11: Living Dangerously

On Sunday September 19th after my vacation in Birch Bay, Bandit and I drove back to my sister's house in Lynwood (just outside of Seattle).

My 12-year-old niece, Alexa, and my 10 year-old nephew, AJ, were happy to help me sample the 9 different types of honey I had collected on my journey.

🍯🍯 😋 🍯 🍯😋🍯 🍯 😋 🍯🍯🍯

AJ was quite surprised and impressed at how different each honey sample tasted, especially when we then tasted their "raw natural honey" from Costco.

Alexa had caught a cold over the weekend, so she ended up staying home from school Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday...crazy times we're living in- she had Covid, got the vaccine, and got a negative test, but still stayed home. I suspect my sister chose that for fear that Alexa would be treated like she had the bubonic plague or something- she had a cold! Crazy times indeed.

BUT, I am not complaining! Alexa and I got to spend a great amount of time together that would not have happened otherwise. She is so darn sweet, I could hardly handle it! She started reading up on bees, watched bee stuff on YouTube, and made me bee-themed picture collages.

(I didn’t have the heart to tell her the top right “hive” is a wasp’s nest. 😆🤫)

The coolest part of it? She's scared of stinging insects and is not a fan of bugs- ANY bugs.

She was getting into it because her Aunt Jacs is into it- she wanted to learn about something that is important to me. Love that girl!

She even took a few pics of me in my new bee jacket!

On Tuesday, I was really getting the itch for seeing some more bees- it has been since my amazing experience with Dorothy at McFall Beeyard since I saw bees in real life.

So, I did what any crazy newbee would do- I joined a bunch of beekeeping groups on facebook that were specific to the Seattle area.

I got a facebook message from a man named George Barlut (the gentleman shown "liking" my message above) and he invited me to come see his beeyard.

Honestly, it was not until that moment that it occurred to me that this may not have been the safest move on my part. I'd be showing up alone to a stranger's house in an town I've never visited, and my sister would be about 45 minutes away if something happened.

I did contact the admins of the facebook group to see if they could vouch for the guy, and they couldn't. But the one said that she wasn't aware of any concerning behavior and that it's not uncommon for the beekeepers on that group to do that.

Then George sent me his address and told me that he and his wife would were both home in their neighborhood, which made me feel comfortable enough to go for it. I told him that I appreciated the clarification because I didn't want to be meeting a serial killer or something, which became a running joke.

He told me that I didn't need my bee jacket and to just keep calm around his girls.

Have I mentioned? About 90% of honeybees are female and so almost always when people see honeybees, they see female bees. Because of this, beekeepers often affectionately refer to their bees as their "girls".

George is fascinating, brilliant, and his girls were incredibly docile! I felt so fortunate that he shared his afternoon with me in his awesome beeyard. I crouched in front of their hive entrance (again, not something people should normally do) and just watched, mesmerized by their actions and listened to George talk with his cool accent.

George is a retired engineer, I think mechanical. He spoke about his hives in a very linear, scientific way. He showed me how he insulates his hives and how he de-humidifies them with his solar powered fan. He even mentioned an idea about an invention that he's working on to maximize the comfort of bees and beekeepers alike in that climate.

I'm sure he'll do it and I wouldn't be surprised to discover that he is an actual genius.

I'm learning with beekeepers that like to teach, or talk, or both, that I need to just listen.

This can be difficult for me because of my high level of enthusiasm, especially when around these beautiful creatures, but it's important to listen.

Now, if I'm the talker in the relationship- I'll ask a zillion questions, but otherwise, When the beekeepers talk- I need to listen.

George's girls were busy preparing their hives for winter, which meant that I got to witness a few hives engaging in domestic violence! That's right, the workers girls were kicking out the drones (male bees) because they would not be needed during winter.

I got to see the other 10% of bees!

Drones are cool looking- great big eyes, bigger bodies, and they have no stinger. Literally their only job after birth is to mate with the queen, which then kills them when they are "done". To me they almost look like an alien version of honeybees, I think they're cute.

So, when the ladies know winter is coming and they have limited resources and no need for drones, they kick them out of the hive which ultimately is fatal.

Here's a video I took are shared on facebook:

(the video has a touch of humor when listened with the sound on)

So cool!

George wasn't planning to open up any of his hives, but did- I think just for me. He told me that bees don't like the color black because of genetic memory (BEARS have been a threat to beehives since the beginning of time), and since I was wearing a black shirt, I should run if they came at me. I agreed, but also told him, "I ain't scuuurd".

Again, these ladies were so chill. In my experience so far, bees do not seem to mind my presence at all. I am aware that I need to not be reckless and not all honeybees are as docile as the ones I've seen, but I think I give off good beekeeper vibes. #winning

Each time I interact with with bees, it becomes clearer to me how much I need to do this.

I feel a personal emotional connection to them, much like the picture of Muse.

I've also come to the conclusion that if given the choice, I'll choose the docile-but-less-honey-productive-bees to the protective-but-great- honey-producing-bees any day. I see them more and more like pets rather than producers.

I truly feel hypnotized by honeybees- if I could watch them that closely all day, I would.

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Photo by J. Steven Robertson of Emmisoure Photography and https://bees.photo