Guardians of the Garden

One cool, early April morning, while the dew hung silent and still from newborn flower petals, Mr. Bee was already up and buzzing about the community garden. The hive woke early, particularly in spring, each bee with their own set of duties for the day. Mr. Bee spent the last three years stationed at the lilac bushes, an assignment he thoroughly enjoyed. The fresh, sweet aroma of the lilacs, and the little, pale purple flowers clustered together like tiny butterflies, hanging ever so slightly, like veils protecting the tree’s secrets, made every day a joy for Mr. Bee. He whistled a pleasant tune as he hopped from lilac to lilac, collecting nectar and pollen and enjoying the fragrant air.

He worked diligently throughout the morning, feeling satisfied with his progress, when his friend, Miss Butterfly, came fluttering up in a flustered frenzy. Miss Butterfly, a beautiful, two-tailed swallowtail, with yellow wings like stained glass, gave an elegance to the garden like only butterflies could do.

“Mr. Bee!” She said with strain and urgency in her voice as she galloped towards him. “We have an urgent problem!"

Mr. Bee, who was knee deep in a particularly large bush, with his fluffy, yellow butt peaking out between the sea of purple, popped up at the sound of a familiar voice. His demeanor suddenly adjusted to that of Miss Butterfly’s when he saw that she was not her usual, dapper self, and immediately inquired as to what had gotten her all worked up.

With breathless exhaustion, Miss Butterfly had only the zeal to utter the words “lilac borers,” before collapsing onto the soft lilacs. But that was all she needed to say for Mr. Bee to understand the problem. Lilac borers are a malicious species of insect that drill their way through the center of lilac bushes, creating a home for themselves and, in turn, destroying the lilacs. Similar to wasps, lilac borers have long, thin brown bodies and papery wings, like two maple seeds. Their larvae inch their way like accordions through the bark.

Mr. Bee grew pale and worried. He suggested they go and ask the lilac borers to move to another location where they may not do as much damage.

So the duo mustered their courage and traveled down the stalk of the bush to the lower regions of the plant, where lilac borers reside. As they got closer, they heard the sound of a drill, and found one fellow down near the base, hard at work burrowing his holes.

Mr. Bee cleared his throat, “Ahem… Hello there Mr. Borer.”

The borer looked up at them and reluctantly ceased his drilling. “What?” He said in a low, grumbling voice. “Can’t you see I’m hard at work?”

“Well, I… I’m sorry to bother you… we were wondering… well, what I mean is… we see that you and your family have made a home for yourselves in our community garden.”

“Yes, that’s right. What’s it to you?”

“Well,” continued Mr. Bee meekly, “We appreciate your interest in our little oasis, however, we work very hard to pollinate the flowers and keep this garden thriving, and, well, we are concerned that your home may cause a disturbance to the garden we’ve put so much effort into. You see?”

The lilac borer stared at them with a scowl and one raised eyebrow. Miss Butterfly chimed in, “We were hoping you might find another bush to make your home in, perhaps one of the young ash trees out by the highway.”

The borer crossed his arms, raised his chin, and with a sly smirk, gave out one hardy laugh. “We will do as we like and there’s nothing you can do about it!” And with that, he flew back over to the lilac and began his loud drilling once more.

Mr. Bee and Miss Butterfly were disheartened by the encounter and flew away, settling themselves in a large lilac bunch. “It’s over! It’s all over!” Cried Miss Butterfly. “All the years of hard work, gone. And our beautiful lilacs will slowly wilt and turn brown and the leaves will die and shrivel and turn to ash by the end of the season.” She was in complete hysterics.

Just then, Bee had an idea! The lilac borers are attracted to the biggest, most beautiful lilac bushes, so, if they could create a more beautiful lilac bush outside of the garden, maybe the lilac borers would follow that bush, wherever it goes. Miss Butterfly leapt with joy at the wonderful idea.

Mr. Bee and Miss Butterfly went to work rounding up all the bees and butterflies throughout the garden. Each insect pulled one lilac bunch from one bush and carried it to the street. Once they had a large enough bunch, Mr. Bee shouted out “Lift!,” and all the lilacs floated up into the air in a beautiful swarm of purple, resembling a very large lilac bush.

A short while later, this caught the eye of Mr. Borer, who danced around the flowers with interest.

“Ahhh,” said the lilac borer, “This is the biggest bush I’ve ever seen! Surely my family would be very happy here.” He zipped away, back to his nest, while the bees and butterflies waited patiently. Within minutes, the whole clan of lilac borers, including their young, were on their way to the mirage.

As this occurred, the city garbage truck pulled up to collect the towns weekly waste, and all the insects set their lilac bunches down upon the truck. As the imitation bush whooshed away with the garbage, the greedy lilac borers followed, in pursuit of the largest lilac bush in the world.

All the bees and butterflies buzzed and bumbled and batted their wings in merriment. The lilac borers were gone, never to be seen again, and thanks to the bravery and ingenuity of Mr. Bee and Miss Butterfly, the garden was saved!