A long time ago, bees didn’t live in big families. There was a bee mother who lived in a tree with her two daughters. Their life was very difficult because they had to do everything on their own. They had to find food, build their home, and take care of each other without any help.

The bee girls’ names were Butterfly and Dragonfly. Butterfly worked hard all day, making honey. But Dragonfly spent her days reading books. Do you want to know where she got the books? A student had lost his bag under their tree, and Dragonfly had learned how to read them. First, she studied math, then history, and then science. Sometimes, Butterfly got angry with her sister because she wanted her to work more. But Dragonfly wanted to learn about everything.

One day, Dragonfly finished all the books. She began to think about how she could learn more. She went to her mother and said, “Mother, I want to see what’s beyond the trees. I want to know everything.”

“Dragonfly, please don’t go. I don’t want to lose you. People kill bees like us with chemicals. We are weak,” her mother replied.

“But we don’t have a good life. You work all day, all year. We don’t have friends. We don’t sing. We don’t dance.”

Her mother thought for a minute and then said, “All right, go then, but bring back something that can change our lives.”

Dragonfly flew out of the tree and saw many interesting places. She saw people playing golf in a city and big buildings where hundreds of people lived.

“People are the strongest animals,” she thought. She wanted to talk to a boy about it, so she flew to his arm. But the boy was afraid of the bee and tried to shoo her away. Dragonfly was sad and flew away.

At the end of the park, she saw ants. They were building something. Dragonfly flew over and asked an ant, “What are you working on?”

“We are building our new home here,” the ant replied.

She saw that the ants worked together. Some ants brought food, some built the anthill, and others protected their home. The little bee noticed how much easier it was for the ants because they all helped each other. The ants told her that living in a big family makes life better because everyone helps each other.

Excited by what she learned, the little bee flew back to her mother and sister. She told her mother that they should find other bees and live together in a big family.

They all flew out to find other bees. They searched every tree, and soon, they found many other bees, and they all started living together in a large beehive. Life became much easier and happier for the bees, as they helped each other with everything they did.

From that day on, bees always lived in big families, working together and taking care of each other. The bees still don’t sing, not even speak, but they dance. They tell other bees where to find the best flowers by dancing.

• Do you think it is a true story?
• What is true and what is not true in the story?
• Do people kill bees?
• Is life easier when people or animals help each other?
• Do bees dance?