Honeycomb

Honeycomb. A colony of bees governed by a queen. Workers follow the Queen's orders. They work hard and the Queen lives in the luxury. They say honey bees are the ones keeping our planet afloat. They are the creatures which need the most help. They say bees are friendly. It is all fun and games until they come and settle in your safe space - make a honeycomb where you stay. As a child, I saw a honeycomb in my locality and it became my irrational fear.

I must have been 4-5 (yes, I now see a pattern). I was with my mother. We had gone to the market to get groceries and vegetables. While returning, I noticed a blackish brown stain on 6th floor of a building in our complex. I asked my mother what it was. It was too small to notice but I had sharp eyes so I was able to see it. My mother did not see it and asked me to ignore.

Day by that the stain was growing. It was getting bigger every day. I was noticing it but as my mother told me, I ignored it. One day we received a notice from the society management. There was a honeycomb in the complex and it was going to be removed. We were required to close all doors and windows while it was being removed. This is when we realised, the blackish brown stain that I had noticed was a honeycomb. It was now a lot bigger.

We visited the family whose home was right next to the honeycomb. It was huge. It looked porous. Honey bees were buzzing all around it. They were flying aggressively. It was a scary sight. It was scary enough to instill fear. Later the honeycomb was removed. But my fear towards honeycomb still remained.

Few years later, in my college a honeycomb was spotted. I was scared that time as well. I felt as if the honeybees were following me. Anytime I would hear a buzzing sound, I would think that honeybees are around me. I would get nightmares that bees have created a honeycomb in my hair while I was sleeping.

My nightmares came true when I moved to the different part of the town. This side of the town was still in touch with nature. Here waterfalls, lakes, and trees were abundant. However I had not realised that along with nature, honeybees would mark their attendance. One day while going to my office I was looking out of the window. I saw a building that was under construction. It was probably a refuge area, where there was a gigantic honeycomb. It had the base at the ceiling and was almost touching the ground. It was hemispherical. I had knots in my stomach just by looking at it. I showed it to my friend but she took it lightly. I was petrified. That day I could not think about anything but honeycomb. While returning home, I was looking at all the buildings. To my surprise, there were honeycombs at all buildings.

My fear of honeycombs still has not disappeared. I am still scared of honeycombs. I do not know if I will ever overcome this fear. I am still working on it.