Well, according to beek right-of-passage, I became a full-fledged beek today – I was stung.
Like so many had warned me before, it’s when you get sloppy that it happens. When you don’t do what you know you should. When you cut corners.
So there I was, in my polo shirt, bathing suit and flip-flops, showing a friend how I didn’t need a bee suit just to change out their syrup. Showing him how gentle they were. He had the bee suit – not me. Because… I dunno… Just because, OK? I have no excuse. It was stupid – I knew better.
And then it happened. As I pulled out their syrup feeder, still about one-third full of syrup, one of the ladies decided I was robbing her sisters, and took one for the team. And since I was wearing a bathing suit, I was stung in a place that would have made Lorena Bobbit proud.
Lesson learned: Wear protective clothing. Or suffer the sting. Period.