to lead
her wherever they were going. She wanted to ask the

(01:43:48):
flower Elf a thousand questions, but she didn't dare. As
they flew through a row of trees, a dark moth
buzzed above them, as large and strong as a bird. Wait, please,
called the flower Elf. Maiya was surprised to see how
quickly the moth responded. All three of them settled on

(01:44:10):
a branch overlooking the moonlit landscape. The moth flapped its
wings as if creating a cool breeze. Bright blue slanted
stripes marked its wings. Its head seemed to be made
of velvet, with a face like a mysterious mask with
dark eyes. How wondrous are these creatures of the night.

(01:44:33):
A cold shiver went through Maya, who thought she was
dreaming the strangest dream of her life. You are really beautiful,
said Maya, who was very impressed by the moth. Who
is your traveling companion? The moth asked the flower elf,
A bee, I met her just as I left my flower.

(01:44:54):
The moth seemed to understand what that meant. He looked
at Maya almost jealously. You're really lucky, he said, in
a serious and thoughtful tone, shaking his head back and forth.
Are you sad? Asked the warm hearted Maia. The moth
shook his head No, not sad, and he gave Maya

(01:45:16):
such a friendly look that she would have liked to
become friends with him right then. And there is the
bat still abroad? Or has he gone to rest? This
was the question for which the flower elf had made
the moth stop. Oh, he's been resting for a long time.
You want to know because of your traveling companion, The

(01:45:37):
flower elf nodded. Maya wanted to know what a bat was.
But the flower Elf seemed to be in a hurry.
Come on, Maya, she said, we have to hurry. The
night is so short. Can I carry you part of
the way, The moth asked another time, please called the

(01:45:58):
flower elf. Then that will never happen, Maya thought, as
they flew away, because the flower elf must die at dawn.
The moth remained lost in thought on the leaf. I've
heard so many times that I am gray and ugly,
he said to himself, and that my pattern cannot compare
to the splendor of a butterfly. But the little bee

(01:46:21):
saw something beautiful in me, and she asked if I
was sad. No, I'm not sad, he decided. Meanwhile, Maya
and the flower Elf flew through the dense bushes of
the garden. The cool breath of the dew and the
dim moonlight made the flowers and trees look enchantingly beautiful.

(01:46:44):
Maya was amazed by it all. She squeezed the flower
ELF's hand and looked at her. A light of happiness
shone in the ELF's eyes. Who could have dreamed this,
whispered the little bee. At that moment, she saw something
that gave her a shock, oh, she exclaimed. Look, a

(01:47:07):
star has fallen. It's wandering around and can't find its
way back to its place in the sky. That's a firefly,
said the flower elf, without a smile. Now Maya knew
why she liked the flower elf so much. The elf
never laughed at her when she said something wrong. Fireflies

(01:47:28):
are strange creatures, said the flower elf. They always carry
their own lamp and light up the darkness under the
bushes where the moon doesn't shine. Later, when we are
among people, you will also get to know a firefly, why,
asked Maia. You'll see soon enough. By that time, they

(01:47:52):
had almost descended to the ground in a bower of
jasmine and apricot. There was a faint whisper, and the
flower our elf beckoned a firefly. Would you be so kind,
she asked, to give us a little light in this
dark foliage. But your glow is much brighter than mine.
I think so too, Meyer exclaimed excitedly. I have to

(01:48:17):
wrap myself in a leaf, the fairy explained, or else
people would see me and be afraid. We elves only
appear in dreams to people. I understand, said the firefly.
I'll do what I can but will that big creature
you have with you hurt me? The elf shook her head,

(01:48:38):
and the firefly believed her. Then the elf wrapped herself
in a leaf. She plucked a small bell from the
grass and placed it as a helmet on her shiny head.
Only her tiny face was visible, but no one would notice.
She asked the firefly to sit on her shoulder and

(01:48:59):
to dim his light on one side with his wing.
Come now, she said, taking Maya's hand, we'd better climb
up here. As they climbed up the vine, Maya asked,
do people dream when they sleep? They dream when they sleep,
but sometimes even when they're awake, their dreams are always

(01:49:23):
more beautiful than their lives. The elf now put her
finger to her lips, bent a small flowering twig of
jasmine aside, and gently pushed Maya forward. Look down, she said, softly,
you'll see what you've always wanted to see. Now, Maya

(01:49:45):
and the fairy saw two people on a bench in
the shadow of the moonlight. A boy and a girl sat.
The girl's head rested on his shoulder, and the boy
held his arm protectively around her. They sat in complete silence.
Maya stared at the girl with golden hair and red lips.

