Arachnid’s Apis-phobia

A few weeks ago we visited my aunt. She is now 96 and still lives in the house she helped build. My earliest memory of her is of that time. Dressed in brown dungarees her blond hair blowing in the breeze. She was halfway up a ladder holding a brick. I was five and hugely impressed, I still am. Apart from a cleaner and gardener who come once a week she is independent and prefers her own cooking. I'm proud to say that an exception is me.

Once a month my wife and I visit her. I cook a curry a dish she loves, but has never made herself. We love visiting her, looking forward to news, pre lunch sherry and her famous trifle for pudding.

The weather for our last visit was perfect. After lunch we sat on the veranda enjoying the sunshine and admiring the amazing array of flowers and shrubs. Butterflies danced and bees buzzed from bloom to bloom.

A bumblebee flew under the veranda roof making such a noise I looked up. It had flown into a spider's web and abruptly stopped struggling. Before I could find a stepladder and free the bee. The spider, as big as the bee, rushed from its lair. It stopped and then slowly advanced to within touching distance. After what seemed to be an insect face-off, the spider retreated. It walked backwards turning only when safely by the entrance to its lair. The bumblebee seemed to slide down the web, drop and fly away. I recall seeing a similar incident years ago when a spider cut a bee free from its web. I don't know if this is a common phenomena. But it's good to know that some Arachnids suffer from Apis-phobia.