Memories of Somis, CA
I stand and watch him, my husband go frame by frame and look for a queen, and silently pray, “please don’t let me be stung today, ” and then after about an hour of handing him a bee tool, trying to not stand in front of the ninja bee guards in the front entrance of a bee hive, and occasionally wandering away to get rid of a swarm, we finally make one last run to the orchard’s trees and we are done. Matt drives the swanky $1,000 bee truck a quarter mile to the edge of the orchard, and we get out. Most of the bees are gone. We each investigate each other for a hidden bee. Then we drive to the best 7-11 in Moorpark for Gatorade laced with caffeine big gulps. This time I was lucky, and I survive the odd looks of the onlookers as struggle out of my sweaty bee suit. This time I was lucky. I was not stung, and Matt wasn’t either. One time a bee was in the cab and it crawled on me. I was terrified, and Matt prayed that it would sting him instead of me. The Lord answered his prayer. Matt doesn’t swell up like me, but I wish the bee would of just flown out of the window. It was too angry.
In contemplation of it all, I don’t spend all my time in a terrified state. Most of the time when Matt and I are working the bees it’s like doing any other chore. Your mind has an inclination to minimize danger in order to cope with the task at hand. Just like when you are driving a vehicle you can’t drive like a crazy scaredy cat or you will get in a wreck. It’s the same when you are working with the bees.
Plus they are so fascinating. They build their homes in geometric shapes. They communicate with each other by doing fun little dances. They make different noises depending upon their mood. For instance, if a hive doesn’t have a queen they roar in displeasure. They have a culture, a lifestyle built around their queen, who has her own retinue of workers who do nothing but keep her fed so she can lay eggs all day long. They have such an amazing structure in their society of bees. Did you know young bees are only nurse bees while the older and more experienced bees are allowed to be the guard bees and forage for food. There is so much I have to learn about them. One time I was standing watching the bees, and I realized the bees were watching me. It was the first time I realized an insect, an animal I usually chase and squish (i.e. spiders and flies) was looking at me. It was a surreal moment. By the way, you don’t want guard bees to look at you, because then they will start to swarm around you head and annoy you. That is the worst!
SIMI VALLEY BEES 