Bee Diversity and Orchards

 Orchards do better with more diverse bee populations.  Bees are more diverse in orchards surrounded by wilderness than by farms.

I am reminded of elven farming, which isn't done in vast tracts, but rather in little meadows and orchards whittled out of the surrounding wilderness.

Poem: "Not the Opposite of Life"

This poem is spillover from the December 4, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from dialecticdreamer. It also fills the "fighting" square in my 6-4-18 Mixed card for the Winteriron Bingo Adventure fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool organized by ng_moonmoth. It belongs to the Aquariana thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

WARNING: This poem contains scenes that may be disturbing to some readers. It includes a nasty fight over cetacean religions, consensual whale-hunting, characterization of boneworms as demons, graphic subjective description of death, aquatic roughhousing, and other challenges. If these are touchy topics for you, please consider whether this is something you want to read before clicking through.

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"Only If It Is Embraced" is now complete!

 Thanks to a donation from the pool run by ng_moonmoth, "Only If It Is Embraced" is now complete.  Clement and Pain's Gray reconnect with Farce after the fight.

New word: Zooeyia

Zooeyia (pronounced zoo-AY-uh) is the idea that pets, also known as companion animals, can be good for human health.

Poem: "That Ability to Comfort"

This poem is spillover from the September 18, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from rix_scaedu. It also fills the "comfort food or item / feeding someone" square in my 3-1-17 card for the Disability Bingo fest, and the "nurture self-worth" square in my 9-1-18 card for the Cottoncandy Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool run by ng_moonmoth. It belongs to the Skink thread of the Polychrome Heroics series. It immediately follows "Only the Finest," so read that first or this won't make much sense.

Warning: This poem features the aftermath of injury-activated superpowers, so there is some angst and tangential medical references.

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