BUsY As A BeE!

You drive with your family into an open field. There aren’t paved roads, let alone really dirt roads; so your bouncing out of your seat like a ping pong ball. After 15 minutes or so, you cross under some railroad tracks and the opening is barely wide enough to fit through. You make it, surprisingly, and come to a locked gate, Dana, your sister steps out of the car to unlock it and you drive into yet another overgrown field. “This is the place?”, you think to yourself. Another 10 minutes driving through the rough terrain and rows of watermelon, you stop. Dana hands you a hat and tells you to put on the pants and jacket your brought. You do so. A few minutes later you are walking towards 20 wooden boxes.  You expect to hear them but, all you hear is silence, until someone opens a box lid and wham, the deafening roar of the buzzing bees is all around you!

This was what I experienced yesterday. During breakfast I was informed that the family would be going to the hives and if I wanted to, I could come along. When we got there I was stunned at how silent it was. It did not stay that way for long. Each box holds 9 wooden screen-like rectangles that allow the bees to make their hives. It was insane. For each box, there is one EDG or mother Zoog (Bee). The mother bee is marked with a red or blue marker so that she is easier to find. THe only difference between the mother bee is that she is much longer than the other bees. THe have to pull out every screen and look for her until they find her. They then place a screen. This screen will around protect her when they shake the other screens to get the Zoogies off of them so that the honey can be extracted. When there is honeycomb on a screen, they have to cut it off so that they can then extract the honey.

THe honey is extracted when they place the screens (4 at a time) in a metal bin that you spin. The honey falls out of the screen and runs down the walls into the bottom of the bin. There is a spout that you open so that the honey can be placed for storage in much smaller plastic bins.

Toya and Pec (my sister in law and father) were the ones who would look over the screens and decide if they were usable. Some of the screens had babies on them, so in order to keep the population up, they would not be used to extract honey. I was able to hold a couple of the screen when we were looking for the mother bee as well. It was an insane feeling to be holding so many little creatures that can sting you at any moment. It took all day. This process took all day. Sometimes it took a few minutes to find the mother bees, but sometimes it could take 30 minutes. Examining the screens for honey availability could take a long time as well.  It was extremely hard work and I have a new found respect for beekeepers. You not only need to have the patients to go through all the boxes, but then you have to worry about being stung and not freak out (you will absolutely get stung more if you are not calm). I was astonished at how relaxed the bees were when we first started the day. They would land on you, feel you out and fly away. By the end of the evening the bees were not so happy, and that was when the majority of the stings occurred.  I cannot wait to participate next time. I have always feared being stung prior to this experience. Today I learned  that my behavior can affect how these little creatures will react to me.  If you are calm and collected, and move slowly, the bees usually do not sting. If you freak out be prepared to be attacked!