Leave The Bees Alone

I was sitting on my back patio yesterday, when I noticed a bee getting nectar from a flower nearby. My thoughts immediately took me back to another time and place. Back to the day a friend of mine decided to get some honey from some old bee boxes that had been left in my backyard. The bee boxes were brought in about 2 years previously and since no one ever tended them, the boxes had honey just oozing out of them.

I guess we were about 11 years old the day this event took place. My parents were adding rooms onto the house and the addition to the house was about halfway completed. All of the external walls were up, the roof, all of the windows, and a glass sliding door had been installed. There were not yet interior walls though, so it was like a big shell.

Anyway, my friend and I were standing inside the addition, looking out the back window, and we just happened to spot those bee boxes. As I said previously, honey was just oozing out of them. Well, my friend looks over at me and says "I think I'm going to get me some honey."

"Oh sure," I replied "those bees will sting the daylights out of you. You better just leave those bees alone."

"No, I've got an idea." he said, "I'll be right back." He then left out the front door.

Within about ten minutes, he returned. I couldn't believe what he had on. He had on a long jacket and thick gloves that had wire twisted around the areas where the two joined. He also had wire twisted around the leg openings on his pants. Now here's the best part. He pulled out a paper bag with slits cut into it where he could see out of it. He put the paper bag over his head, positioned it where he could see through the slits, pulled out the last piece of wire, and twisted it so that the bag was firm to his neck. He then said muffled, "Now, I'm gonna get me some honey."

I again told him that he needed to "leave those bees alone", but his mind was made up. He left through the sliding glass door and walked toward the back of the house where the bees were located. Remaining in the addition to our house, I ran to the back window to watch. When he reached the bee boxes, he turned and saw me watching through the window. He gave me a thumbs-up sign, and turned back around to face the boxes.

He reached down and grasped the lid of the box. He had to work at it, but the lid finally came loose and he lifted it off. Many of the bees started flying around, but they weren't really bothering him. They were just flying in circles around the box. Then, he pulled out one of the slats inside. I'm just guessing that slat had the "queen" bee on it, because as soon as he pulled it up, he had bees stuck all over him. It was hilarious to watch.

I'm not sure how he knew, but he knew something was up because he dropped that slat and started running back towards the sliding glass door. I beat him there and locked the door before he reached it. There was no way I was going to let all those mad bees in the house with me. He stood there with bees stuck all over him and said, "Let me in".

"Forget it." I said, "You should have let those bees alone, like I said.".

He then turned, and started running for the back gate, trying to swat the bees off of him as he ran. The last image I had of him, he was running off down the street, swatting at the bees as he ran. I thought I was going to die laughing. It was so funny to watch.

My buddy didn't get stung by a single bee that day, but he swore there were bees inside the paper bag at one point. I don't know if that was true or not, but judging from the number of bees stuck to him, it wouldn't surprise me. That was probably one of the funniest things I've ever seen anyone do, and I have his ingenuity to thank for that great memory.