Personal Bee History
I have, for the longest time, wanted to have some bees of my own. Living on a relatively large 1 acre lot in suburbia I knew that I could support one hive.
My first foray into bee wrangling was with a North Georgia engineer that offered me access to his hives and the opportunity to buy honey at a discount. I wanted the honey to make some mead and the local grocery price was unacceptable. I also jumped at the chance to see what all of this bee stuff was all about.
When I arrived at the Georgia mountain house of this engineer I suited up in a tyvek bee suit and he , step by step, explained what he was doing and what I should do. The most astonishing thing was that after we harvested the honey the bees wanted it back. We had offloaded the whole super into a wagon and covered it with a cloth. As I was pulling the radio flyer through the yard the bees followed me. Lots of bees followed me.
I didn't realize how much of a big deal honey is to bees and other stinging insects. Many years later I was boiling 15 lbs of honey in 5 gallons of water in order to make some mead and a few bees decided to show up. Moments later hundreds of bees were attending my honey boiling fest. I had to move the hot liquor inside to escape the thousands of bees now gathered and harassing me. Amazing how powerful the draw to aromatic honey is to honey bees and the other insects. The mead making was in anticipation of my marriage to then fiancé Angela Jenkins. She is now my wife and we have a 7 month old girl Laurel. Proof that my wife is the correct woman for me has been further proofed by her "allowing" me to have a hive at the house. She even purchased some books on beekeeping for me. Those books and the titles checked out from Richland County Public Library have really expanded what I know about bees. I am looking for a "bee-mentor" right now.
This week (04-14-2005) while we were having dinner with my mom she told me that her dad was a beekeeper. He died when I was very young but I do remember him and every year I discover another great thing about him. My maternal Grandfather was among many things a beekeeper.
drgenegarris@alumni.Clemson.edu
