Postman Knocks

I've never had a queen delivered (bee, of course - I clarify, given that some blippers are involved with royal visits today). Certainly they are - or were - delivered in the post, with a small escort of four or five workers, in small 'queen cages', designed to be slipped between the frames of a queenless colony. This serves to protect the queen from misidentification as an 'intruder', until they have got used to one-another's smells. The queen and her escort are then allowed to 'eat' their way out of the cage, past a small plug of sugar fondant that seals the entrance. Funny how often food forms the basis of a new relationship

These days, I expect the courrier companies vie for the business. Hermes has wings on his sandals and his staff, so you would expect them to be front-runners

The postie knocked on the door and said, a little wide-eyed, "It says 'live insects'". "Actually, they're not", I replied, "they're crustaceans". I thought I was being reassuring, but I'm not sure it worked. They didn't bother with a signature or a photograph

So not a queen bee. In fact it is pond life - rhetorically, quite the opposite. I grew impatient waiting for invertebrates to appear in the pond (last year they materialised spontaneously) and bought some - a mixture of Cyclops and Daphnia, both of which are sometimes referred to as 'water fleas'. They are sold live, in sachets of pond water, like Tip Tops

Aquatic centres sell them as fish food. These actually came from something called 'reptilecentre.com'. I did not dig too deep into it. Crucially, for me, they are not via Amazon, who I see have attracted the Eye of Sauron. Every cloud has a silver lining