Miggy & The Busy Bees 🪻🐝 Bedtime Story to Help Kids Sleep

[00:00:10] Hello and welcome back to Koala Moon, your podcast of original children's bedtime stories and meditations designed to make bedtime a dream. Welcome to the Coco Club, Millie and Leo from Warrilong, South Australia, where they live with their 20 plus animals. We couldn't name them all here, otherwise the intro will be longer than the story, but I gotta say it sounds idyllic.

[00:00:37] Also, like to say a really big thank you for subscribing to Ailey and Olivia from California, who has a golden retriever called Sunny. Great name! Can you imagine how confused Hector and Sunny would be if they joined you on a dog walk? Before we begin, a quick message for the grown-ups. If you'd like to support our podcast, enjoy ad-free listening,

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[00:01:30] Just in time for the Easter holidays. That means your little ones can drift off to sleep night after night without free stories, without you spending a single penny. And to celebrate Easter, we have some very special bedtime adventures coming up. Such as Coco and Kira's cozy Easter, and a brand new Coco Club exclusive, Hector and Sunny and the giant golden Easter egg.

[00:01:56] In this installment, the doggy duo head to Storybook Land, where they enter an egg hunt to win a golden egg laid by a magical goose. This offer is only available for a limited time, so don't miss out. Start your free trial in just two taps on Apple Podcasts, or head to cococlub.supercast.com for Yoto and Spotify. The link is, as always, in the show notes. Sweet dreams, and happy Easter!

[00:02:26] Hey parents! My name is Jessica Porter, and I'm the host of Sleep Magic, the sleep hypnosis podcast. As a hypnotherapist, I've helped many parents tackle their sleep troubles. Whether it's letting go of bedtime worries, or getting back to sleep after tiny bedroom intruders. I know finding peace amidst all that life brings can be tough.

[00:02:50] But since 2021, I've been delivering weekly episodes of solution-focused sleep hypnosis, which have now helped with over 5 million restless nights. Sleep magic has proven to help you relax really deeply. Maybe more deeply than you have in years. With a mix of hypnosis techniques, meditations, and classic bedtime stories, each week there's brand new episodes to help you unwind and fall asleep effortlessly.

[00:03:20] You can find me and sleep magic on all major podcast platforms. Just search sleep magic and hit follow so that you can find it easily when you go to bed. Relaxation is truly closer than you think. I'll see you there. Now, for all of those of you enjoying all of our Easter stories so far, I want to tell you about a very exciting tale Kelly just read over on Koala Shine.

[00:03:48] It stars our favourite magical siblings Lily and Jake Jupiter. Open up Koala Shine and search for the Jupiter twins' Easter dragon egg hunt for more Easter-related fun. Here and now, we are back with Miggy the rainbow troll in Rainbow Town, where she's collecting honey from her honeybee buddies to share with her friends. When chatting with the bees, she learns how important and magical their jobs are

[00:04:18] and how they help all sorts of wonderful flowers to grow. So, she sets out on a challenge to grow far-off seeds with the help of the bees and make the most delicious honey to ever exist. This really tests her patience. Do you think she manages to wait it out? Let's relax back into bed. Imagine a sunny day with flowers on tall stems,

[00:04:48] waving in the warm, balmy breeze against the bluest of skies. Breathe in. And out. And I'll begin Miggy and the Busy Bees by Luke Prendergast. Spring had come early to Rainbow Town.

[00:05:17] The snow that usually capped the top of the neighbouring mountain had melted, and the rainbow that arched over the top of it and gave the town its name was bright and brilliant. Meanwhile, the rainbow trolls who lived in Rainbow Town were busy doing all the things rainbow trolls must do once winter has loosened its grip.

[00:05:37] If you were to fly over the town looking down, you would see tufts of hair in red and green and blue and yellow, moving around as they went about their business. Rolling up the shutters. Laying out the street market. Unrolling the blankets from the trunks of the most sensitive of trees. Doing a spring clean.

[00:06:04] But it was not only the trolls themselves who were busy. There were all sorts of creatures living in the woods and fields and foothills surrounding Rainbow Town. And they, too, were waking from their hibernations and tootling into springtime action. When Miggy walked out to the river for her morning swims, or went to collect fallen firewood from the forest, she saw squirrels out collecting nuts,

[00:06:34] rabbits renovating their warrants, mother deer encouraging their baby fawns to totter about on their legs. Spiders spun their webs and fish flew, flashing out of the water. And once she even saw a big brown bear scratching its back on a tree. But one of the busiest animals of war, and the ones Miggy was most interested in, were the bees.

