One of my favorite things to do is take pictures. I don’t know if it’s because I’m Asian or what, but I’ve always enjoyed photography and so did my dad and my brother. As a matter of fact, my brother is my hero and from a young age, I tried to be just like him. I remember he and my dad always had a camera on hand. When we left Vietnam, we brought only what fit in a little tote bag per person and a few of the things my mom packed, besides a few outfits, included family pictures and a camera. And rice. Because she didn’t know if there was rice where we’d end up and she had a lot of mouths to feed. What does all of this have to do with GBR and beekeeping? Hmmm…well, it’s a part of me and now I keep bees with Mark. 🙂 And it’s late and I’m not sleepy so you get to read what’s on my mind.
This evening I spent some time with the lightbox since we need some shots of two of our specialty honeys – Blueberry and Orange Blossom. Both have been generating quite a bit of interest and the sales for both were pretty good this past weekend at Trade Days. Very nice for us. Back to photography and why I do this. 1) I like it a lot. 2) I’m allergic to bee stings so I’m limited in bee yard activity as well as extraction activities (since bees sometimes tag along into the honey house). So because of these two things and my love of taking pictures, I document a lot of our activities and I love it! I can get lost in photography – you just get so focused on things the bees are doing, you simply don’t notice heat, time or bees getting annoyed because you are squatting right in their path. This is partly how I discovered I was allergic to stings – the first three stings I got were each because I was stubborn and pushed my luck. I would take pictures out in the bee yards and I’d enjoy it so much and I’d want just ONE more shot…never mind a few bees have bumped into me. That was a trip to ER the first two times (only b/c I only get to go out with Mark on weekends, when I’m not at my full time job) since the doctor’s office wasn’t open. Doctor’s office was open the third time. Oh yes, and I didn’t like suiting up so…my fault. Stings 4-6 happened all at the same time and along the left side of my face. You know when people tell you not to panic in this or that situation? And it all sounds reasonable and you think, “Yes, I got that. I can do that.” Well, when stings 4-6 happened, I heard all of that in Mark’s wonderfully calm voice as I panicked and freaked out trying to get away from the bees tangled in my hair. Hehe…yes, that really freaked me out and my face was POOFY, which is an understatement. I should have taken a picture. I can’t remember why I didn’t. Maybe because I was miserable. 🙂 I love all our adventures and after things settle down, we can always find things to laugh about. If I hadn’t gotten stung, I’d never have gone to ER and then I’d have never seen this enormous and fascinating lamp…
By the way, allergic reaction for me means extreme swelling and intense burning in the areas stung. And that means a shot and steroids. And a week of misery. Just so you know, I suit up properly when necessary now. Even when it’s hot, which kills me since I am not crazy about heat. Yes, I know I live in Texas and that I’ve had 15 years to adjust and I have but I still wish for 60 degrees and low humidity EVERYDAY! Check out these awesome gloves Mark found for me in Kerrville when we went to a conference there last year. Allows for GREAT gripping of the digital camera. The drawback is major – non-breatheable nylon. Man, that stuff is like a sauna.
Gretchen Bee Ranch 
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