(01:50:07):
She seemed melancholy, but also very happy. Then she turned
to the boy and whispered something in his ear, which
brought a magical smile to his face. Maya thought that
only an earthly creature could look like that. Pure happiness
radiated from his eyes. Now I have seen the most

(01:50:31):
beautiful thing in my life, she whispered to herself. I
now know that people are at their most beautiful when
they are in love. She didn't know how long she
sat there, but when she turned around, the firefly's light
had gone out, and the flower elf had disappeared in

(01:50:53):
the distance. Daylight was dawning. Maya the Bee and Elvis
the Ladybug, Part twelve. The sun was already up when
Maya woke up in her refuge in the forest. The moonlight,
the cricket, the midsummer night, the forest elf, and the

(01:51:14):
boy and girl in the arbor seemed like a wonderful dream.
Yet it was almost noon now, so it had all
been real. The sun was shining bright, and Maya heard
the mixed choir of a thousand insects. What a difference
there was between what those insects knew and what she knew.

(01:51:35):
She was very proud of her adventures, and everyone would
surely be able to see that. But the sun shone
the same as always, and nothing had changed. The insects
came and went, birds and butterflies frolicked around in the
flower meadow. Maya suddenly felt sad there was no one
in the world to share her joy and sorrow with.

(01:51:58):
Instead of joining the she decided to go to the forest.
The forest, with its many trees and dark paths, suited
her mood better. The forest has its own mysteries that
no one suspects as they walk on the paths. You
have to bend the branches of the undergrowth aside, and
peer through the bushes over the thick moss. The secrets

(01:52:22):
of the forest are found under the leaves and in
the holes of the tree trunks. There you find happiness
and sadness, joy and danger. Maya understood very little of
this as she flew between the trees. One moment she
flew in the shade, the next moment in the glow
of the sun, which shone brightly on the ferns and blackberries.

(01:52:45):
After a while, she flew out of the woods and
a large field of grain appeared bathing in the sunlight.
She sat on the branch of a birch tree at
the edge of the field and stared breathlessly at the
sea of gold. The grain waved gently in the wind.
Under the birch tree. A few small brown butterflies played

(01:53:07):
with some leaves. Maya watched them for a while. That
must be really fun. She thought. The children in the
hive could play like that too, but Cassandra wouldn't allow it.
She's always so strict. Now that she thought of home,
Maya felt sad again. She was about to get very
homesick when she heard some one next to her say,

(01:53:30):
good morning. You're a really dangerous creature. I think. Maya
turned around startled. No, I'm not, she said, I've decided
not to be a dangerous creature. On her leaf sat
a small, hemispherical creature in a red brown color with
seven black dots and a tiny head with bright eyes.

(01:53:53):
Maya saw that the creature had thin legs as fine
as threads. Despite its strange appearance, Maya liked it immediately.
May I ask who you are? I myself am Maya
of the bee people. Do you mean to insult me?
You have no reason to do so, said the creature.
But why am I insulting you? I don't even know

(01:54:16):
who you are, Maya cried, upset, it's easy to say
you don't know me. Well, let me refresh your memory.
And the little thing began to spin slowly. Do you
mean I have to count your dots? Yes, if you like,
seven dots, said Maya. Well, don't you know yet. Our

(01:54:37):
family name is septem puncta. This means seven points in Latin,
but we are better known under the family name lady bugs.
My name is Elvis, and I'm a poet by profession. Maya,
afraid to hurt his feelings again, dared not say anything more. Oh,

(01:54:58):
he said, and I live on the side, on the
tranquility of the day and on the love of mankind.
But don't you eat anything, Maya asked in surprise. Of
course I eat afids, don't you. Well, no, that is
what is it? Not normal? Maya said, embarrassed. Well, of course,

(01:55:22):
Elvis exclaimed, As a good citizen, you only do what
is normal. But we poets are different. Do you have
a moment, yes, of course, said Maya. Then I'll recite
a poem for you. Sit still and close your eyes
so that nothing distracts you. The poem is called The
Shape of the Man and is personal. Listen, you haven't

(01:55:46):
done anything wrong to me. You've found me, but that
doesn't matter. Round and long, with a shield that moves
as fast as light, Round and pointed at the top,
it's firmly attached at the bottom. How do you like
the poem, Elvis asked, after a short pause. There were
tears in his eyes and his voice trembled. The Shape

(01:56:09):
of the Man really makes an impression. Meya replied, somewhat shyly,
but she knew much more beautiful poems. How do you
like the form, Elvis asked with a melancholic smile. He
seemed overwhelmed by the effect he had produced. Long and round,
that's what you said in the poem, I mean the

(01:56:30):
artistic form, the form of my verse. Oh yes, yes,
I thought it was very good. What you mean to
say is that it's one of the best poems. You know.
The first requirement in art is that it must contain
something new. Do you think so too? Definitely? Definitely, said Maya.
I think your faith and trust in me overwhelmed me.

