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queen of bees
Aug. 22nd, 2009 10:02 pmSo today I got crowned Queen by a flock of bees while at a rest stop.
First it was just the one bee sniffing around me. It flew around, too little to make any audible buzz, and hovered near different bits of me, as if investigating. Then it landed on my hand and seemed quite content to stay there.
Usually my theory with bees is "stay still and they will discover you are not something good to eat and go away". Unfortunately, in this case, it turned out, I was in fact something good to eat. The bee started nibbling at my hand with its little black bee mouth bits, which was a distinctly odd sensation.
Then there was another bee, hovering by my other arm. It landed, too. And then another one. My family, concerned, suggested trying to shake them by going into the rest stop building. I thought this was a good idea.
Unfortunately, by that point they had decided to crown me their Queen.
Have you ever had a bee nibbling your ear? It feels extremely strange.
Unfortunately for them, I did not reciprocate their interest. It turned out that "walk fast into the rest stop building" was a good theory. Then I made a mad dash for the car, and luckily did not trap any bees in with us for the rest of the drive.
(For the scientifically minded, the theory was put forth that they were interested in my sunscreen. I investigated it, and discovered that it contains both oil of sunflower and lavender essence--both things that bees may, in fact, have decided were good to eat. And, as my 1/8th of an inch hair is completely ineffective at keeping my ears from getting sunburned, I put sunscreen on my ears. Ironically, earlier in the day we had stopped and I had acquired some new sunscreen, which contains neither of those ingredients. But I was still wearing the old stuff.)
Also, I am home!
I had a few brief forays into LJ while gone, but I may have missed interesting posts and/or comments. There are a couple of posts I am intending to make about the trip, but not tonight.
First it was just the one bee sniffing around me. It flew around, too little to make any audible buzz, and hovered near different bits of me, as if investigating. Then it landed on my hand and seemed quite content to stay there.
Usually my theory with bees is "stay still and they will discover you are not something good to eat and go away". Unfortunately, in this case, it turned out, I was in fact something good to eat. The bee started nibbling at my hand with its little black bee mouth bits, which was a distinctly odd sensation.
Then there was another bee, hovering by my other arm. It landed, too. And then another one. My family, concerned, suggested trying to shake them by going into the rest stop building. I thought this was a good idea.
Unfortunately, by that point they had decided to crown me their Queen.
Have you ever had a bee nibbling your ear? It feels extremely strange.
Unfortunately for them, I did not reciprocate their interest. It turned out that "walk fast into the rest stop building" was a good theory. Then I made a mad dash for the car, and luckily did not trap any bees in with us for the rest of the drive.
(For the scientifically minded, the theory was put forth that they were interested in my sunscreen. I investigated it, and discovered that it contains both oil of sunflower and lavender essence--both things that bees may, in fact, have decided were good to eat. And, as my 1/8th of an inch hair is completely ineffective at keeping my ears from getting sunburned, I put sunscreen on my ears. Ironically, earlier in the day we had stopped and I had acquired some new sunscreen, which contains neither of those ingredients. But I was still wearing the old stuff.)
Also, I am home!
I had a few brief forays into LJ while gone, but I may have missed interesting posts and/or comments. There are a couple of posts I am intending to make about the trip, but not tonight.