My sister stepped on a bee and got stung when we were kids. That’s my earliest memory of bees (and I use that term loosely…I consider a bee anything that’s yellow that buzzes.)
My dad is allergic to bees.
Years ago, maybe inching upwards of 10 years ago, I’m not the best at dates, I was out driving with some friends of mine on a hot summer day. If I’m being honest, it was likely a Slurpee run.
Please don’t judge me. I know they’re not at all healthy. It is what it is, I like them. Only really the Coke and Pepsi ones and only in the small cup now because oh man, the sugar….
Anyway back to that summer day. My friends were (and forever remain) sisters and back in my life before kids we hung out a lot more. You could say their family was my foster family here as at the time I didn’t have any of my own family around.
This is a really long way to say we were out for a practice drive as the eldest was learning how to drive and I was old enough to be the “grown up” in the vehicle.
Not sure how we ended up on Koksilah Road near Wilmot but that’s where we were when a bee flew into the car.
Havoc ensued. We didn’t crash, and knowing me, I didn’t even spill my Slurpee. Knowing them, we laughed and laughed. And screamed. We pulled right over and got out of the car until the bee exited the vehicle. Then we likely laughed even more.
Another time, and it was years ago too, I was riding my scooter when a bee flew right into my helmet while I was stopped at a red light at the intersection of Drinkwater and the Trans Canada Highway. It stung me right in the ear.
Then there was the whole “bees in the wall” episode I wrote about in me “You’ve gotta bee kidding me!” column back in September 2017.
I wrote that column shortly after being stung by a number of yellowjackets while out taking another friend’s family photos. I spent a few hours in the hospital after that one. Turns out I’m allergic to them, too. Her kids got stung too so I’m not sure she’ll ever ask me to take photos of her family again. (I would do it if she asked though. Just maybe not in the same location.)
Last week I wrote about the bee that followed us on our fairy walk in Nanaimo. That was just weird.
Most recently though, we were eating dinner when I got a text from my Dad. He said a swarm of bees “the size of a basketball” had taken up residence in his neighbour’s magnolia tree.
Of course we ditched the dishes and went over to investigate. My dad was wrong. Sort of. While it was the size of a basketball, it was more the shape of a football. Or as my husband said on the drive home: “a rug-bee-ball.”
What is it with my family and bees?
Anyhoo, for my husband’s birthday we got him a mason bee house. I figured if you can’t beat them, join them. It’s actually pretty cool. Best of all, there’s been no trauma to report there. (Yet.)