Kiwi Woman Stung By Postal Plea

To prune or post, that's the dilemma facing a New Zealand woman, Athena Ellis, who said the local postman put a note in her mailbox on Monday asking her to cut the lavender surrounding the mailbox.

Why? Because the "postie" was afraid of getting stung.

The New Zealand Press reports that the nation's postal service may stop delivering Ms. Ellis' mail unless she prunes the lavender around her letterbox that is attracting bees and creating a "hazard".

"It's so nice to have flowers, and I can't control nature. I can't say, `Go away, you naughty bees'," Ellis fretted.

Ellis said she would be reluctant to cut back the lavender, but would have to if there was no alternative.

Those are the momentous decisions facing New Zealanders these days. Meanwhile, back in the United States, rumors began to circulate that Do Not Mail extremists have secretly begun dropping lavender seeds around mailboxes here.