YAY Got Stung By A Bee!!

Today, Sis tells me, "I heard the bees are gathering over at neighbour's place, they will swarm, you might wanna go take a look." (I thought another neighbour told her that, turned out Dad did.)

And they did!

It was soo much FUN watching them (better than TV!), watching what the neighbour will do, getting bits of his wisdom and experience...
(His son and the family were just planning a barbecue, both son and grandson are allergic to bees and can't come near.. so they weren't too thrilled you can imagine.)

I just went there in short sleeves and wooden clogs lol - no headcovering or gloves - wasn't sure what was happening or if the neighbour would let me watch or help.. Mostly I kept safe distance anyway..

Neighbour let me watch and it was highly fascinating! They gathered on the vine and for a while we just watched if they would settle and where the queen bee could be. (They only settle if the queen bee is there.) He used some smoke to get them in a wooden small hive or back to their original hive and to 'calm' them, and then took the rest like a 'grape' over a plastic bucket - and that's when I got stung by a bee who probably thought she's had enough of it all! (probably didn't keep enough safety distance either!:)

I think I probably need to write it down or record it, for future references! :)
Even Dad was fascinated with it all, over lunch - it's good to have some fascinating topics to discuss at lunch lol!

I did get stung by a bee, but this is actually a GOOD thing (not for the poor bee). At least now I know I'm truly not allergic (was a bit scared after all the scary tales of people being allergic.. I only got stung 2x before, and was always more sorry for the poor bee than for myself.) Also, bee venom is supposed to be healthy, so YAY!

Neighbour suggested rubbing it with onion. He doesn't get any reaction, after so many years with the bees - they mostly don't sting him either! (His family members are not so safe though!)

It almost didn't hurt, and after Mum's instructions I put it under VERY hot water (such that you almost can't stand it and put the arm in and out from the tap intermittently - Dad did this with his finger and had no effects at all!)
My arm was a bit red, this almost went away after the wonderful walk I took!
(I hadn't been on a walk for 2+ weeks, being ill and in the house= one cranky Layla! No wonder my blog post yesterday was soo miserable! Must go for a walk EVERY day now!! Even if it rains cats or dogs or caterpillars!!)
I had much worse reactions the previous times when I didn't use hot water and only put vinegar on the stings.. I may experiment with onion next time too.. (I'd LOVE to learn beekeeping without bee stings but I'm being realistic here!)

I googled and found bee sting cures include heat (water or heat from cigarette butt) OR cold (?), OR onion, or some other vegetables - I think tomato was mentioned? (probably would need to check still..)
Grandma says their Mum just told them to put cold knife blade over it, or just dig up some cold earth, if they were outside.. I think some plant leaves were mentioned too.. Hm, this could be a whole separate blog post (or article?) lol!

Apparently, some people are still allergic, it's good to know many can minimize effects with natural means!
I only have the area slightly red - So YAY!! :)

To Bee or Not to Bee?

Looks quite horrible, no? Keep or toss and get new hives? Still have bees at all? I love tradition and it's a loving memory of Grandpa but...? Yes, I was shocked to see them in broad daylight! - Well, the nets could be cleaned surprisingly easily! (I'm not sure whether to clean the 'invisible' propolized edges of the 'net' more too?)


I was advised to let go of these as new ones are cheap. (?)


Yes, it looks pretty scary!

The beehive could be cleaned quite okay, there are almost invisible cracks on the sides and in edges, bees put propolis there to fix this, I mostly scraped it off! (I was advised to do that, dunno? Though it seems counterproductive? New bees will have to propolize it all again?)
I was told old stuff must be scraped off and then to use fire to sterilize the wood.


This is the scariest part: the door is VERY bad! So, not sure what to do!

Will the neighbour have time to maybe make a new door or two? (Would it be better to just get new hives as some have advised? We're a bit late to ask the neighbour to make new ones, Dad said he might during the winter! I'd love to learn to make and renovate furniture and stuff myself, it'll be a long process I guess though.)

