Onion head Man

Yes Onion Head Man.

I figured that would get your attention better than "How Beekeeping works on an Island off the Coast of Honduras.


Am I right?


Well there is another reason why I titled it that- but I'll get to it in a minute.

When we were in Roatan, we went in search of (well the rest of the non pregnant group did) a drink called Giafitti(sp) (pronounced Giff-fah-tee)  Its an island sort of moonshine like drink. Basically rum with about twenty different kind of roots soaked into it. Roots like almond, ect, ect-

Anyways we found a bar. As the group order shots of the island hooch I sat and talked a bit to the bartender. Somehow the conversation of beekeeping came up.  

I was trying to get an answer out of him whether or not there was Africanized honeybees on Roatan. Not sure if the bartender knew what I meant he kept saying they were "Crossbreed."  I saw a bunch of honeybee's on the island myself and I must say that when they are a singular bee on a flower, they were sweet and gentle and unaware of my face inches from their golden body collecting hibiscus pollen.  If these were Africanized bee's they were very polite and quite striking.

Anyways, the bartender went into a story about how he collects honey.  All excited I asked if he had hives-
"Yes!" he said "I have one in a tree!"

"ohhh." was my reply..

He went on to tell me that when the time was right to collect the honey he lit a fire under the tree. When The smoke rose up the bee's got agitated, and left. It took awhile, but once they finally did he climb up a ladder to their hive, wearing nothing but a baseball cap and grabbed the honeycomb as quickly as possible.  He laughed as he told the story about how he did this- while dodging lingering bees.


Well he got the honey.

His immediate story after collecting his memory, was how he used the honey for a bad cold he had.

He felt better within days.....


So anytime I look at the coming year in beekeeping with difficulty- I must remember this story.

Our baby is due the end of May- high season for the possibilty of swarming. Time to install hives. Major daily check, and management. Can I do this 9 months pregnant, and then later with a sweet baby on my hip?

I'd like to think yes.

What gives me courage to do so?

Not having to light a tree on fire, climb up it, and fight off Africanized crossbreeds for a bit o honey.








So back to "Onion Head Man."

When researching the innerwebs on what type of honeybee's the Bay Island do have I came across a story of a man who lives on Roatan, and reports on daily "going-ons," of the island.  The particular story was about a swarm that was caught outside a public building by a man who wore no protection other than an onion bag on his head.

This folks- is true beekeeping.