BONDING WITH BEES

My last article was a downer, Earth as an asylum. I need to balance that up a little. There is positive in our world.

A few years ago I was the first of the family to arrive at our beach house in the Spring in Rockport, Texas on Aransas Bay. Unlocking the back door, suddenly I was covered in hundreds of bees, face, neck, hands and arms. They had a hive in the wall next to the door. I froze, as they inspected me.

One began testing the back of my head with her stinger. I slowly raised my bee covered right hand and very gently swept upward. She left. After a period of minutes, that seemed much longer, they finally, all at once, left, going back to the hive.

I would often sit on the steps. They flew around at close range, and would light on me, visit, and return to the hive.

One day I was walking across the patio, and several flew close to my face, turned and flew back to the hive, and returned to me. Clearly, they were asking me to follow them. I did, and discovered some sort of large, black bee-like insects harassing them. I disposed of the invaders. Everybody relaxed and The rest of that summer, we visited together, especially late in the day.

They would routinely follow me around, curiously observing what I was up to. We were friends.

This friendship lasted the rest of the summer until a lawn man greatly disturbed them with a weedeater. They ate him up, sending him to the hospital. I could not get the boss lawn man to believe that they were not “killer…