Partly, cleaning an old beehive is pleasant - the smell of propolis is soo yummy!!
Partly, I was fretting if there was anything iffy in the dirt (Grandpa's old neighbour said the bees just vanished from neglect and there weren't any diseases, so I hope all would be right with this!)

Dad said the beehives are probably as old as he is, or more! (60+ years!) He doesn't remember any new ones being made, these were quite new when he was little!

In any case, I've learnt a bit how to approach such a project, and saw it doesn't take so long to clean. You only see the real state of wood after you've cleaned it, and doors seem to be the part to watch out for!
Hopefully next year (winter?) I'll be able to clean and possibly renovate the old spindle too (I'd done it before if I knew what to use, so that it would be as eco as possible and still protect the wood?)

So, will I still have bees or will I give up on the project for the time being? (Or, until next year?) Stay tuned!
(Suggestions and ideas welcome!) What do you think?

A Quick Update

Not sure what to say. So much has happened, and yet it didn't.

I went to a beekeeping class that was quite exhaustive (especially for a complete newbie!! I felt like I was in 1st grade and was made to listen to University grade stuff!!)
At first I thought it was FUN! Some very charming beekeepers, old guys know A LOT!!
Hearing some stuff, how bees are conventionally treated, I don't wonder why bees are ill!! I didn't like some of the things there, especially instructions for best beehives to be out of styrofoam (??) and polyurethane (?!) and such - what happenes if they are burnt? (In some cases, this is the solution for stronger diseases.) Burning styrofoam >> very TOXIC!
Luckily I also met some eco beekeepers, so hopefully I'll learn more from them.
Not sure if I even want to have bees anymore?
(But Dad keeps pressing me to fix the old beehives & the old neighbour even said he won't have a successor and seemingly he'd be happy to share his wisdom or maybe even some bees with me - but they are conventionally treated, and with some bad stuff!! hmm!!) Not sure what to do?

I finally talked to some eco people locally, some were really enthusiastic about some of the ideas and projects, so we'll see how it goes from there.
They keep telling me to go to the Mayor, so far I was really shy/embarassed to do so.
Apparently we may be too late to prepare some things for Earth Day, who knew you need to start such things so far ahead in advance? (Two or four months seemed plenty of time for me, eg scouts or school are also preparing other things - so maybe we can talk about an eco fair etc. for next year.)
At least we started talking and connecting more on a local level!
So I have a bunch of people to talk to and things to do, feeling slightly overwhelmed (and caught a bad cold). Hope it'll get better soon!

I'm also not sure how to write e-mails as not to overwhelm people (or myself)? So much stuff builds up, I wish I could discuss things with you all, not sure if it's okay to just write it here. So if you want to hear from me and I know you, maybe I can write you an e-mail, tell in comments if you're interested! :)

A Day At the Farm :)

So now you know my Uncle has a farm.

It's not an eco-farm, Alas!

He has about 6ha grass, which is the average size of a small farm in Slovenia.
(Other stuff is woods & hills, I mean woods in the hills mostly.
The grass is mostly hills too, though the hills used to be fields earlier on, before the farm went 'modern'.)

The place is called the Slovenian equivalent of 'Beautiful Field', & they do say that there is one 'beautiful field' in the whole tiny valley/village!

My Uncle sort of has 1 'good field' too.. ;) Hills & woods all around, mostly..

And there is the beehive.

I had permission to rummage, though without a digital camera I didn't dare do any significant progress!!

We found some treasures though.

Uncle found a bottle with silver bullets, uhm, small lead bullets.
Then there were 2 perfectly okay glasses for petroleum lamps.

Some of the bee-thingies seemed okay-ish/still usable too..
Though hornets and wasps had had homes there too..

