The funny bee

Previously

…He still had a mission to complete, a hive to save. And for the first time, Barnaby didn't feel like a burden. He felt like a bee. A funny bee, perhaps, but a bee nonetheless. He could almost hear the Queen’s wise voice, a hint of admiration in her tone, as he imagined presenting the nectar. He could almost feel the gratitude of his fellow bees, no longer ostracized, but celebrated. The Whispering Woods seemed a little less spooky now, and the path back to the hive, a path he’d always dreaded, now felt like a triumphant return. Bartholomew’s scheme, it turned out, had been the very thing that paved Barnaby’s way to glory.