[00:07:03] For a long time, rainbow trolls and bees had lived in happy harmony. The rainbow trolls built wooden hives for the bees to live in, and made sure to keep other insects, who might want to sneak into the beehives and make life difficult for the bees, as far away as possible. In return, the bees made honey enough for themselves and the trolls. And once a week, one of the trolls would go around collecting honey from the beehives,

[00:07:32] and putting it in jars and distributing it around Rainbow Town. So that everyone could enjoy the delicious sweetness of the honey. Today, it was Miggy's turn to go and collect the honey. So she put on her bee suit, then she made her way out into the meadows, where the hives were collected. One by one, she lifted the special lids of the hives,

[00:08:00] saying hello to all the bees living inside them, and scooped out the honey, storing it in a big jar. Soon enough, she was done. The big jar was full of golden honey, and Miggy was ready to make her way back home with it. She unzippered the top of her bee suit and made her way back across the meadow, the long grasses and wildflowers, brushing her feet and ankles.

[00:08:30] She had almost made it back to the other side of the meadow, when she heard a buzzing sound beside her. Looking down towards her knees, she saw that her friend, Bumble the honeybee, was hovering just next to her. Oh, hello there, Bumble, Miggy said. Bumble gave out a merry buzzing noise. Hello, Miggy, he said.

[00:09:00] I almost missed you. I was out and about in far off meadows, and when I came back, I saw you heading off back to Rainbow Town, and I thought, phew, I can still catch up with her. So I buzzed on over here to say hello. Miggy was very pleased that Bumble had caught her in time.

[00:09:27] He was the friendliest of all the honeybees who lived nearby, and he had a soft, rich coat of black and golden stripes. Many times in the past, Miggy had lain down in the grass along with Bumble, and they'd watched the other insects go by and play the game of picking shapes out of the patterns on butterflies' wings. What were you doing out in those far off meadows?

[00:09:57] She asked him. Well, he replied, looking for unusual flowers, of course, to find new pollen for our honey collections. Miggy frowned a little and glanced all around her. The field they were standing in was brimming with wildflowers, red poppies and blue cornflowers, flashes of purple thistles,

[00:10:26] and the hanging bells of yellow cowweed. Why, these nearby fields were practically a feast of flowers. Surely there was plenty of pollen to be getting along with here. Why did Bumble need to go searching for more flowers elsewhere? Because, Bumble explained to her, not all pollen is the same.

[00:10:54] The pollen from different flowers has a big effect on the honey that we produce. The flavour, the texture, the colour of it. The honey we make from lily pollen, for example, is very different to the honey we make from acacia pollen, or from the pollen of bright red roses.

[00:11:24] So, I was off across the meadows, flying around, trying to find new and unusual pollen to make new and unusual honeys. That way, you trolls living in Rainbow Town can have a much greater variety of sweet honey goodness.

[00:11:53] Miggy sort of blinked at him in surprise. she had never thought about the actual way that the honey was made before, or what effect the flower pollen was having on it. This was brand new information to her, and she had to admit she found the whole thing rather fascinating. You mean, she said,

[00:12:23] that all the different flowers let you make lots of different types of honey? How helpful those flowers are! Oh, yes, replied Bumble, buzzing happily, for he loved it when people were as interested in the honey-making process as he was. But, it's not only the flowers who help us,

[00:12:51] we help the flowers too. For as we go from flower to flower, collecting up the pollen, we pass the pollen between the flowers from where it's got stuck on our hairy bee bodies. That's how we make their flower seeds. Then, they drop their flower seeds and new flowers grow.

[00:13:19] They couldn't do it without us. So, Miggy said, the flowers help you? And, you help the flowers? Bumble nodded. That's right. And, we also help the plants that grow food. The more flowers, the more bees,

[00:13:48] and the more bees, the more food grows. So, we help the environment and all the creatures living here too. Miggy marveled at the idea of it. It was very much like how the trolls helped the bees by making their hives and the bees helped the trolls by giving them honey. Maybe, everything in the whole world,

[00:14:18] all the little parts of nature that you usually thought were separate from each other and just concentrating on their own lives, were, in fact, joined together in rings of care and support. like an endless chain of interlocking hugs. That means, Miggy said, that if we get hold of flowers that aren't around here, you can make honey

[00:14:48] that tastes completely different from honey you've made before. Bumble nodded again. Yup, that's right. This gave Miggy an idea. Instead of going straight home, first she went to the rainbow market that stood in the middle of the town. Here, shopkeepers set up their stalls with their canvas roofs and their tables

[00:15:17] displaying all their produce. You could get all kinds of things from the rainbow market. Miggy's dad even sold the arty engravings he made at a little stall there at the weekends. But today, Miggy was aiming for one stall in particular. Hello, Mrs. Greenthumb, she said to the lady, an old troll with a big rush of green and purple hair who sat behind a stall covered in

[00:15:46] potted plants. I was wondering if you could help me. And so, Miggy explained to Mrs. Greenthumb that she was looking for unusual plants, ones that didn't grow from anywhere around here. Was that possible? she asked. Well, dear, said Mrs. Greenthumb, fact is, we can't offer

[00:16:15] far-off plants and flowers at this stall here because it's too far to transport them from distant lands. the plants would not fare very well on that long journey. But, what I can suggest, she added, seeing the disappointed look on Miggy's face, is that I can order a collection of strange seeds for you.

