"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"



"Drone Comet" painting by Andrew Tyzack



I have a confession to make.  I love drones.  In the world of beekeeping, this type of adoration is usually reserved for the sexier queens or the industrious foragers.  But for me the big, wide-eyed, stingless males are the ones that steal my heart. 

Freed from the myriad tasks of maintaining the hive, they spend their days in silent anticipation.  They are the daydreamers whose singular obsession is mating with the queen.  All of their time waiting in the hive culminates in an intense mid-air mating with a virgin queen, only to fall back to earth ripped apart and waiting again, this time for death.

If they knew this was their fate, would they still pursue her with such devotion?  Absolutely.  And this is why I love them.

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;

Alexander Pope, "Eloisa to Abelard"