2003-05-10 - 5:34 p.m.

Quote for the day: "Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway."

-Mary Kay Ash

The Royal Bee Keeper

My thoughts: The swarm see�s him coming. They call out to each other, �here is here, here is here!� One squad of bee�s goes out to meet him at the queens insistence. They do a standard formation in his honor. The sequencnize flyers also come out to perform to him as they fly over his head showing off. The worker bee�s bow down to him in respect as he nears there bee hive. And the queen prepares to meet her protector.

I tease my husband saying, �Is this what the bee�s do to you when you go out there to take care of them? He laughs and says, �yes but they swore me not to tell�. We started out with 5 hives that we bought from a home school friend but it was pretty badly cared for when we got it and we lost two of them. Everything that they could get they had. Including wasp taking over the hive.

He even fed the poor bee�s this winter sugar water for them to take back to the hives. One of the hives have gotten so big now this May that we may have to take it out early before they swarm and leave cause its full.

As far as I can remember my husband has wanted to be a beekeeper. Back in Europe when we were stationed there. We visited a small country called Liechtenstein we fell in love with the little country and my husband announced there that he wanted to be the Royal Bee keeper of Liechtenstein. When we got to the states he joined a bee organization even though he didn�t have any bees yet. He also ordered every single bee book out there.

Recently my daughter and I found a little sign at the dollar store with a picture of beehive and bee�s swarming around. We presented it to him so that he could place it near his beehives. I wanted to plant flowers near his hives but now I am glad I didn�t cause the goats are still out back and they would have ate it like candy.

Some day when we get our first batch of honey this summer I am going to send a pint off to the royal family of Liechtenstein for kicks and grins. Who knows they might make my husband the royal beekeepers of their country yet. If not then he will always be our royal Bee Keeper on our ranch.

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I don't do it all - Frankenstein chicks