The Wings Of A Caged Bird | First Draft

chapter 22: cedar the beekeeper

"The key is to be gentle, yeah? Ya gotta be calm. If you're calm, bees'll be calm. You're agressive, bees'll be ten times aggressive," Uncle Ray explains as we make our way towards his beehives.

Somewhere along the way I started regretting coming with him. Not because he is a bad company, but because I am one. I don't have the will or energy to reply with things other than "Oh", "Hmm", "I see", "That so?", "Ah", and "Makes sense". I'm sure Uncle Ray isn't really enjoying having me around. Moreover, he gave me a sandwich to eat on the way since I skipped breakfast, and in spite of having an extremely low appetite, I couldn't refuse him again out of a sense of debt. I somehow managed to eat the thing without throwing up.

However, my curiosity does begin to grow a little as we get closer to our destination. I've only read a little about beekeeping and honey-harvesting in a book of Lucy Maud Montgomery, and even that I don't remember really well. Even if I did, it can never be the same as watching with your own eyes.

"Awright, there it is!" Uncle Ray points at the little wooden hut nearby. "That's my beekeeping workshop, yeah? Also kinda like my safe haven. I feel at home there. Not like I don't feel at home at home, this is jussa different kinda home!"

"Ah, I see."

Uncle Ray leads me to the backyard, which is covered by a myriad of fragrant, colourful flowers. I only recognize the fresh white jasmines, one of Dawn's favourite flowers. Uncle Ray himself takes care of this garden, and sometimes Aunt Sayra helps him out. That's where I then see four long wooden boxes all covered up and swarmed by little brown creatures. I thought he is going to show me a real beehive, but I guess it's just a made up one.

We first go to the beekeeping workshop. It's too small to be called a workshop, so maybe just a storeroom. We first put on the beekeeping suits, which is basically like the Walmart version of a space suit. As if the sun isn't scorching enough already, it's burning here inside this space suit. My clothes are already starting to feel sticky, though we haven't even started working yet.

Uncle Ray hands me a tin jug that he calls the Smoker, which will apparently drive the bees away from the hive for a while without harming them. Then he hands me a long brush, which he called the Bee Brush, and it will help gently brushing off the bees sticking to the "frames", whatever that is. Finally, he takes a box and a nylon blanket, and together we head to the hives.

There are too many bees swarming the place, so I hesitate a little before going close. Uncle Ray laughs and assures me that nothing will happen as I'm wearing the suit. So we go and stand on either sides of one of the first box hive. There are probably four boxes stacked on top of each other over one brood box, though I don't know why yet. I stare at the bees hovering around their home. Never realized bees are that big. Their size is a little less than half of my pinky finger.

Uncle Ray takes the jug from my hand, does something with it, and then suddenly there's smoke coming out of the mouth. The fragrance it diffuses is a pleasant one, and oddly familiar too, though I can't pinpoint from where.

After handing the Smoker back to me, he says, "Awright, help me take this lid out, yeah?" He takes out a knife-like thingy from his pocket and uses it to separate the lid from the top box. I'm pretty sure he can take it off himself, but he is trying to make me feel included and useful.

So we take off the lid. That's when my excitement starts to bubble up more intensely.

The inside of the box is divided into a total of 10 long, rectangular sections, which are apparently called the "frames". These frames serve as the honeycomb, where the bees store the honey. Those little honeymakers are everywhere all over the frames, diligently doing their business.