How to be a Beekeeper

William and I dressed up as beekeepers last weekend.  That was the easy part.  

When it was time to pick up the bees my stomach started turning.  There they were waiting and buzzing for me, only a 45 minute drive and then I could lock them in the garage and have 24 hours to build the courage needed to dump them in.  The children on the other hand were so excited!  6 of them came along for the pick up and poked at the box as if they were puppies.  

Can you imagine what would have happened had the box opened in transit?  I could and that is why I drove oh so carefully taking slow deep breaths the whole way.  What did I get myself into?!

  

I committed to buy the bees and hive just a few days after Charles was born.  At that point I was still riding the post birth high, so full of peace and love that I felt I could nurture anything, even 15,000 buzzing bees.  It was decided that instead of getting an iPhone this year I would get bees, Paul made it clear that he had no interest in taking part.

But William the animal lover said he'd join me.  For weeks he's been asking me "when are the bees coming, when are the bees coming"?, and I'd think back......"oh boy, don't remind me".  I went to a bee keeping workshop and shared my notes with William.  We got books from the library and watched a bunch of YouTube videos, it was a crash course the week before the bees arrived.  But then it was time to turn over to experience as the teacher and we suited up.

I'm trying really hard to look happy here but I have yet to master the art of "fake happy".  William on the other hand experienced a genuine awe from the moment we picked the package up.

The thing about bees is they can smell fear which can trigger a few stings (even through a bee suit) or even a swarm.  The smoker is intended to mask any smell and calm the bees, but in the moment of need I actually forgot how to use it.  I just was ready to get the job done as quickly as possible.  Before we opened the package we sent everyone far away then knelt down in prayer together.  We prayed for peace and calmness, we expressed our gratitude for the earth and all creations, we prayed that the bees would like their new home and that we could become good stewards over them even though we really did not know what we were doing, and we prayed again "that mommy would not be so scared".  Then we set up a tripod and video.

It is not easy to describe the experience.  I had to draw courage from so deep inside and spread it to the actual tips of my fingers to get the job done, it was incredible.  I instinctively sang to myself, a combination of primary songs and yoga songs.  It took so much out of me that as soon as the hive was closed up and all the bees brushed off of us (we were covered at one point because I spilled the bee food on me) I walked back to the house with tears streaming down my face.

William on the other hand stood still and cool the whole time, mesmerized, at one point telling me with bees all over his head "I've never been so in love with bugs before in my whole life."  He would have kissed them all if he could have.

Here is our very amateur video of two amateur beekeepers.



We went back a few days later, knelt in prayer again, then opened the hive to remove the queen cage and be sure she escaped.  After we accomplished our task we sat in the grass and in the quiet with the bees, just watching them and letting them watch us.  I then felt a little more like a beekeeper and wondered why I was so freaked out before.  Then I laid in the grass, just listened to the buzzing and felt I was among friends.

Meanwhile Peter's been watching from afar and gradually creeping closer, we may have another bee keeper in the making.