[00:16:45] Seeds that have been collected up from all over the world and stored in a bag. That way, you can plant the seeds yourself and then the far-off plants and flowers you're searching for can be growing in a patch of grass right behind your very own troll cave. What do you think? Miggy thought that was a brilliant idea and she put in an order

[00:17:15] for a bag of strange seeds. Then she walked back to her cave feeling very satisfied. In no time at all, they would have some unusual flowers so that the bees could make unusual honey. The following week, Miggy went back to the rainbow market and Mrs. Greenthumb handed her a drawstring cloth bag. The weight of the bag in Miggy's hand filled her with a feeling of wonder

[00:17:44] and mystery. She peered inside and saw a rubble of little tan and brown specks. How unassuming. How ordinary looking. Like dust. And yet, here they were, the strange seeds from which would grow strange plants and flowers. Miggy wandered back up to her cave where she met Bumble the bee

[00:18:14] in her back garden. Here they are, Miggy said, showing Bumble the drawstring bag. The seeds have arrived. Let's plant them in the soil here and then in a few days we'll have all kinds of wonderful flowers. At the sound of her words, Bumble emitted a stream of buzzing laughter. He clasped his little arm over his mouth to stifle it. Miggy

[00:18:44] looked at him a little confused. What was so funny? She asked. Oh, Miggy, he said. I shouldn't laugh. I suppose there are lots of things that you know about that I don't and you teach me about them all the time. But I really ought to let you

[00:19:14] just a few days for flowers to grow. Oh, said Miggy, it doesn't? Bumble shook his head. Oh, no, he said. Some flowers take weeks, others take months, and these ones, he said, flying around the bag of seeds to read the little tag hanging off the bottom.

[00:19:43] It says here that these ones need to be planted in autumn and they won't flower until next spring. Autumn, Miggy repeated in surprise. Next spring? Oh, yes, said Bumble, nodding wisely. Nature

[00:20:12] moves at its own pace, I'm afraid. This flower growing business is going to require a fair amount of patience. Oh, dear, patience. Miggy had never been very good at being patient, but she tried her best. Every day she woke up and the first thing she thought about was the bag of strange

[00:20:42] seeds sitting in the corner of her cave room. She would do her best to put them out of her mind, but she often found herself counting down the days until autumn on her fingers. In the meantime, she tried her best to distract herself with the rest of life. She studied hard at troll school and helped her parents when they decided to do some redecorating to their cave. She went on the swings with her brother

[00:21:11] and helped her dad sell his artworks at the rainbow market stall. Flowers budded all around, the grass grew long, baby foxes and panthers and little baby mice got born and grew up. The hot summer sun shone down on them and by the time autumn came around, Miggie had almost forgotten about the strange seeds.

[00:21:41] It took Bumble arriving at the entrance to her cave one purple evening to remind her. It's time, he said. Let's get sowing. And so the two of them took the bag of seeds out to the back garden where Miggie had already made a flower bed. She had turned over the earth with a trowel, exposing the rich soil hidden beneath the grass.

[00:22:11] Now, under Bumble's helpful instruction, Miggie poked little holes in the soil and filled each one with a little sprinkling of strange seeds. Then she covered up the holes and gave them a little water. When the job was done, Miggie and Bumble stepped back to admire their handiwork. All the seeds were planted in neat little rows

[00:22:40] and Miggie's hands were caked in a satisfying layer of earth. And now, said Bumble, we wait for spring again. Oh, wonderful, Miggie replied, more patience. She was only joking, really. As it turned out, she was getting used to this patience thing. Besides,

[00:23:10] now that the strange seeds had been planted, there was more to do with them. No longer was it simply idle waiting. Miggie had to make sure the damp the soil was and give it a little sprinkling of water whenever it was needed. Then, before winter crept upon them, she bought a bag of seed food from Mrs.

[00:23:40] Greenthumb at the rainbow market and sprinkled that on top of the flower bed. Then she took some blankets from the cupboard in the cave and laid them over the soil. Bumble said that a hard frost could damage the seeds, so it was best to keep them nice and snug, just like trolls in their caves and bees in their hives. Then winter came

[00:24:10] and left the trees and the grass encrusted with frosty diamonds. And one morning Miggy woke up to discover that a thick blanket of snow had fallen, rising all the way knees and they had to spend the day with shovels digging roots from the cave down into the rainbow town. It was a particularly snowy winter.

