I wake up, the wax feeling warm about me. Unwilling to leave my cuddly nest, I curl up again. My attempt is in vain, for just as I close my eyes, the Queen's voice rings out strong and clear.

"Wake up my workers, time to get busy!!!"

When I was first born, I used to think the Queen's voice was beautiful and comforting. I was a larva and spent my days sleeping in my bed dreaming of being a worker.

Now, I climb out of my waxy bed and peer out of the yellowish hive into the meadow beyond. One day soon I will fly there. For now, I am surrounded by buzzing and the slow familiar whirl of sleepy wings.

My name is Jafina and I am a three week old house bee. My job is to do all the work around the hive. First, I have to feed the worker larvae their "Royal Jelly," which is a mix of pollen and honey made by the younger house bees. I only feed them for the first 24 hours of their lives. Then the younger bees take over. Today I'm also feeding a young drone who will grow up much bigger than the workers so I feed him a special mixture that has almost no pollen and looks milky. He will eventually mate with the Queen.

As I am working I notice a larva is being born! I can see her egg case rippling and break open. I hover there, watching as she crawls, looking indistinctly around. She is smooth white and sausage shaped. I think she is beautiful.

After feeding, I am off to make the combs. My wax-glands work super-fast. I shape the combs and expand the hive by making tons of new six-sided cells.

My next job is to meet the field bees who bring the nectar to the hive. I relieve them of the nectar, remove the moisture by fanning it really fast with my wings "whoosh, whoosh," then seal it up in a cell with a thin layer of wax. This mixture turns into delectable honey! Now my day is done and tomorrow I become a FIELD BEE!

"Good morning, good morning!" I hear the Queen calling. "Today my daughter Jafina becomes a field bee!" She smiles and taps me with her antenna.

"Th...thank you," I mutter shyly. My moment is interrupted by a tap by the main field bee named Gloria. Gloria is larger, stronger and smarter than any of the other field bees.

"Welcome to the crew, Jafina! For your first five trips, bring pollen. For your last five, bring nectar. Each trip should take about an hour. Watch the sun to gauge the time."

Suddenly, another bee flies up, "Scout Fiona reporting! Permission to proceed dancing?"

Captain Gloria nods. Scout Fiona starts the "Round Dance." She circles one way, then the other. This dance means the flowers are close to the hive, somewhere within 100 meters.

We follow Scout Fiona, but soon spread out once we know where the flowers are. I turn my mind to the task ahead. I look for a heavily pollinated flower, like a tulip. I fly down into it, the yellow powder sticking to my pollen sacks on my back legs. Once this flower is harvested, I am off to the next.

It has been five hours of collecting pollen, and I drop off my last pollen load. During break, Fiona shows me the "Tail Wagging" dance. Fiona flies in a half circle one direction, then turns and flies forward in a line while wagging her tail and then does another half circle. The tail-wagging part is to show what direction the flowers are. The number of times she wags her tail in those fifteen seconds shows how far away the flowers are. Pretty cool!

Now I have to find nectar. Nectar can be found in flowers like daffodils and geraniums. The nectar is as easy to get as the pollen: I just suck it up. I mix it with saliva and store it in my honey sacks. Once my honey sacks are full, I go back to the hive and transfer the nectar tongue-to-tongue with a house bee. Then I'm off again. Well, I better leave you now. A field bee's life is BZZZZZZY!