(01:56:54):
But I have to go now because loneliness is the
pride of the poet. Farewell, Farewell, repeated Maya, who really
didn't know what the little creature was looking for. Again,
then she thought, maybe he's not fully grown, because he's
still very small. She watched him hurry over the branch.

(01:57:15):
His little legs were barely visible, and Maya stared again
over the golden field of grain, where the butterflies played.
The field and the butterflies gave her much more joy
than the poems of Elvis, the Ladybug, Maya the Bee.
In the Hornet's Fortress, Part thirteen, Maya had learned something remarkable.

(01:57:39):
It happened one afternoon by an old rain barrel. She
sat among the fragrant elder flowers, and a robin flew
above her head. The bird was very sweet and cheerful,
and Maya regretted that they couldn't be friends. The problem
was that they were too big, and they would eat her.
She had hidden in the heart of the elder flower

(01:58:00):
when suddenly she heard some one sigh. When she turned around,
she saw the strangest creature she had ever seen. He
must have at least a hundred legs on each side
of his body. She thought He was about three times
as big as she was, and he was slim and
had no wings. Goodness gracious, exclaimed Maya, in shock. You

(01:58:23):
can certainly run very fast. The stranger gave her a
pensive look. I doubt it, he said, I doubt it.
There's room for improvement. I have too many legs, you
see before all my legs can be set in motion.
Too much time is lost. I didn't realize this before,
and often wished I had more legs, and my wish

(01:58:45):
came true. But who are you, Maya introduced herself. The
other nodded and moved some of his legs. I am
Thomas of the centipede family. We are admired by every
one in the world. No other animal has as many legs.
Eight is their limit. As far as I know, you

(01:59:05):
are tremendously interesting, and your color is so strange. Do
you have a family? No? Why should I? What use
is a family to me? We SENTI Pede's hatch from
the egg, and then that's it. If we can't stand
on our own legs, then who can? Of course, said
Maya thoughtfully. But don't you have any friends, No, dear child,

(01:59:30):
I earn my bread and I doubt. Oh what do
you doubt? I was born doubting. I have doubt. Maya
stared at him in amazement. What did he mean by
that doubting? She wanted to know, but she didn't want
to ask impolite questions. Firstly, I doubt if you've chosen

(01:59:52):
the right place to rest. Don't you know what's in
that big willow over there? Said Thomas. No, you see,
I doubted if you knew the hornet fortress is there.
Maya became a little pale and almost fell off her branch.
In fright, she asked where the hornet fortress was exactly?

(02:00:13):
Do you see that old nesting box for startlings at
the base of the willow. The door of that bird
house is not facing sunrise, so no bird comes, So
the hornets have moved in. The hornets are real villains
that have their sights set on the bees. I've seen
it all. Maya looked a little afraid of the hornet fortress.

(02:00:35):
It's better if I leave, she said, but it was
too late. She heard a wicked laugh behind her and
felt that she was being grabbed by the neck. Thomas
let go of all his legs at once and tumbled
head over heels through the branches into the rain barrel.
I doubt you'll get away, he called, but poor Maya

(02:00:55):
didn't hear him any more. At first, Maya couldn't see
her attack, but suddenly she saw a large head with
long pincers above her. At first she thought it was
an enormous wasp, but then she remembered it was a hornet.
The hornet was beautifully black and yellow striped, and was
at least four times larger than she was. Maya, who

(02:01:18):
was very frightened, softly called for help. Call for help,
little girl, said the hornet in a honey sweet tone.
But I have no idea if any one will come,
he said, while he smiled ominously. Let me go, Maya cried,
let me go, or I'll sting you in the heart,

(02:01:38):
straight in my heart, very brave, but there will be
time for that later. Then Maya became angry. She gathered
all her strength, and while she let out a loud
battle cry, she aimed her stinger at the middle of
the hornet's chest, But to her surprise, the stinger bent

