On the Yahara

"Sitting in the Scamper, curling her arms up like a boxer, Keeper flexed her muscles. She certainly was not like the Incredible Hulk, but she was proud of her strong arms." – Appelt, from Keeper










So far Cora and Shaw had only one summer client signed up for what they decided to call The Lost Bee Society.  Mrs. Gavelwood was an ex biology school teacher and knew all about these things. She was almost always out in her frontyard which faced the park and made sure the park department didn't cut down the dogwoods or mow over what she called the spring ephemerals.  Cora and Shaw would walk past Mrs. Gavelwood's house every morning that they remembered and ask what she was doing today? "We want to count all the neighborhood bees," was the first service that The Lost Bee Society would work on.  "Well remember, it matters how much we give them to eat and pollinate. Now if every house planted an apple tree, we'd have something wouldn't we?" Mrs. Gavelwood was pruning the long branches of her own apple tree that particular  morning. "Once those bees sniff out those apple buds, that's all it takes. Come on back here girls, let me show you something." Gavelwood set her loppers down and made a tidy stack of limbs along the tree. The front porch of the house was a lush herb garden planted along the stairs and up onto the porch railings. "When you start your bee counting, no need to come back this way," she said, pointing out the contours of the backyard. It was rolling in small hills. Raised beds were fit like square puzzle pieces. Ms. Gavelwood was the tallest woman that the girls knew and when she pointed to the raised beds, her arms seemed to extend all the way down the ground without bending over. "Do you see that box back there by the garage? Don't tell anybody but those are my Italians. Stay put for now." The side wall seemed to be moving. "Italians?" Shaw asked, wanting so badly to walk over to the mysterious box. "What has a powerful queen, likes apples, and lives on one another in a very small apartment?"