Respect the Bees

After spending time around bees, it’s easy to romanticize them.

I’ve written about the peace I feel standing beside a healthy hive.

The warmth.

The smell.

The gentle hum.

All of that is true.

But it isn’t the whole story.

Sometimes…

The bees say no.

And sometimes the bees say hell no. 

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that bees are constantly communicating.

The problem is, the truth is… I’m still learning their language.

In the beginning, René and I thought we had aggressive bees.

We even wondered if they might be Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera scutellata hybrids).

Looking back now…

I don’t think we had aggressive bees.

I think we were new.

I think we moved too quickly.

I think we bumped frames.

I think we didn’t recognize the warning signs.

I think we didn’t always know when they were becoming defensive.

And when thousands of tiny creatures are trying to tell you something…

You should probably listen.

There were days when inspections ended exactly the way I imagined beekeeping would.

Calm.

Peaceful.

Almost meditative.

And then there were the other days.

The days when one bee turned into ten.

Ten turned into a hundred.

The gentle hum changed into something completely different.

We closed the hive and walked away…

Or ran for our lives. (That’s a story for another day.)

Sometimes the bees followed us anyway.

Sometimes we had to get in the truck and drive away just to give everyone, including the bees - especially the bees, a chance to calm down.

Those were hard days.

Not because I got stung (although I have). 

But because I went home thinking I had done something wrong.

And, most of the time…

I had. Not intentionally. Just unknowingly.

The more time I spent around bees, the more I realized they weren’t being mean.

They were communicating.

I just didn’t understand what they were saying yet.

Now, when an inspection doesn’t go well, I don’t immediately assume I have angry bees.

Instead, I stop and wonder…

What are they trying to tell me?

Maybe it’s the weather.

Maybe it’s something happening inside the hive.

Maybe I moved too quickly.

Maybe today simply isn’t the day to be pulling frames.

I’m learning that good beekeepers don’t just inspect bees.

They pay attention to them.

They notice.

They adjust.

They respect what the bees are saying.

The funny thing is…

The more I learn to respect the bees…

The more peaceful our time together becomes.

I don’t think they’ve changed.

I think I have.

And somehow, I have a feeling they’re still teaching me to listen.

Thank you for spending a little time in the hive today.

Until next time,

~ Tracy 🐝