(02:01:59):
and did not go through the hornet's chest. His armor
was too hard for her stinger. Now the hornet also
looked angry. I could punish you and bite you in
the head, but I prefer to bring you to our queen.
So the hornet flew with Maya into the air and
went straight to the hornet Fortress. Maya found it so

(02:02:21):
scary she fainted on the way. When she came to
she was in the half darkness, in a place that
smelled bad. She was in the hornet prison. She wanted
to cry, but the tears wouldn't come. Fortunately, I haven't
been eaten yet, but that could happen, she thought. Trembling outside,

(02:02:43):
she heard voices and a little light shone through a
narrow slit. Hornets don't make their walls out of wax
like bees do, but out of a dry mass that
looks like some kind of paper. She was very worried
about what would happen to her, and started whimpering softly. Again,
she heard voices on the other side of the wall.

(02:03:05):
She peered through the slit. She saw a huge hall
full of hornets, which was brilliantly illuminated by a number
of captured glowworms. In the middle sat the hornet queen
on a throne. An important meeting was being held. If
she hadn't been so afraid of the hornets, their power

(02:03:26):
and grandeur would certainly have impressed her. It was the
first time she had seen this type of insect. A
hornet sergeant walked around and ordered the glowworms to give
as much light as possible. Then Maya heard the queen say, good,
we will keep to the agreements we have made. Tomorrow

(02:03:47):
our warriors will march for an attack on the bee
city in the castle park. The beehive must be plundered
and the bees must be captured. Whoever captures Queen Helen
the Seventh alive and brings her to me will be
appointed as a knight. Be brave and bring me the
rich booty. The meeting is adjourned. The hornet queen stood

(02:04:11):
up from her throne and left the room, accompanied by
her bodyguards. My Land, sobbed Maya, and oh my dear bees.
She was desperate and wanted to scream. No one can
warn my people. They will be attacked while they sleep. Oh,
I hope a miracle happens in the hall. The lights

(02:04:34):
of the glow worms now went out, and gradually it
became quiet in the fortress. No one seemed to be
thinking of Maya any more. Outside she thought she heard
the night song of crickets, but she was locked up
in the dark in the hornet prison. Maya, the Bee

(02:04:54):
and the Sentry Part fourteen. The despair of the little
bee gave to determination. She remembered again that she was
a bee. I'm whining as if I have no brains
and can do nothing. That's not how I honor the
bee colony. They are in danger, and so am I.

(02:05:14):
If I have to face death, I might as well
be proud and brave and at least try to save
my people. Even though she had been away from home
for a long time, Maya felt one with her people.
There was a great responsibility on her now that she
knew of the Hornet's plot. Long live my Queen, she

(02:05:34):
sobbed aloud, silence please. The hornet sentry came by on
his evening round. As soon as the sentry was gone,
Maya made the gap through which she had been peering
larger and wormed her way into the hall. There was
loud snoring, the dim blue light shone in. She saw

(02:05:55):
the moonlight, and in the distance a glittering star shone.
She heaved a deep sigh Ah freedom. She thought. She
started crawling toward the exit. If I fly now, she thought,
I'll be out in one go. Her heart pounded as
if it was about to burst. But there, in the

(02:06:18):
shadow of the doorway stood a sentry leaning against a column.
Maya was rooted to her spot. All her hope of
escaping was gone. She might as well go back now
that there was such a hefty sentry. He was staring
at the moonlit landscape, and his armor gleamed in the light.

(02:06:39):
Something about the way he stood there moved the little bee.
He looked sad but also proud with his beautiful shield.
He is always ready to fight or die, She thought, Oh,
how often had the goodness of her heart and the
beauty of something made her lose all sense of danger.

(02:06:59):
Suddenly a golden arrow of light shot out from the
sentry's helmet. Goodness gracious, whispered Maya, This is my end.
But the sentry said, calmly, just come here, child, What
cried Maya? You saw me? Of course, you made a

(02:07:20):
hole in the wall and crawled through until you got here.
Now you lost your courage, Am I right? That's true?
Said Maya, trembling with fear. The sentry had seen her
all along. She remembered how keen hornet's senses were. What
are you doing here, he asked cheerfully, But Maya still

(02:07:41):
thought he looked sad. His mind seemed to be far
away and not concerned with what was going on. I
want to get out, and I'm just scared. You look
so strong and handsome with that armor. But now I
will fight you. The sentry smiled in amazement. Maya was
enchanted by him. We will not fight little bee, he said.

