Riverbee's Journey

[Intheswamp]

A pastor friend of mine had a "reaction" to shellfish one day.  He was deathly ill and the doctors told him that either he had shellfish poisoning or either a shellfish allergy and that it would be best if he avoided shellfish all-together just "in case".  He wasn't really sure that he had a seafood allergy but may have gotten some bad shellfish.  For some reason an actual test for allergies wasn't done, though it may be that my friend was impatient.  The friend *really* liked shellfish. 

What he ended up doing was he and his wife went to a restaurant and order seafood..."to go".  They then drove to the emergency room, parked, and proceeded to dine not 100' from the ER doors. 

He had no reaction but had an entire ER and hospital waiting beside his "table".  He's still eating shrimp and crabs and what-have-you.  If you can carry a restaurant table to the ER why not a beehive?...queen cages are cheap.

Just a thought.
Ed

[brooksbeefarm]

Great News little bitty buddy, If you could have been with me last Tuesday you would have got the supreme test It was a cloudy, rainy day and i was 60 miles from home setting up some nucs i had made, i thought while i was there and gasoline $3.39 a gal. i would check some new hives i had set up two weeks ago ( i knew better) all the queens had been released and 3 out of the 10 was laying, couldn't find two of them. The reason for quick inspections was they were MEAN and i was inspecting between rains and i quite counting stings after 15 or 16 hits and not all in the same area ,. When your clothes and gloves  are wet and clinging to your flesh the girls can have a field day. I'm sure you remember all this from past experiences, but i thought i would remind you, Don't work bees on cloudy rainy days. I'm praying that the doctor is right and you can work bees again without any worries or fear. Your buddy, Jack
PS. (SQUIRT )

[Slowmodem]

What he ended up doing was he and his wife went to a restaurant and order seafood..."to go".  They then drove to the emergency room, parked, and proceeded to dine not 100' from the ER doors. 

He had no reaction but had an entire ER and hospital waiting beside his "table".

That's standard procedure whenever my wife has to test a new medicine.  We live 30 minutes from the hospital.

[riverbee]

thanks to all for the replies.....you are all, in one way or another my 'scout bees' and 'guardian angels' here looking out for me, i appreciate it, and i appreciate the replies, and each of the thoughts and support expressed.

"I have this daring trusting side where I would want to sit in the bee yard at a distance from the hives, in a pair of jeans and a tank top, sandles, with the warm sun on my face and the hum in the air... knowing that the bees already know that you are uneasy and scared. And letting them bring you slowly back to visit them with confidence and love. The bees know Riv... they already know what you want and need. Take your time..."
Then there is Scott's way...
Mix a pirate drink. Take a sip. Wander out to the hives. Breath the honey air. Take a sip. Unfold a chair and sit a spell, put your feet up on a stump. Relax. Take another sip. Know that it's gonna be okay...

and scott:
"because I would run right out and get stung.   I know its a strange thing to say and do, but I would probably enjoy that sting so much I would cry."

thanks jen, some wondrous 'poetry' in your words. i have already done sitting at a distance from the hives, and the 'pirate thing'.....lawn chair, sit a great spell, a sip, relax and enjoy, especially in the evenings when everything is still and quiet, a mist coming off the river, sun going down behind the ridge, and the bees coming in and quieting down for the evening.

thanks scott (and like dennis said the suspense) , it's not strange scott, i wanted to run right out right away and take the first sting. when i do i know i will cry in great joy.

lazy shooter, i will share my first visit to the bees with pics  if i can.....

ef, thank you, i looked forward to a reply from you knowing what your children had been through, and your post was comforting to me.

i went through all my protectivie gear, coveralls, veil, gloves.  i thought maybe i had shrunk my coveralls, but guess it is fat cells and winter pack weight. some of my gloves are pretty stiff, stand up by themselves and have seen better days so i ordered new ones. (blue, love those meyer gloves).

