Spring had arrived in the fields of Prata earlier than normal. In the large clover fields the bees could be seen and heard buzzing in and out of their hives excited that winter had finally ended. The villagers were also/likewise taking advantage of the warm sunny morning and were out in their protective gear checking their apiaries.
Jack was standing by his Tutor next to an open hive. His Tutor held a frame of brood studying it closely, he then turned the frame around and studied the other side. Jack watched him carefully, studying every move he made.
The Tutor was the leading scientist of microbiology at the Queens Council. He was a shortish man with dark brown slick hair and a clean shaven face. He had been tutoring Jack since Jack was five years old.
When Jack was 4 1/2 years old, his mother was brutally murdered and no one knew who his father was, Jack was placed into the care of the family that ran the home for the elderly.
The murder hit the nation hard for there hadn't been a murder for at least 200 years, since the rebellion tried to take hold of the Queens Council in 2295 AD.
The news of an orphan that was left from the murder, spread far and wide, it was the talk of the QC's scientists for weeks afterwards.
The Nations became unsettled by the murder, and the smaller councils asked the QC for a back check into the story. Later in the same year (2511), the QC released an article claiming that the murder was the work of the Rebellion located in the Americas.
At the news the Nation called on the QC to launch an attack on the Rebellion but the Queens Council rejected the idea of War and simply stated that the QC Nations were not ready to War across the waters, and the idea was dropped.
When Jack turned five he was tested on the venom of a bee to find him suitable to study the art of beekeeping. The question of who was going to tutor him was put forth to the Nations. To the surprise of meany, Mr Jones the leading scientist of microbiology, stepped forward. From then on, Jones traveled between Prata and his work in the Capital of the QC Nations "Virtutem Spei" where the Queens Council is located, in training Jack in the arts of Keeping Bees.
The Tutor placed the frame back into the hive carefully and maneuvered his hive tool: a flat metal bar with a bent hook on the end to pry another frame lose from the hive. He picked it up carefully and studied it. His face lit up, Jack knew he had spotted the queen. The Tutor signaled to Jack to come closer. "Can you spot the queen on this frame?" He asked.
Jack scanned the brood frame of bees for a much larger bee with a longer body. "I found it, here." Jack pointed to the queen with his gloved hand.
The Tutor raised his eye brow in surprise. "Within 15 seconds, you spotted Her faster than me." He said, and passed the frame to Jack who took it carefully minding not to kill any bees with his hands.
The Tutor took a little cage out of his left chest pocket. The cage looked more like a woman's hair clip then a queen cage.
"Try not to move the frame while I try to get the queen into this cage." He said.
Jack stood like a statue, watching as his Tutor slowly guiding the queen into the open cage.
Instead of going into the cage, she slowly edged her way to the side of the frame.
The Tutor bit his lip.
The queen crawled around the edge of the frame onto the other side out of sight.
"OK, that didn't work. Jack, can you please slowly turn the frame around so we can grab her."
Jack followed his Tutor's instructions and turned the frame around so they both could see the other side.
The queen was surrounded by her loyal servants who were busy grooming and feeding her.
"Be a good girl now, my queen. I'm just looking out for you." The Tutor said as he slowly got the queen to go into the cage.
"There we go." said the Tutor as he placed the queen cage back into his left chest pocket.
"Now we can go through the hive without worrying about crushing the queen by mistake."
Jack slowly placed the frame back into the hive and lifted the box off and placed it on the ground next to the entrance of the hive.
"So, first I will get you to check for Varroa Destructor, also known as varroa mite in the common tongue. And then I will ask you how long can a hive normally last for with no treatment. After you have passed the test you can start your yearlong exam tomorrow." The Tutor said with a huge smile on his face.
Jack had waited 5 years for this. "After the exam I will be able to have my very own apiary and study to be a QC scientist." He thought.
His Tutor could tell that Jack was day dreaming about becoming a licensed apiary owner so he called Jack back to earth.
"Right Jack, let's get to work. Can you please now carry out the check for varroa mite and tell me how its treated and what happens to a hive that is not treated."
Jack knelt down and pried a frame loose with his hive tool and pulled it out of the main brood box.
"Jack, walk me through the process of the monthly check." The Tutor said sternly.
Jack pulled out a pair of rubber tipped tweezers.
"I will first find some capped drone larva or drone brood and with my tweezers I will take the cap off and pull out the larva to inspect it for varroa mite." Jack said as he did all the steps for the check.
The Tutor looked pleased.
"I will do this on five capped larvae on all of the brood frames." Continued Jack, he was secretly sad to kill the drones, but a few must die to safe meany.
"Now tell me what happens to a hive if it is not treated for varroa mite." Asked the Tutor.
"The Varroa Destructor is an external parasitic mite that attacks the honey bees Apis cerana and Apis mellifera. The disease caused by the mites is called varroosis." Jack paused for a breath and then continued.
"The Varroa mite can only reproduce in a honey bee colony. It attaches to the body of the bee and weakens it by sucking hemolymph or blood. In this process, RNY viruses such as the Deformed Wing Virus DWV spread to bees, this without treatment a significant mite infestation will lead to the death of a honey bee colony, usually in the late autumn through early spring." Jack heaved a big breath of fresh air and smiled at his Tutor.
"Well that was the fastest explanation of how the mite can kill a hive without treatment." The Tutor pulled out a small book and a pencil from his right chest pocket.
"You got A+ on that test. Tomorrow you can start your exam. Let's put this hive back together with the queen and go into town."
Jack pulled a brood frame out for the Tutor to place the queen on.
"Here Jack, you do it." The Tutor said as he handed the queen cage to jack and grabbed the frame.
Jack carefully opened the cage and the queen joyfully crawled out onto the frame with the bees.
The Tutor placed the frame back into the brood box and Jack lift the other brood box up and placed it on top of the hive. They both strapped it up and headed for the village market place for lunch.
The village wasn't much to the standards of most but it had over 700 residents living there. The town had a market place and a library. There was also a museum which included a comprehensive section for the history of the Honey Bee in one end of the building.
The Tutor and Jack walked towards a cafe to get lunch and then they were planning to go to the library for a history test on the bee and the Queens Council.
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