(02:08:05):
Your bees are powerful as a people, but we hornets
are stronger as individuals. You can stay here and talk
for a while, but not too long, because I have
to wake up the soldiers soon, and then you have
to go back to your cell. Maya was filled with
admiration and with great sad eyes. She looked up at

(02:08:27):
her enemy and followed the impulse of her heart. I
have always heard bad things about hornets, but you are
not bad. I cannot believe that you are bad. There
are good creatures and bad creatures everywhere, he said, seriously.
But you must not forget that we are your enemies

(02:08:47):
and will always be your enemies. But must an enemy
always be bad? Maya asked when I saw you in
the moonlight. I forgot that you were dangerous and cruel.
You seemed sad. I always thought that sad beings cannot
be bad. The guard said nothing, and Maya continued bravely.

(02:09:08):
You are strong. You can put me back in my
cell and I will die, or you can set me
free if you want to. At this, the guard stood up.
His armor rattled, and the arm he raised shone in
the moonlight. You are right, I could do that, he said,
but my people and my queen have entrusted this power

(02:09:30):
to me. No be that enters this fortress will leave
it alive. I will remain loyal to my people. After
a pause, he added softly, I learned through bitter experience
how disloyalty can hurt. When Lovey left me. Maya was
moved by his feelings. In his words, love for her

(02:09:51):
own kind, loyalty to her people. Everyone did their duty,
yet every one remained an enemy of the other. Love
was a beautiful dragonfly who lived on the shore of
the lake among the water lilies. Maya trembled with excitement.
Here was perhaps her salvation, but she was not entirely sure,

(02:10:12):
so she said cautiously, who is Lovey. If I may ask,
it doesn't matter, little one. She's not your concern, and
she's lost to me forever. I'll never find her again.
But I know Lovey, said Maya as nonchalantly as possible.
She's the most beautiful of them all. The guard's attitude

(02:10:34):
suddenly changed. He jumped to Maya and cried out, what
you know, Lovey, Tell me where she is? Tell me
right now. No, Maya spoke calmly and resolutely. I'll bite
your head off if you don't tell me. The guard
came dangerously close. That's what's going to happen anyway. I
won't betray Lovey. She's a good friend of mine, and

(02:10:57):
you want to lock her up. Maya saw the guard
was struggling and having inner conflict. Goodness, it's time to
wake up the soldiers. No, little b I don't want
to harm Lovey. I love her with all my heart.
I would give my life for her. Tell me where
I can find her. Maya was smart. She hesitated deliberately

(02:11:19):
before saying, but I love my life. If you tell
me where Lovey lives, I'll set you free. Maia saw
that the god was having a hard time saying these words.
Will you keep your word? I give you my word
as a guard, he said, proudly. Excitedly, Maya realized that

(02:11:40):
she might be able to save her people in time.
I believe you, she said. Lovey lives in a cove
of a large lake, under the lime trees near the castle.
You'll find her there every day at noon, when the
sun is high in the sky, among the white water lilies.
The guard had both hands pressed against his pale forehead.

(02:12:01):
He seemed to be struggling with himself. You are telling
the truth, he finally said, softly. She told me about
a place with white flowers. Those must be the flowers
you are talking about. Fly away now, thank you. He
stepped aside, freeing the way out. The day broke. A

(02:12:24):
guard keeps his word, he said. He did not know
that Maya had overheard the meeting, and believed that a
little bee more or less made little difference. Good Bye.
Maya called out, breathless with haste, and flew away without
a word of thanks. There was no time to lose Maya,

(02:12:46):
the bee warns the queen Part fifteen. Little Maya gathered
all her strength and flew lightning fast through the purple
dawn to the forest where she could hide if the
Hornet guard would come after her. The fine veils of
mist hung over the land, and the cold threatened to
paralyze Maiya's wings. It seemed like every one and everything

(02:13:09):
was still asleep on earth. Maia flew high in the
sky as fast as she could to the threatened Bee hive.
She had to warn her people so they could prepare
for the attack. If the Bee colony had a chance
to prepare their defenses, they could fight the stronger opponents,
But if it was a surprise attack, they would have

(02:13:30):
no chance. Maya was very worried as she thought about
the strength, energy, and courage of her people and their
dedication to their queen. The little bee felt an enormous
anger towards the Hornets. She was proud of her people.
It wasn't easy for her to find her way through
the forest because she didn't remember the route she had taken.

