Welcome to the second themed issue of Honeyguide. I’m so excited to share this collection with you. It’s not one we expected to have, but it’s impacted our views on the complex relationships we have with the smallest animals among us.

       All the pieces highlight the unique lifestyles, abilities, and mythology surrounding insects and bugs. To us humans, these creatures can be both hideous and beautiful, familiar and alien, and dangerous and gentle. I’m sure bugs see us the same way. What I especially love about this collection is in portraying our duel perspectives on insects, each contributor shows us the capacity of human nature. Insects can make us feel a variety of ways, and our response to them can reveal truths about ourselves that we didn’t know we had.

       Many times, almost daily, we seek to control insects and their populations to save our gardens, homes, health, and sense of safety. We all want to feel safe, and often, we don’t. The majority of these pieces have positive things to say about humans and insects – they show how we can work in tandem to nurture the Earth, grow and learn from each other, and meet each other’s needs. Others show the grim reality that not all is safe. Either the insects cause destruction for us or we cause destruction for them – intentionally and accidentally, with good intentions and bad.

       So, how do humans and insects survive together and fulfill their goals if they seem to have opposite motives? What happens when we encounter bugs that play important roles in the environment, but they can cause us serious harm and strike a fear in us so great, that we lose ourselves? It’s easy to have an “us-vs-them” mentality when it comes to our animal neighbors – they have the potential to destroy our homes, livelihoods, and mental sanity. When it feels easier and better to be rid of them, how do we show them respect as living beings who also have homes, families, and purpose?

       I hope these works can bring you closer to answering those questions. The stories, poems, art pieces, and articles here have brought me to a better understanding of insects and bugs, and I hope they do the same for you. All of us at Honeyguide are grateful and pleased to add this issue to our anthology.

       Happy reading,

                Amanda Marrero and the Honeyguide team