A day with the bees
A few weeks ago, Steve and I finally watched the documentary, Queen of the Sun. It's about honeybees. And it was lovely. It features many types of beekeepers, but seemed to give a lot of time to the philosophies of biodynamic beekeepers. Years back I got very interested in reading books on biodynamic farming practices. They just seemed to resonate with me in a very deep way. I'd like to learn more.
Anyway, we got ourselves some honeybees to care for last spring. Watching the people in Queen of the Sun inspired me. Opening the hives and manipulating the frames with no protective gear at all. They talked about the mind frame you need to be in to do this.
So the next day when it was sunny, I said, 'Hey kids, why don't we put a blanket down and lay in front of the bee hives to watch them?' It was fun. Then I said, 'Hey kids, why don't we put honey on our hands and see if some bees come eat it?' So we did. And it was amazing!! LOOK!
Normally, we're careful not to stand on front of the hives. They face the south (the sun) so the bees zoom in and out of the hive entrance. So if you stand in front of the entrance, you just get in their way and get run into. So we just put our hands smeared w/ some honey to see what would happen. I thought the kids would be nervous, but I underestimated them.
I always tell them to move slowly and be quiet around the bees so we don't scare them. Rowan... like many boys... does not have a quiet voice, really. But the bees seemed to get this. Anyway, he got bored and went off to swing after 20 minutes or so. Amelia was totally into it. Where Rowan is a bit of a chicken charmer, Amelia is a little bee charmer. She sat there for over an hour... just getting closer and closer... quieter and quieter.
If you click on this last picture, you can see the bees clearly. She's with the Russian honeybee hive. They're a little darker than the other ones you usually see. After we all went in to get lunch ready, she stayed by herself.
Since then, I've been reminding myself to take a bit more time with them and trust that they won't sting me. And they don't. They're coming back loaded with pollen from distant fields. Amelia really inspired me to take more time and be less fearful with them.