(02:13:52):
The cold was hurting her, and she could barely see
the world below her. Oh oh, how will this continue?
Which way should I go? Now? I could pay for
my disloyalty to my people, Maya thought. Suddenly a secret
force sent her in a certain direction. Maybe it was
the home. Sickness for her land that guided her. She

(02:14:15):
surrendered to instinct and flew on quickly. In the distance
appeared the mighty lime trees of the castle park. There
I have to go, she exclaimed joyfully. She descended towards
the earth. Thicker strands of mist hung over the meadows
than over the forest. She thought of the flower spirits

(02:14:36):
who cheerfully went to their death in the morning dew.
That gave her confidence again, and her fear disappeared. The
Bee colony could expel her from their kingdom, and the
Queen could punish her, as long as the bees were
spared from the invasion of the hornets. She was now
close to the long stone wall that protected the Bee

(02:14:57):
City from the west wind, and in the distance she
saw her homeland between the blue and green furs. Her
heart was pounding and she was out of breath, but
she continued to fly quickly towards the entrance. At the
entrance stood two sentries who shouted halt. Maya couldn't say

(02:15:17):
a word, and they threatened to kill her. That's just
what happens when a stranger enters the Bee City without
the Queen's permission. Back off, you, shouted a sentry, pushing
her roughly. If you don't, we'll kill you. What's wrong
with you? I've never seen anything like this before. Then
Maya spoke the password that all bees know. The sentries

(02:15:42):
immediately let her know what they exclaimed. You're one of
us and we don't know you. How is that possible.
Let me go to the queen, begged the little bee
right away quickly. We're in great danger. The sentries still hesitated.
They couldn't comprehend the situation. The queen cannot be awakened

(02:16:04):
before sunrise, said one of the sentries. Then the queen
will never wake up alive. Maya desperately exclaimed, death is
following me. Bring me to the Queen as quickly as possible.
Her voice sounded so angry that the sentries became scared
and obeyed. The three hurried together through the old, familiar

(02:16:24):
streets and corridors of the Bee city. Maya recognized everything,
and despite all her excitement and haste, her heart trembled
with joy at the sight of the dear, familiar scenes.
I'm home, she stammered. In the reception room of the Queen,
she almost collapsed. One of the guards supported her while

(02:16:47):
the other hurried to the Queen's private quarters. The first
bees were already awake and stuck their heads curiously out
of the openings. The news quickly spread. Two bee officers
came out of the Queen's private chambers. Maya recognized them
immediately in solemn silence, without saying a word to her.

(02:17:07):
They took their positions, each on one side of the doorway.
The Queen Bee would soon appear. She came without her courtiers,
only accompanied by her assistant and two ladies in waiting.
She hurried straight to Maya. When she saw the condition
the child was in. The stern expression on her face

(02:17:27):
relaxed a bit. You have come with an important message.
Who are you? Maya managed to utter two words the hornets.
The Queen turned pale, but she remained calm. Mighty Queen
Maya sobbed, forgive me for not fulfilling my duties. Later

(02:17:48):
I will explain everything I have remorse in my heart.
But not long ago, as if by a miracle, I
escaped from the hornet's fort, and the last thing I
heard was that they were planning to attack and plunder
our kingdom at sunrise. The consternation of the ladies in waiting,
the guards, and the assistant was indescribable. Everyone wanted to

(02:18:10):
flee in all directions, but it was extraordinary to see
how calm the Queen remained when she received this terrible news.
She stood up tall and regal, inspiring both awe and confidence.
She felt that she had never experienced anything so superior
since becoming queen. The Queen beckoned the officers next to

(02:18:32):
her and issued some commands. Oh my, queen, said Maya.
The Queen bowed her head to the little bee and
looked at her with love and tenderness, saying, our gratitude
is great. You have saved us. Whatever you have done before,
you have made it a thousand times better. But rest now, girl.

(02:18:55):
You look very miserable, and your wings are trembling. I
would like to die for you, stammered Maya, trembling. Don't
worry about us, the queen replied. Among the thousands who
inhabit this city, there is not one who would hesitate
to sacrifice their life for me and the welfare of

(02:19:15):
the country. You can rest now. She leaned forward and
kissed the little bee on the forehead. Then she beckoned
the ladies in waiting and told them to take care
of Maya. Maya was moved by the Queen's words and
let herself be carried away, as if in a dream.
She heard distant sounds and saw all the important bees gathering,

(02:19:38):
and she felt the beehive shaking on its foundations. The soldiers,
our soldiers, whispered the ladies in waiting next to her.
The last thing Maya heard before falling asleep was the
sound of soldiers marching past her door and shouting orders
with a cheerful, determined voice. And in her she heard

(02:20:01):
the old soldier's song of the bees. O sunlight, with
your golden rays, and golden shine. Through your glow, our
lives are illuminated. Bless our labor, bless our Queen. Let
us be united forever, Mya the bee in battle Part sixteen.

