Working with bees is oddly calming.
The first time I went to an apiary was when I shadowed
another volunteer while I was still a trainee (refer back to ‘Boas, Bees and
Babies’) and it was on the terrifying side. Having hundreds of stingers buzzing
around your body can definitely bring up your anxiety, but it didn't keep me
from wanting to work with them. At our second workshop we had a hands on
demonstration and a bee flew into my ear and stung me, but that still didn't keep me from wanting to work with them. When you work in an apiary you will
smash some bees and you will get stung, just accept it and go on.
Currently we have 11 hives with 10 to 15 frames in each and
they’re all growing strong now that flowers are blossoming. One hive lost the
queen and has created a new one. One hive is super productive, and super wild
and aggressive. Some hives are growing slowly. Some hives are very neat and
calm. Others are building wax beyond the
frames and connecting or making clumps. They are all the same type of bee,
living in the same apiary, having access to the same blossoms, but each hive
body has its own personality and level of productivity.
Every week I go out there I learn more. Knowing when and
where to move frames. Understanding why some cells are capped or why some are
different colors. How to spot larvae that are only a few days old compared to larvae
that are close to maturity. How to tell
the difference between a worker (female), a drone (male) and Queen Bee. Spotting
a queen bee in a hive is like spotting Waldo in a super hard game of Where’s
Waldo, but when you do and you see that she’s healthy it’s very reassuring.
Bees are very intelligent creatures and they pick up and
react easily to scent and energy. It’s very important for you not to have
strong body odor when you go to the apiary and it’s also very important for you
to keep calm when you are around the bees. If you are frantic then the bees
will pick that up as a threat and will attack you. If you are not covered then
it wouldn't be surprising if they went up your nose or in your ear to terrify
you. Trust me, it’s scary having a bee buzzing around inside your ear.
You can learn a lot from bees. They are fascinating creatures;
so small, yet so important to the entire life web. When you are around a large amount
of them they can trigger terror or create calm. Have you ever watched a bee die
after it has stung you? It’s a slow and seemingly agonizing death (if a bee can
feel agony). It reminds me of those samurai stories where the samurai will take
his own life to protect his honor. A bee simply wants to produce more honey or
produce more bees and live in harmony with life around it, but she will take
her own life if it’s to protect her honor.
… a little too anthropomorphic?
