The Secret Life of a Giant Bee

The biggest bee I have ever seen in my life attacked my food at an outside cafe in Corfu. I was a vacationing student. I was in shock. We thought we had chased it away and returned to our seats. The bee returned, landed on the serving plate, and to our astonishment flew away with the head of our fish. It was like a Mediterranean perch, by no means a small fish. This was a huge bee. You could hear it coming before you could see it. Scary.

Many years later when traveling in Mexico and looking for orchids with my soon-to-be wife, Jan, we saw one of the really huge hornets that live in that scrubby soil there, and after escaping it and enjoying our adventure, I remarked about the huge bee in Greece.  It sounded rather unbelievable and didn’t really add to the unique moment. I regretted bringing it up.

Years later, we were married and vacationing together in Rhodes in the spring, having the time of our lives, exploring ruins and seeking out the lovely Greek terrestrial orchids that are abundant that time of year. We were eating an early lunch at a lovely grapevine trellised outdoor cafe. A few minutes after we were served, we heard this loud droning sound. The giant bee came, routed us from the table, and made off with a piece of fish the size of a lemon from Jan’s plate. This type of bee likes fish. She had never seen such a huge bee.

It was a uniting beautiful moment for us. It sent our love to a deeper dimension. It let us both know what it takes.