On a beautiful flower meadow lived a little bee named Melody. She was very curious and loved discovering new things. While other bees collected sweet nectar from flowers, Melody often stopped and pondered.
"I wonder when flowers contain the most sweet nectar," she mused one sunny morning.
In the hive it was buzzing as always. Melody went to the oldest and wisest bee - Grandmother Ella.
"Grandmother Ella, may I ask you something?" said Melody politely.
"Of course, dear. What interests you?" Ella smiled.
"I would like to know when our meadow has the most sunlight. I think that's when flowers will have the most nectar."
Grandmother Ella pondered: "That's a very wise question! The sun travels across the sky from morning to evening. You can observe this using a simple trick."
"What trick?" Melody asked excitedly.
"Go to Simon the Beetle. He lives under the great oak. He's a wise friend who will gladly advise you."
Melody flew to the oak and found there a kind beetle who was observing something.
"Good day, Mr. Simon! I'm Melody. Grandmother Ella said you would advise me."
Simon smiled kindly, "Hello, Melody! I'm just watching how the shadow of this stone changes during the day. Do you see? In the morning the shadow is long, but as the sun climbs higher, the shadow shortens."
"That's amazing!" Melody was delighted.
"When the shadow is shortest, the sun is highest. That's when its rays shine strongest," Simon explained.
Melody listened carefully to everything. Simon showed her how she could make her own "sundial" using a straight stick.
The next day Melody found a nice spot in the middle of the meadow and stuck a straight stick into the ground. She decided to watch its shadow all day long.
Her best friend Sophia came to visit her: "What are you doing, Melody?"
"I'm investigating when the sun shines strongest. Do you want to help me?"
"Yes!" Sophia agreed joyfully.
The little bees observed together how the stick's shadow changed during the day. In the morning it pointed to one side and was long. Gradually it shortened, until around noon it was shortest. Then it began to lengthen again on the other side.
"Look, Sophia!" exclaimed Melody. "Around noon the shadow is shortest. That means the sun shines strongest then!"
Sophia noticed something else: "Melody, look at the sunflowers! They turn toward the sun like dancers!"
It was true. The sunflowers looked east in the morning, up at noon, and west in the evening.
"Do you think they have the most nectar then too?" Melody wondered.
The following days the bees tested their theory. They tasted nectar from flowers at different times and indeed - around noon it was sweetest!
After a week of research, Melody and Sophia decided to share their discoveries with the other bees.
"Dear bees," Melody began at the assembly in the hive, "we discovered that between ten and two o'clock flowers are sweetest!"
The bees were excited. The Queen smiled proudly at Melody: "Melody and Sophia, you are very wise bees. Thanks to you, we will know when to collect the best nectar."
From then on the bees used Melody's discovery. In the morning they collected nectar from flowers that open early, around noon they devoted themselves to sunflowers and other flowers that love the sun, and in the afternoon they visited flowers that open later.
Thanks to Melody's curiosity, the whole hive prospered. And Melody? She still kept discovering new things, because she knew that learning is like collecting nectar - the more you search, the more you find!