i went through all of my equipment for about 4 or 5 days to organize my bee shed, and to go through all of my deeps and supers and to cull any old frames.  i came across two frame jigs, one i am going to gift out when i get a chance to visit him......the other......this is  for jack.....jack, i dusted off an old frame jig for wiring and embedding foundation and i hate to admit it but i had forgotten and discovered that the majority of my honey supers still contain beeswax drawn foundation.  i really thought i had replaced more of this with you know what, and haven't.  the jig brought back memories, and i hate to admit it but thought of you......

do you want the jig?...........

i am down to one hive to care for right now.
two years ago, (2012) i had 10  strong healthy hives and despite my allergy and with little management, took off a good honey crop. 6 hives i managed to farm out, out of those 6, between re-queening and dividing, another winter, 4 came through this winter and were divided and are still under the care of a good beek friend in minnesota.    i will leave them where they are for now,  in  very good care. one hive i lost  in the fall of 2012, i am quite certain she was queen-less. late last summer we picked up an awesome swarm, so we went into winter with 3 remaining hives.  these 3 came through winter until april.  one hive appeared to have suffered from nosema.  the swarm hive....well, she could have been saved if only i could have added a deep of honey to her, she starved.  i was so very sad and angry at my complete loss of not being able to manage properly.  angry is really not a good description, maybe frustration. the one hive i have now? the queen?  doesn't matter if she is the original or mutt, she sure is hanging in there with me!

perhaps it is best for me now to have one hive to care for and manage to help me get back into keeping bees again and also helping out a great new beek and member close to me.....
like jen said...
"warm sun on my face and the hum in the air... knowing that the bees already know that you are uneasy and scared. And letting them bring you slowly back to visit them with confidence and love".

[Intheswamp]

[Jen]

Awe Geez, had to get my hankie, and it's said men rule the world....  NOT!

[riverbee]

WHO TOOK THE LID OFF?.........

.......................RIVERBEE DID!......................

[Garden Hive]

Yea !!!!!!!

[iddee]

WHOOOOOO PEEEEEEEEE

[kebee]

 Now you went and done it, congratulation on the rest of the year.

Ken

[brooksbeefarm]

Looks like the bees know your back also, Did the bees write what looks like MAY DAY, MAY DAY, on top of those frames. Jack

[LazyBkpr]

heheh! WOOT, You GO Mrs. River!!!!!!

[lazy shooter]

Well, it looks like Riverbee has "butted the saddle" again.  A word of caution, be aware of all safety procedures and know what to do when you get stung.  Euphoric moments tend to remove us from reality and make one bullet proof.  Remember where the epi pen is and keep your cell phone near for the 911 call.  After all you have been through, be diligent. 

The above being said, you have educated this forum and our old forum by diligently reporting your condition to us over the past two or so years.  The forum members have benefitted so much from your misfortune, and you have been such a great instructional leader on your cure and how you live your life.  Thanks again for sharing your real life information, and "vaya con Dios."

[Slowmodem]

Prayers are answered!  Don't worry, bee happy!   

[efmesch]

Looking at the way the girls are lined up in the picture, I would define it as a welcoming committee !!
Looks like the girls are glad to have you back.
Take good care of them. 

[Jen]

AWE GEEZ!     I could just reach right thru this screen and give you the biggest bear hug EVER! I'm all giggly 

[Zweefer]

This has made my long, not-so-great day so much better!
Thank you and congratulations Riverbee! 