(02:20:23):
There was great excitement in the bee kingdom. The hive
rumbled and buzzed. All the bees were angry and ready
to meet their old enemy in battle. Until the bitter end, however,
there was no disorder. Everything was made ready according to
the rules, and every soldier knew their duty and was
in the right place at the right time at the

(02:20:47):
call of the queen to defend the entrance. A group
of bees offered themselves. Some of them were ordered to
see if the enemy was approaching. The hornets were on
their way. The whole hive was silent. Soldiers stood in
a row at the entrance, proud and composed. Nobody spoke.
The whole hive seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep.

(02:21:10):
At the entrance, the layer of beeswax was so thick
that the hole was almost halved. The queen took an
elevated position from which she could oversee the battle. Her
assistance flew back and forth. The third messenger returned. He sank,
exhausted at the feet of the queen. I am the

(02:21:31):
last to return, he shouted, with all the strength he
had left. The others are killed. Where are the hornets,
asked the queen at the lime trees, listen, he stammered fearfully.
How many are there, asked the queen sternly, and answer
in a soft voice. I counted forty. Although the queen

(02:21:55):
was shocked by the number of the enemy, she did
not show it. With a low, confident voice, she said,
not one of them will see his home again. Her
words about the downfall of the enemy had an immediate effect.
All the bees felt their courage increase. Then a loud

(02:22:15):
hum was heard outside the beehive. The hornets were getting closer,
and the bees were a little scared. Now, then the
composed voice of the queen sounded clear and calm from
her high place. Let them come in one by one
until I give the order to attack. Then we will
attack with hundreds of bees at once and block the entrance.

(02:22:40):
Remember that the fate of the entire hive depends on
your strength, endurance and courage. Don't be afraid. The enemy
doesn't know we are prepared. Then she stopped her speech.
The first hornet head came through the door. The bees tremble,

(02:23:00):
but they remained silent. The hornet quietly withdrew and outside
they heard him say, they are in a deep sleep,
but the entrance is half walled and there are no guards.
I don't know if this is a good or a
bad sign. A good sign was heard forward. Then the
hornets jumped in and made their way through the bee hive.

(02:23:23):
But the Queen Bee still did not give the order
to attack. Could she not speak from shock? The hornets
did not see that there was a row of bees
lined up on the left and right, ready to fight. Finally,
the order came from above, in the name of eternal justice,
in the name of your Queen, defend the kingdom. Then

(02:23:47):
there was a loud battle cry, and there were only
buzzing heaps to be seen. A young bee, who wanted
to attack first, had not waited for the queen's order.
He was also the first to die. He stung the hornet,
but the enemy caught him. The other bees, emboldered by
his brave act, only became more eager to fight and

(02:24:08):
launched a fierce counter attack. The hornets had a hard time,
but hornets are an old breed and trained to fight.
They were confused by the attack of the bees. But
beestings don't go through the hornet's shield, and they were many,
and a hornet is many times larger than a bee.
But the bee queen had been right with her tactics.

(02:24:30):
They made it difficult for the enemy, and the hornets succumbed.
On the side of the bees, there were also many
injuries and dead bees. The bees that still lived became
angrier and fought even harder. Gradually, the tumult of the
battle became calmer. The loud call of the hornets outside

(02:24:51):
was no longer answered by the intruders inside. Their number
was halved. We have been betrayed, said the leader. The
bees were prepared. The hornets were gathered on the silver fur,
pale and trembling with battle rage. The warriors stood around
their leader, who was in a terrible inner conflict. What

(02:25:11):
should he do? Be cautious or give in to his
urge to plunder. He chose caution. His entire tribe was
threatened with destruction, and he reluctantly sent a messenger to
the bees to demand the return of the captives. But
there was no response. The leader, now very afraid that

(02:25:33):
every one inside was dead, quickly sent another messenger. Be quick,
he shouted, while placing a white jasmine leaf in the
messenger's hand. The people will come soon, and then we
will be lost. Tell the bees that we will leave
them alone forever if the captives are handed over to us.
The messenger ran away, waving his white signal at the entrance.

