Bradley Garret stared, entranced as the bees swarmed toward him. He’d never seen anything like it. In all his years as a beekeeper, the bees were always calm and peaceful.

This time they came at him like an organized entity.

The bees were out for blood.

He had no idea where they came from. They were not from any of his normal hives, Bradley threw his arms up and tried to swat them away.

They kept coming, and he ran. But he couldn’t outrun them. They were too fast and there were too many of them.

They stung him mercilessly. He tried to reach the school building — it was so close, yet so far. Pain, so much pain. Bradley fell mere feet from the door.

The bees relentlessly stung the man as he lay helpless on the ground.

Bradley’s spirit rose. He watched the body on the ground, now covered in an angry mass of black and yellow.

For the past twenty years, Bradley had been the lead beekeeper and head instructor at the Viyada Beekeeping School in Ghana, Africa. He’d come to Africa as a young man, in search of a new start. He found it in the oceanfront city in the heart of the African continent.

As he watched the body below he tried to understand what happened. Why did the bees turn on him? There were more aggressive East African bees, but they’d been careful to ensure the queens were more docile European honeybees. How could this have happened?

His spirit felt restless yet tied to the earth below. He couldn’t let go of his earthly shackles. His mind and spirit drifted in space and time. He felt his consciousness float toward the other hives in the apiary.

As if by magic, he realized he could see with a thousand eyes.

The spirit of the bees mixed with his own. They were terrified, and angry. He tried to calm this new flood of emotions. It was impossible. Yet, here he was, floating inside a mass of eyes.

It overwhelmed him and he almost lost himself.

But his human will was stronger than the bees and he regained control of what senses he had left. Bradley concentrated and focused his vision on one place, he found he could isolate one bee and see through its eyes. He saw a man in a bee suit approach the hive that contained the colony that attacked him.

He couldn’t believe it. It was Kojo Oambay, his former partner in the school. He’d been forced to fire him when it was discovered he was breeding the more aggressive African bees. He knew Kojo was ruthless, but not enough to commit murder.

That’s what this was: murder.

Bradley wanted to scream, but all he could do was attack.

Then things went black.

His consciousness stirred and he felt himself once again inside a thousand eyes. He shook off the feeling of helplessness. It started to make sense. His spirit was trapped inside the bees.

Bradley felt torn in a thousand directions. He needed to concentrate, or he would lose himself. He focused on taking control of the energy that he felt. It was all he had left, pure energy.

He looked through the eyes again and saw Kojo put the hive in his truck and drive away. Time flowed slowly for Bradley. Bit by bit, he gained control of this new existence. He was no longer alive in any way he once knew. But in some ways, he felt more in touch with the world than he ever did in his human form.

The school would need a new head instructor and he had a feeling Kojo would be back and would be the one to take over. Sure enough, he watched his enemy walk into the main office and announce his intention to replace Bradley.

Anger rose inside him, and he wanted to sting him again, he wanted to attack. But he knew it would mean the death of the attacking bee so he kept his fury in check.

He would find a way for revenge.

There were other teachers in the school. Others who would not be happy that Kojo was back. He would find a way to communicate with them. Somehow, he would let them know the truth.

A plan formed in his consciousness. 

He started by trying to organize some of the bees he connected with. He sensed a hive mindset and he was very much linked to it. He found it fascinating these tiny creatures he’d been the caretaker of for all those years were linked in a way no one could measure.

At first, he formed them into a circle, a simple letter O. It was a pattern he knew well but the bees did not. Eventually, he perfected the circle. Then he tried a line. His bees formed up and he began to create more shapes, more letters, a B at first, then an M. He continued to connect his spirit to the bees.

Kojo took control of the beekeeper school and Bradley’s body was laid to rest.

 

* * *

 

Bradley watched as Kojo introduced a few of the vicious African bees to the apiary. He had to stop him. He listened as some of his colleagues talked outside one of the hives.

A young trainee beekeeper, Alysha, was talking to her teacher, Julius. “Mr. Oambay is bringing in more of those aggressive bees. How could he not be worried, after what happened to Mr. Garret? I’m getting scared.”

“Kojo’s been a beekeeper for over twenty years, I think he knows what he’s doing,” Julius said.

Bradley’s spirit struggled to maintain control. The hive buzzed with his emotion.

Alysha looked down at the hive. “What’s bothering these bees? I’m glad I’m wearing this bee suit.”

Since Bradley’s death, all the people wore bee suits when they were near the hives. It used to be beekeepers would forsake the safety gear to better connect with the honeybees.

Bradley pushed his will into the bees, and they formed a shape.

“Do you see that?” Julius pointed at the hive, “is that a heart?”

“Bees don’t form shapes,” Alysha answered but then shook her head. “It can’t be, but I think it is.”

Bradley tried again. He urged the bees with all his will and managed to create the letter M.

“Now it is an M. I could swear I feel some sort of spirit here. But it couldn’t be, could it?” Alysha frowned and looked closer at the hive.

Julius looked around at the other hives in the garden. “I’ve known bees to work together but never this. Look, is that a U?”

The bees formed the letter U and then morphed it into an R.

“Yes, now it’s an R. This is impossible.” Alysha’s mouth hung open under the screen that protected her face.

“Now a D,” Julius shook his head again, as if trying to clear his vision.

“An E, and look another R.”

“Murder!” They both gasped in unison.

“This is impossible. Bees don’t know how to form letters, let alone spell.” Julius paced across the garden in disbelief.

Alysha got up and followed him. “Where are you going?”

“I, um, well, I was going to go talk to Kojo, but…” Julius stopped. “You don’t think? I mean it can’t be, can it?”

