Three things

Three things I love about beekeeping so far:

1. Beekeeping smells really good.
The smoke that makes the bees calm while i poke at them (no not literally) smells amazing. The field where the apiary is smells amazing. Honey and the pine boxes of the hive smell amazing. It's intoxicating.

2. Beekeeping is far less work than I expected.
It has never before happened that a new undertaking takes less effort than I originally planned. Mr. Holt is quietly thrilled that I have not had to pitch a tent and move into the apiary to fulfill any midnight beekeeping duties. Turns out bees just kind of do their thing with or without my supervision.

3. Bees are completely different from children, cats and plants.
Most of my experience with keeping things alive comes from the latter three categories. Today I watched a new drone bee chewing his way out of a cell, saw bees eat using their proboscis, and learned that they can see ultraviolet light. I think they're really more like aliens than mammals.

In which we start our hive

Very recently I began a new adventure.

At my house these adventures all eventually end up in one of two categories: folly or fabulous. I like both, but it's usually impossible to tell exactly what I have gotten us all into until much of the adventure is underway. This particular adventure (I can already tell) lends itself to storytelling, so I'm determined to record some of the notable highlights here. Even if it turns to folly, perhaps I can enjoy the recounting. Maybe you will too?

The adventure is beekeeping, and it has already begun.