(02:25:57):
The bee queen was immediately informed, and she sent her
assistant to negotiate, and she sent this answer back. We
will hand over the dead to you. There are no captives.
All hornets who have entered our territory are dead. We
do not believe your promise never to return. If you
want to continue the fight, we are ready to fight

(02:26:20):
until the last bee. The leader of the hornets hesitated.
He preferred to take revenge, but reason prevailed. We will
come back, he said, How could this happen to us?
Are we not more powerful than the bees? How do
I tell our queen about this defeat? There must be
treachery somewhere. An older hornet, known as a friend of

(02:26:43):
the queen answered, is it true that we are a
more powerful race? But the bees are united people, unshakable
and loyal to their state. That is a great source
of strength, and it makes them irresistible. None of them
would ever become a traitor. They think of the welfare
of all and not of themselves. The leader hardly listened.

(02:27:05):
I do not care about the wisdom of a simple bee.
I am a bandit and will die as a bandit.
But it is useless to continue the fight now, and
he sent this message to the queen bee. Give us
back our dead, we will withdraw. We must be weary
of deception, said the queen bee when she heard the

(02:27:26):
hornet's decision. But she had twenty one dead hornets removed
from the city. The battle was over. The bees had won,
but at what cost. Not a single bee could enjoy
the delightful summer morning, full of fragrant blossoms. But when
it was noon, all the bees resumed their usual tasks.

(02:27:48):
The bees did not celebrate their victory and did not
spend time mourning their dead. Every bee carried their pride
and sorrow quietly in their heart and went back to work.
Maya the Bee Becomes Friends with the Queen Part seventeen.
The noise of the battle woke Maia from her short sleep.

(02:28:11):
She wanted to go outside immediately to help defend the city,
but she realized that she was still too weak. A
struggling heap of bees and a hornet came rolling towards her. Eventually,
the exhausted hornet fell down. He fought as long as
he could without complaining, but then had to give up
the fight. The bees hurried back to the entrance. Maya's

(02:28:35):
heart was pounding. She flew to the hornet, who lay
curled up but still breathing. When Maia saw he was
still alive, she brought him some water and honey, but
he shook his head and waved her away with his hand.
I take what I want, he said proudly. I don't
care about gifts, oh, said Maya. I just thought you

(02:28:57):
might be thirsty. The young officer Hornet smiled at her
and then said, not sad, but with a strange seriousness.
I must die. The little bee couldn't think of a reply.
For the first time in her life, she seemed to
understand what it meant to have to die. If only
there was something I could do, she said, and burst

(02:29:20):
into tears. But the hornet did not answer any more.
He was dead. Maya never forgot what she had learned
from this brief farewell. She now knew that her enemies
were creatures like her, who also loved life. She thought
back to the flower elf, who had told her about
his rebirth when spring came. She now wanted to know

(02:29:42):
if that was true for other creatures as well. I'll
just believe it is, she said softly to herself. Then
she was called to the Queen. Maya was very shy
and trembling on her legs. There was a solemn atmosphere
because some of the Queen's officers had not survived the
battle yet. There was also joy. The queen stood up,

(02:30:07):
walked to little Maya and took her in her arms.
Maya had never expected this, and she was so deeply
touched by this gesture that she burst into tears. All
the bees were moved. They were all very grateful for
the brave act of this little bee. Now Maya had
to tell how she had learned about the hornet's plan,

(02:30:30):
and how she had managed to escape from the terrible prison.
Maya told about the dragonfly with her glistening wings, about
the grasshopper, about theckler, the spider and Puck, and how
Bobby had helped her so much. When she talked about
the flower elf and the humans, it became very quiet
in the beehive, Ah, said the queen, with a smile.

(02:30:54):
Who would have thought flower elves were so beautiful? Their
song is also one wonderful. Maya continued her story about
the hornets, and all the bees listened breathlessly. Terrible, said
the queen, truly terrible, and so Maya concluded. I came
home and I ask your majesty for forgiveness. But no

(02:31:18):
one blamed the little bee for running away from the hive.
You did not forget your home and your people, said
the Queen kindly, in your heart, you were loyal, so
we do not banish you. From now on, you will
stay by my side and help me with state affairs.
In that way you can use everything you have learned

(02:31:41):
during your adventures for your people and your country. Then
there was an approving cheer. So ends the story of
the adventures of Maya the Bee. They say she did
a lot of good work for her bee colony and
was very beloved. She now lives as an old old
lady on her pension honey. Sometimes she goes to talk

(02:32:04):
to the young bees in the evening, who like to
listen to all the adventures she has had.
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