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The Honey Caper / by Beverly Griffith Every time I see a jar of honey, I recall the happenings of that day many years ago. We moved on my third birthday to a small town, so rural compared to where we lived before. Fortunately there was a boy named Edward living across the street that was the same age as I. We quickly became close friends and played together every day. Edward's family owned more property than anyone else in the neighborhood. On their land was a large pond and several livestock buildings. They raised cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, pigeons, and honey bees to supply food for their large family. They would share some of their honey with us from time to time. I especially loved to suck the liquid out of the honeycomb, then chew on the comb. Behind their property was a pasture that extended south to the Missouri River, about a mile away. Edward and I spent hours playing in this peaceful setting. Even though the country was in the throws of World War II, it had little effect on Edward and me. I vividly recall one warm, autumn day when we were four, we had grown tired of playing and were looking for a new adventure. One thing we really enjoyed was finding a bee swarm and telling Edward's father of the location. He would then suit up in his beekeeper's outfit with the head covering and gloves, grab his bellows (or "smoker" as we called it), and go to work dismantling the swarm. Sometimes the bees formed very wide, long hanging masses. They were an awesome sight. It had been quite some time since we had seen the bees swarm so Edward got the idea that we could start our own swarm. His father had approximately 40 beehives spread over rows of 10 each. Edward told me to start at the end of one row and he would start at the end of another. He said if we kicked the front of one hive, then moved to the next hive and did the same thing, he thought we could get the bees to swarm. Of course, we'd always been warned by Edward's parents to never bother the bees. The warning seemed to slip our minds that day as the excitement of what we could do, overtook our better judgment. After all, we were only four! We thought we had the perfect plan. After kicking about three hives, we began to get the results we were seeking. The bees became extremely agitated. They began to buzz and swarm. But it was around us - instead of in a tree as we had always seen them do. By this time, Edward's parents heard the noise and realized what we were doing. |