The Pain in My Butt

We have bees.  Not by choice.  My sister bought them before she left for Alaska and just kind of ditched them.  So for the past year, we've left them alone and they've left us alone.  A few months ago, some guys from the local bee association came by to check on them and saw that they were in good shape.  Honestly, I'd pretty much forgotten about them.  After deciding that we shouldn't let free bees go to waste, we decided to get involved.  Since we don't know the first thing about beekeeping, we bought a book on the subject and contacted a friend who's an expert.  He showed us how to extract honey.  A few weeks later, we pulled about a gallon of liquid gold from the hive.  We could've taken out more gallons, but then nothing would have been left for the bees sustenance through the winter.  It's not a good idea to completely rob them or else you'll have to provide them sugar water as food, which can't be as good as their own honey.  I would say our first venture in beekeeping was a success.   We even attended our first bee meeting ever.  Not only was it interesting, they had a potluck buffet to boot--and who never says "no" to good food--this gal, (2 thumbs pointed at myself). 

So, back to the pain in the butt thing.  One night, I came into my dark living room and decided to sit in my favorite chair.  I accidentally sat on a giant wasp.  He stung the fire out of my butt, then when I tried to swipe him off, stung my hand.  He was huge.  Of course I crushed him afterward, even though he was going to die anyway, but I had to exact revenge.  I spent most of the night with an icepack alternating between my butt and my hand.  When the Benadryl kicked in, I finally had relief.  But for the next few weeks, I couldn't sit without feeling the welt on my hiney and then as the pain went away, the itching started and it lasted for more than a week.  I think the offender in question was a Japanese Wasp.  They're known to hang outside beehives and literally eat little honey bees.  From what I've heard, they can destroy an entire hive.  Honestly, I can't think of a more useless creature and I have a keen remembrance of the pain in my butt to prove it.  Life's always exciting around here . . . I just wish it weren't so painful. 

Take care, All.