I always had an intellectual understanding and appreciation of honeybees from my Biology and Animal Behaviour classes, but listening to you and your day-to-day encounters with "the girls" had given me a whole new perspective, and I love reading about it. If we lived closer I'd be on your back steps with a fistful of bills & maybe some beadwork or a necklace, hoping to con you out of a little bit of that precious 50 lbs, so I could enjoy the fruits of your (and their!) labors! ^__~
I rarely do much yard work anymore because my lupus photosensitivity has gotten so pronounced, and frankly I've yet to meet an adequate sunscreen I won't sweat off completely within 5 minutes of an avg Tidewater VA summer day. But a dear friend planted some mint for me this year, & last yr the hubs & I planted 2 blueberry bushes & a Turkey Fig, and I do try to keep an eye on those at least. I got into a spontaneous frenzy of weed-pulling (f*^€ing crabgrass and poke!) last Sunday - w/o my gloves - (I know, stupid, yes?!)- which ended with about 10 mins. of yanking out all the dead stalks of Pampas Grass that has been poking me in the rear fron this monstrous mess of mostly dead PG which I'd cheerfully take a bush hog to, had I access to one! Anyway I was shoving the last spear into the mostly-hollow heart of the beast when I felt something which at first I the was one of the millions of razor sharp edges of the plant. As soon as I yanked my hand out I realized wwhy it hurt so bloody much - this honeybee was not happy either, and had her stinger imbedded as far into the side if the 1st knuckle of my right index finger as she possibly could. I felt terrible - for her and myself both - I'd really much rather have gotten a wound from the damn PG than a sting from an innocent honeybee. I managed to extract the stinger and bee intact, but by the time I got back inside it was swelling & angry. I was mainly relieved not to have full-blown anaphylaxis, since I'd not been stung since I was 17 (same hand, close to the same spot, oddly enough) and my immune system clearly ain't what it used to be. But ice, elevation, an extra painkiller or two, and some creative whinging got fme thru the worst of it, which was prolonged be a few days flare-up of my lupus - which may or mat not be restated to the stingy- who knows? It's actually still a little swollen & tender at the sting site. At any rate, I thought of you, you being my only freeing with any knowledge of bees. If I'd had your phone #, I'd probably have called you to see if you had any sage advice, beyond "wow, that was really dumb - don't do that anymore!" ;)
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I rarely do much yard work anymore because my lupus photosensitivity has gotten so pronounced, and frankly I've yet to meet an adequate sunscreen I won't sweat off completely within 5 minutes of an avg Tidewater VA summer day. But a dear friend planted some mint for me this year, & last yr the hubs & I planted 2 blueberry bushes & a Turkey Fig, and I do try to keep an eye on those at least. I got into a spontaneous frenzy of weed-pulling (f*^€ing crabgrass and poke!) last Sunday - w/o my gloves - (I know, stupid, yes?!)- which ended with about 10 mins. of yanking out all the dead stalks of Pampas Grass that has been poking me in the rear fron this monstrous mess of mostly dead PG which I'd cheerfully take a bush hog to, had I access to one! Anyway I was shoving the last spear into the mostly-hollow heart of the beast when I felt something which at first I the was one of the millions of razor sharp edges of the plant. As soon as I yanked my hand out I realized wwhy it hurt so bloody much - this honeybee was not happy either, and had her stinger imbedded as far into the side if the 1st knuckle of my right index finger as she possibly could. I felt terrible - for her and myself both - I'd really much rather have gotten a wound from the damn PG than a sting from an innocent honeybee. I managed to extract the stinger and bee intact, but by the time I got back inside it was swelling & angry. I was mainly relieved not to have full-blown anaphylaxis, since I'd not been stung since I was 17 (same hand, close to the same spot, oddly enough) and my immune system clearly ain't what it used to be. But ice, elevation, an extra painkiller or two, and some creative whinging got fme thru the worst of it, which was prolonged be a few days flare-up of my lupus - which may or mat not be restated to the stingy- who knows? It's actually still a little swollen & tender at the sting site. At any rate, I thought of you, you being my only freeing with any knowledge of bees. If I'd had your phone #, I'd probably have called you to see if you had any sage advice, beyond "wow, that was really dumb - don't do that anymore!" ;)