Some tiny wasps and - wild bees? (bigger than bee, smaller than bumble bee-hmm?! - but Uncle says wild bees are tinier than normal bees?) came into 'lookout' - when I started rummaging around.. (Uncle says wasps look for places to make nests.. My romantic imagination likes to think some of Grandpa's bees went wild & came looking for home, or check what's happening - if someone's gonna save & salvage their home. I can be quite horrible this way!:)

The beehive is a real dump, I was awfully sorry it had come this far..
Sort of thought Uncle would see to it that it stays okay..
And that beekeeping is a 'man's business. :)

My Dad is afraid of the bees. lol!!
Uncle isn't afraid of them, he just has no joy for them. Prefers mechanical stuff & such: he okayed the old hinges: some elbow work may be necessary, but they could be restored. YAY!!

Apparently at a time my Grandpa smuggled/kept some stolen nails & wire in the beehive that his ex-lover the maid stole from a building site where she worked..
It's all horribly romantic, & quite new to me, as it unfolds before my eyes...

He 'hid some things he didn't want kids to find' (& take apart, there were 6 illustrious kids at the farm!) in the beehive!

There seems no logic at what is there..

Okay, some of it is beehive equipment.. Wooden boxes for the bees, including one to catch a new bee family when it takes off..

Some fabric (from old bags!) to burn and make bees dizzy & calmer.. (equivalent to a more expensive fancy gadget!) No it isn't marijuana!! :) - Or is it?!!

And there are old magazines & newspapers there..
Or have been, I took them to a (hopefully) safer space. Some beekeeping magazines & some church magazines for kids or farm youth from 1935, half gnawed through, copies of 'Reporter' from 1953... :) with headlines like 'Horrible politics of the Soviet Union'... (approximately at the time when there was the end of love affair between Yugoslavia & Russia..)
'Finest Love Letters' and 'Lives of Saints'... there seems to be no logic!! :)

I try to piece together the pieces of my Grandpa's life through this mozaic of illogical gnawed-through pieces of his soul.. like scribbles into advertisments for 'magic potions'... (not very different from what some modern internet marketers claim!)
He just wrote what he went to get (untranslatable but hilarious!), or some silly sayings..
Scribbles of numbers on the beehives... 1+2+2=6 (?)

I wonder if there's a special code..? :)

some half-destroyed tools, bits & ends... some homespun flaxen yarn... (throwawayable, Uncle says, cause it's so dirty.. I can't seem to part with it..:)

Alas, Uncle had given permission to a neighbours' kid to rummage the beehive & take what he wants, when he started his own beehive.. Maybe I can take a visit sometime & see what they have taken..?

Another discovery in the attick: the old spindle & a tool to wrap wool on!
They're in really bad condition... Not sure what it will take to restore them to their former glitter!!

Some horrible clothes & some papers that belonged to my Grandma too.. I know even less about her than about Gramps.. Who was this tiny old sometimes-bitter woman that taught me to cook carrot soup (I forgot now!) & claims to have sufferred 'irrepairable damages' in a car accident I've known nothing of?!

Stuff to find out.. Stuff to de-clutter & polish & shine.. wonderful old wardrobes & chests - will they fall apart or stay in all their glory?! (Nothing fancy, just peasant/farm stuff.. but pretty.. I'd love to have 'em! :)

What's in the 'secret drawer' of the chest? (If anything?!)

I didn't do much at the farm (we usually do more..) but I felt quite tired .. maybe all the excitement & weight of the well, not centuries, but quite close..? :)

Dad & Uncle may not be happiest if I rummage through old memories, not all of them have been happy.. & I'm still 'too weak' to do any serious work! (But stubborn enough to at least make up for a little of it!)
Uncle, Dad, Coz & I also don't agree on farm politics & eco stuff etc.
At least the puzzle of why-Slovenian-farms-are-not-so-eco is coming together too.. And we got some apples from Uncle's orchard.. (They're in horrible condition mostly, but still yummable! Ideally they'd be sorted a month ago!:)
Uncle also has adorable kitties!!

So all-in-all, it's been a lovely day...

'I got bored of the computer,' I say, & my Dad is quite thrilled!! :)