Chapter 10

Chapter 10 HONEYBEES DON'T GET WEEKENDS OFF, BUT THEY DON'T GET POP QUIZZES, EITHER! In the real world, it was the weekend, and Harper and her friends had decided to go on a fact-finding mission. Harper's parents were more than a little confused by her request. "Are you sure you want to go to the orchard today?" they asked. "Apple-picking season is weeks away." "That's why I want to go today," said Harper. "I'm not interested in the apples. I'm interested in the bees that are pollinating the apple blossoms." In the end, they'd agreed, and they dropped Harper off at the orchard while they ran errands nearby.

第十章蜜蜂没有周末休息，但它们也没有突击测验！在现实世界中，这是一个周末，哈珀和她的朋友们决定进行一次真相调查。 哈珀的父母对她的要求感到非常困惑。 “你确定今天要去果园吗？”他们问。 “苹果采摘季节还有几周就到了。” “这就是我今天想去的原因，”哈珀说。 “我对苹果不感兴趣。 我对给苹果花授粉的蜜蜂很感兴趣。” 最后，他们达成了协议，他们把哈珀送到果园，自己在附近跑腿。

Her friends were there waiting, and they'd already found Mr. Shane. The man had traded his cowboy attire for a beekeeper suit. He had taken the beehives off his truck and set them all over the orchard grounds. When Harper arrived, he had just removed a tray from one of the hives, and he was scraping fresh honey off of the tray and into a glass bottle. Bees were crawling all over him, but he didn't seem to mind. Po frowned at the sight, though. "I'd go up and say hi," he said, "but even if bees aren't aggressive, I don't want to be outnumbered a hundred to one." "I'll do it," said Harper, and she strode forward, waving her arms. "Hi!" she said. "Sorry! Mr. Shane?

她的朋友们在那里等着，他们已经找到了谢恩先生。 那人把牛仔装换成了养蜂人装。 他从卡车上卸下了蜂箱，把它们放在果园的地上。 哈珀来的时候，他刚从一个蜂箱里取下一个托盘，正在把托盘上的新鲜蜂蜜刮下来，放进一个玻璃瓶里。 蜜蜂在他身上爬来爬去，但他似乎并不介意。 不过，阿宝一看就皱起了眉头。 “我会走过去打招呼，”他说，“但即使蜜蜂没有攻击性，我也不想在数量上落后一百倍。” “我来吧。”哈帕说着，大步向前走，挥舞着双臂。 “嗨！”她说。“对不起!巴蒂尔先生吗?

It's important!" Theo grinned. "I guess she means business." "She made a promise on Buzby's grave," Jodi reminded him. "Nothing's more serious than that." Mr. Shane held up a hand to keep Harper from coming too close. He put the hive back together, grabbed the bottle of honey, and came toward them. "Can I help you?" "We're hoping that we can help you, actually," Harper said. "Your bees are in trouble. The ones you left by the school, I mean. And we're trying to find out why."

是很重要的!”西奥咧嘴一笑。 “我想她是认真的。” “她在巴兹比的墓前许过愿，”乔迪提醒他。 “没有什么比这更严重的了。” 谢恩先生举起一只手，不让哈珀靠得太近。 他把蜂箱重新组装起来，抓起那瓶蜂蜜，向他们走来。 “我能帮你吗？”哈珀说：“实际上，我们希望我们能帮助你。” “你的蜜蜂有麻烦了。 我是说你留在学校的那些。 我们正在努力找出原因。”

Mr. Shane came closer, removing his helmet. The skin around his eyes crinkled as he smiled at them. "You must be Doc Culpepper's students," he said. "She called me about the problem. I'll tell you what I told her: it's sadly pretty common, these days." He sighed. "I lose a lot of bees." "Why?" asked Harper. "Why do honeybees need so much help to survive?" Mr. Shane tipped his head at her. "I'm happy to tell you more," he said. "But let's walk while we talk."

谢恩先生走近了，摘下了他的头盔。 当他对他们微笑时，眼睛周围的皮肤起了皱纹。 “你们一定是卡尔佩珀博士的学生。”他说。 “她打电话告诉我这个问题。 我告诉你我对她说过的话：可悲的是，现在这种事很常见。” 他叹了口气。“我失去了很多蜜蜂。” “为什么？”哈珀问。“为什么蜜蜂需要这么多的帮助才能生存？”谢恩向她低下头。 “我很高兴告诉你更多，”他说。 “我们边走边谈吧。”

Harper had been to the orchard before, but never when the trees were in full bloom. It was a beautiful sight. "I didn't realize apple blossoms were so pretty," she said. "They're pretty…and they're an important part of the natural balance," he said. "I'm sure Doc's told you all about how this works. Bees seek out flowers for nectar to eat. That's where honey comes from. But while the bees are getting what they need from the flowers…the flowers are getting what they need from the bees. The insects spread pollen from the flowers all around. Then the flowers become fruit, and the seeds from the fruit ensure that more trees grow." He patted a nearby tree trunk. "It's a pretty good system. Worked well for millions of years. Then people came along, and things got complicated." Po crunched loudly into an apple. "Oh," said Po. "Sorry! I didn't think that was going to be so noisy." "Where did you even get that?" asked Theo. "There aren't any apples here yet!"

哈珀以前去过果园，但从来没有在树盛开的时候去过。 这是一个美丽的景象。“我不知道苹果花这么漂亮，”她说。 “它们很漂亮……它们是自然平衡的重要组成部分，”他说。 “我相信医生已经告诉过你这是怎么回事了。 蜜蜂在花中寻找花蜜吃。 这就是蜂蜜的来源。 但是当蜜蜂从花朵那里得到它们需要的东西时，花朵也从蜜蜂那里得到它们需要的东西。 昆虫把花粉从花中传播到各处。 然后花朵变成果实，果实中的种子确保更多的树木生长。” 他拍了拍附近的树干。 “这是一个非常好的系统。 数百万年来一直运转良好。 后来有人来了，事情就变得复杂了。” 阿宝大声咬着一个苹果。 “哦，”阿宝说。“对不起!我没想到会这么吵。” “你从哪儿弄来的？”西奥问。 “这里还没有苹果呢！”

"It's from the grocery store," said Po. "Aha!" said Mr. Shane. "See, that's interesting. We know it isn't apple season around here. The bees are only now doing the work of pollinating. But it's apple season somewhere—in another climate, maybe another hemisphere. And people have gotten used to having year-round access to every kind of fruit and vegetable you can imagine." "Thafsa good fing," Po said around a mouthful of apple. "It's not a bad thing—not always," agreed Mr. Shane. "Believe me, I'm happy to have year-round

“这是从杂货店买的，”阿宝说。 “啊哈！”沙恩先生说。“看，这很有趣。 我们知道现在不是苹果的季节。 蜜蜂现在才开始授粉。 但现在是某个地方的苹果季节——在另一个气候，也许是另一个半球。 人们已经习惯了一年四季都能吃到你能想到的各种水果和蔬菜。” “真好吃，”阿宝边说边吃了一口苹果。 “这不是一件坏事——不总是坏事，”谢恩先生表示赞同。 “相信我，我很高兴有全年