“I think we shouldn’t tell Mr. Oambay, is what I think.” Alysha turned back and looked at the hive again. “M, U, R, D, E, R spells murder. What exactly happened to Mr. Garret anyway?”

When she finished her sentence, the bees turned and buzzed and formed a giant letter B. Then they did a large circle and returned to the hive.

“Did we just see that?” Julius shook his head and walked further away from the hives.

Alysha had to jog to catch up to him. “Yes, I just saw that.”

“Just saw what?” It was Kojo.

“Uh, nothing,” Julius replied.

“You two look like you just saw a ghost. You’re trying to tell me it was nothing?” The new administrator gave them an intense look.

Kojo wasn’t wearing his bee suit as he looked across the grass at the hives

Bradley watched and listened as he felt his anger surge. He had to exert control over himself and the colony as they buzzed with his negative energy.

“The bees seem agitated today,” Alysha looked back toward the hive. “You can hear them, they were flying in circles and seemed in a bad mood.”

“Bees don’t have moods,” Kojo laughed. “You should get back to class. Afternoon sessions are about to begin.”

Julius remained silent and the look on his face showed his dislike for Kojo. The head beekeeper seemed oblivious to this, but Bradley could sense it from the bees flying high above them.

His plan just might work.

Where was Kojo keeping the African killer bees? He organized the next stage of his plan.

Bradley followed Kojo and watched him get into his truck. He flew in the window and landed on the top of the visor.

The phone rang.

Kojo answered. “Yes? I know. Yes, I know, they are more aggressive. Make sure you wear a bee suit. Uh-huh. Yes, I know, but they produce almost double the honey normal bees do.” Kojo put down his cell. “Idiots, why can’t they just do as I tell them.”

Now it made sense to Bradley. It was all about the money. The African bees were more productive.

Kojo drove through the countryside and pulled into a massive property surrounded by a large ring of trees. He jumped out of the vehicle and walked up to a man in a white suit. Bradley flew out the window and circled above, curious about who this person was.

“I tell you they’re dangerous. Martin was stung over a hundred times. Lucky for him he jumped into the pool. He’s now in the hospital!” The man in the white suit was distraught.

“What was he doing? Did he go to the hive without his bee suit? Fools, you’re all fools. Not to worry, I’ll bring them to the Viyada school soon. I’ve almost trained everyone to wear the bee suits there.”

Kojo dismissed the man in white with a wave of his hand. He walked toward the main building, opened the door, and went inside. Bradley was left outside of the building. He searched for a way in but couldn’t find it.

Bradley felt weak and flew back inside the truck. When he landed everything went dark.

When he became aware of his surroundings he realized his spirit was back in the hive. The bee he’d flown with must have been too tired. Without more pollen or honey, it couldn’t survive. He too felt weak and drained. It was time to rest.

“Mr. Garret? Are you there? Bradley is that you?” Alysha’s voice pierced his consciousness.

“This is stupid. Ghosts don’t exist and they certainly don’t inhabit bees.” Julius said.

Bradley pushed his energy into the colony and they flew out of the hive.

“Look,” Alysha said.

The pair watched as a Y formed in front of them, then an E, and finally an S.

“See I told you it was him,” Alysha and Julius stood in front of the hive, a stunned look on their faces.

Julius laughed, “I would never have believed it. Only Bradley could come up with spelling bees.”

Alysha chuckled for a minute, then said, “What does he want? And what can we do?”

“Let’s ask him,” Julius said. Then he asked the buzzing bees, “Was it Kojo?”

The bees buzzed louder and formed the letter Y. Then they formed a K, an I, and two Ls.

“Kill? What do you mean kill?” Alysha looked confused. Two more letters formed. An E then an R.

“Killer? Okay, killer what?” Julius said.

They formed a B.

“Killer bees? I know! He was attacked by killer bees. Kojo was trying to breed killer bees when Bradley fired him. Could he be doing it again?” Julius looked at Alysha.

The bees buzzed louder and a Y formed.

“What can we do?” Alysha asked.

They heard the rumble of an approaching truck. It was Kojo.

“We’ve got to stop him.” Alysha looked at Julius.

The truck rolled to a stop, there were three hives in the back and Kojo looked at the pair. “Grab the hives and put them with the rest.”

Bradley knew it was the hives with the African killer bees. A buzz of fury erupted from the colony.

Alysha and Julius sensed something was wrong. Julius walked over and grabbed one of the hives out of the back of the truck. The bees buzzed around him but couldn’t get through his protective gear. Kojo sat inside the truck with the windows rolled up.

Bradley felt his rage grow. His colony buzzed around the new hives. He guided a swarm of bees to the vent window on the back of the truck. They worked together and managed to push open the sliding window.

They streamed inside the truck. Kojo screamed and opened the door to flee. He reached for his protective suit, but it was too late.

The hive of killer bees sensed the anger from Bradley’s colony and circled for the attack.

Kojo ran.

Alysha and Julius watched in horror as all three of the new hives emptied. A huge swarm bore down on the man.

He wasn’t fast enough.

Bradley sensed the horror and the anger in his hive. There was nothing he could do. The African bees were in a swarm, and they covered the man in a yellow and black coating.

Kojo twitched once or twice, then lay still.

Bradley felt his soul disconnect from the bees. He felt himself rise above the scene below. He felt a sense of release and freedom as his spirit climbed to the heavens.

Julius ended up taking over the Viyada Beekeeper School that year and the killer beehives were destroyed.

In the woods just outside the school, a single African queen bee survived, her body was possessed by a tormented soul.

Kojo’s spirit, trapped inside the queen bee, flew off in search of a new hive and a male to mate with. It landed on a branch and was spotted by a lone anteater looking for a meal. With a sudden suck of air, Kojo and the queen were no more.