"Your room all right?"
"Oh, yes, quite. Lovely view of the sea."
"Yes, I thought you might like it. Anything you need?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Excellent! Then come with me."
I set my bag down on the sturdy bed in the little bedroom and then followed my companion outside the cottage. The spring breeze was scented with flowers as well as salt from the nearby ocean, and the noise of various birds not native to London filled my ears as we followed a path of rough sandstone round the back of the house.
"This really is lovely, after the smog of London," I had to admit.
"Mmm? Oh, yes, I suppose it is. But come along, Watson, we only have the weekend and I want to show you everything!"
I chuckled in amusement – some things never changed, Holmes's impatience being one of them.
We stopped, and I stared in some amusement as he proudly indicated his greatest treasure – the many large white hives standing in a neat row along one end of his back yard. A low humming filled our ears as what appeared to be thousands of the little insects swarmed round the area, which was surrounded with brightly-coloured flowers.
Finally I found my voice and turned to my friend, struggling desperately to keep a straight face.
"Bees??"