[00:24:40] They built snow trolls and had snowball fights and once again Miggy almost forgot about the bag of strange seeds until the snows melted and the frost thawed and in the new grass little white snowdrops and purple crocuses lifted their heads. It's almost springtime bumble the bee said to her one fresh morning.

[00:25:10] It must almost be time for our flowers to bloom. We should give them a few more waters to make sure they've got plenty of energy to grow. And so Miggy gave the flower bed a sprinkling of water and the next day she gave it another and the next day another and the next day well my oh my the next day

[00:25:40] she discovered hundreds of little sprouts popping their heads up through the soil. She headed straight off for the meadow to tell bumble the news and they returned and stared down fondly at the little seedlings with their tender green heads. With spring the seedlings began to grow fast. It seemed they grew an inch a day their stems

[00:26:10] elongating leaves budding off a big bulb of a bud appearing at the from out of the buds bloomed some of the most beautiful flowers Miggie and Bumble had ever seen. Pink and purple orchids, bright orange birds of paradise, and others

[00:26:39] that Miggie had no idea the name for. Red flowers shaped like big bells, little multicolored daisies. And now, said Bumble, it's time to start collecting the pollen. By the sounds of it, he couldn't wait. Bumble brought a whole team of his honeybee friends to Miggie's back garden, and together they began to collect the

[00:27:09] pollen off the far off plants, which of course were no longer so far off, but right here with them. Then they took the pollen back to their beehives and began the mysterious work of honey making, a work that remained hidden behind the walls of the hives while Miggie waited outside. Soon enough, the honey was ready.

[00:27:38] Bumble buzzed out of the hive, bearing a little thimble-sized cup of honey for her to taste. Miggie took it gratefully and raised it to her mouth. Mmm, a sigh of appreciation escaped her lips before she could help it. The honey was runny and sticky on her tongue and

[00:28:08] tasted so utterly different from the honey the bees usually made. It was still very clearly honey. It had that honey taste. But over that honey taste she could make out all kinds of wonderful subtleties, sweet floral flavours and something deep and dark and rich. Wow, she whispered.

[00:28:38] That is some really delicious honey. I can't believe how good it tastes. Bumble and the other bees smiled and buzzed. I bet it will sell great at the rainbow market, Bumble suggested. Oh, definitely, Miggy agreed. Then she had another idea. But

[00:29:08] first, I want to do something else. Miggy collected up all the new honey in a great glass jar and carried it down into the centre of Rainbow Town. She set up a long table in the town square and then she asked the town message senders, a flock of friendly robins, to fly around and tell everyone to come down

[00:29:41] and slices of warm toast. Soon enough, the trolls of Rainbow Town descended on the town square. They all had similar expressions on their faces, confusion mixed with intrigue. To be called down to the square bearing bowls of

[00:30:11] bay. But they trusted Miggy. She always had something up her sleeve. She never let them down. Once they were all gathered, Miggy thanked them all for coming. She said, As you all know, I have spent a whole year being very, very patient indeed. Last year, my friend Bumble the honeybee and I planted a

[00:30:41] bag of strange seeds gathered from all kinds of far off places. We watered and cared for those seeds and waited for them to grow. Just last week they bloomed and this, she said, breaking into a big smile and

[00:31:11] jar of honey the wonderful honeybees have made in their hives using the far off flowers. I wanted all of us to enjoy the first jar at the same time. Murmurs of happiness went around the trolls gathered there. Thank you, Miggy, a few of them called out, and Miggy caught sight of her mum, red-faced and teary with

[00:31:40] pride. The trolls formed an orderly queue and one by one they slathered the new strange honey onto their toast slices or into their bowls of porridge. Then a peaceful silence settled over the square of Rainbow Town. The kind of silence that only exists when a group of people are merrily

[00:32:10] eating something very delicious indeed. Birds twittered overhead and a gentle breeze rolled through the town. Everyone gathered there that day agreed that the new strange honey was some of the most delicious honey they had ever tasted. A lot of the trolls there lined up again and

[00:32:40] took second helpings. They thanked Miggy and the honey bees for bringing the strange seeds to Rainbow Town and growing them into such wonderful honey making flowers. And after that the strange seeds became a staple not only in Miggy's back garden but in the gardens all across Rainbow Town.

[00:33:11] Mrs. Greenthumb called in seeds from all kinds of unknown and distant places and the trolls took handfuls of seeds and sowed them in the soil. Now when spring comes around there is always a whole new crop of far off flowers for the honeybees to sample and Miggy can often be found

[00:33:40] rolling a cart through the town the jars and jars jingling about as she delivers the golden honey to the townsfolk of Rainbow Town