[riverbee]

me bad updating my thread........

i had my 6 week injections on june 25th.....it was my birthday that day.  my clinic called me twice to change my appointment time to earlier in the day, my appointment was the last of the day.  so to celebrate the occasion.......i ordered a small chocolate fudge cake and had the baker decorate it with a large honey bee on it........
AND i added 3 syringes to the middle of the thing instead of candles........
(to represent the the three injections i take every 6 weeks now).

i also drew 3 big smiley faces on my upper arms with gold marker where i receive the injections for my new shot doc. (i did this once in the beginning, but not since).  anyways, between the gold smiley faces on my arms and the chocolate fudge cake adorned with a big yellow bee and 3 syringes, it got a lot of laughs.  i was the last shot, the office closed down, and had a pleasurable chance to visit with staff and my doc and answer 'bee' questions. 

i really enjoy not having reactions from these shots anymore.  the only one that really ever bothers me is the honey bee injection, but it has been minimal and i have not taken any benadryl or zyrtec prior to or after the injections to ease any reaction, so very cool! 

thanks for all your earlier comments, even you jack for the 'mayday'.......that was a pretty dang good shot!  errr.....ribbing!.....

i will never make it as a bee venom therapist. when i posted the pic of the first time opening the hive, i had tried to deliberately sting myself......i just wanted to take a sting and get it over with.  turns out, it didn't work that way.  it's just the way it is i guess, and i have yet to be stung.
what better way to guarantee a sting to one's self than to gather up a few guard bees at the entrance of the hive?
yep, that's what i thought.  so we set out that day i took the pic from my earlier post.  me in full gear.  queen roller cage. tried to gather a few guard bees at the entrance in the cage.  oops, someone else got stung in the process......and it was his birthday (dinner and party later that day).

i didn't want to be in full gear upon being stung. just tried to gather bees in a cage and take them back to the house, get the gear off, and set them on my arm.

one time...... gear up, ungear
two times.......gear up, ungear again
three times.........gear up, ungear again shook the cage to really irritate them........

birthday boy took three stings in the process.......and one to his face........well, at least we didn't have wedding pictures to fix..........
so i just opened the hive.....well it wasn't as simple as that, just some discussion i will skip.......

[Jen]

one time...... gear up, ungear
two times.......gear up, ungear again
three times.........gear up, ungear again shook the cage to really irritate them........

     Wait! You mean the Gear Up Gear Down part, the bees wouldn't sting you?

'so i just opened the hive.....well it wasn't as simple as that, just some discussion i will skip.......'

     What!? you're gonna leave us hangin'

[riverbee]

jen, the discussion?.....well,  just some things are better left unsaid...........

bees and buckwheat..........i took some pix of my bees working a field of buckwheat that we planted, it sure was cool to stand in that field with the bees flying all around me, and native bees as well. 

i only have one hive remaining right now, and that hive and queen has been and is going great guns. she is in 3 deeps with supers on.  i was going to divide that hive earlier in june.  i ordered and was promised two queens by a beek friend who ordered extra russian queens, and two of those queens were to go to me for my divides on this hive. (we often order together)  that beek stiffed me for those queens, apparently became greedy and used the queens for additional increase in her own hives.  what goes around comes around.  one of the queens died in her cage after being placed in a divide with her head in the candy and nurse bees alive. (inferior queen, not a candy problem).  guess destiny, or things happen for a reason, but i sure don't care for being doinked with.
my beek 'friend' called me in a panic when she found the queen dead in the cage on the 4th day asking for my thoughts and advice and what to do. needless to say i was very angry over what she had done to me, but inspite of my anger, i placed my anger aside and gave her my thoughts and advice on squaring away her divide. it is now doing well.

i have yet to be stung from my bees, but this is honey season and we have some nectar flows, the queen and hive is doing well.  when the bees are filling frames of honey  i really let them alone and don't poke around too much in a hive, there is no need to unless i see a problem.  i have so much enjoyed opening a hive again and seeing the bees teeming up to the tops of the frames side by side to take a look at me, or just plain ignoring me and going about their work in the hive and on the frames as if i had never taken the lid and inner cover off.  i sometimes stand and peer in just to 'absorb' them and their activity once again. it amazes me, and always will.

some pix a little fuzzy, an older small digital camera and the wind blowing like crazy.......enjoy!

a field of buckwheat~



too cool......




a little pollen on her.....


and an ant......


and of course not complete without this picture, and we have all 'hammed' up for one like this.................
notice the trout on my flip flops?!.........