The Ponderings of a Feral Housewife

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Hey Reader,

Imagine it's a beautiful sunny day and you're tending to your yard and garden. Your cell rings. It's a friend in Florida who proceeds to ask you for a favor: "Please go to the post office and pick up my package that just arrived."

You scratch your head. Why would someone in Florida have their package sent to New York? At this point, this detail is irrelevant.

The point of the story is what was inside the package.

Your friend just asked you to pick up a box of 🐝 live bees 🐝 and take care of them until their return.

BEES!!!!???? Yes, honeybees!

🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝

What would you do?

What would you say to your friend?

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By the way, this is a true story. It happened this week to my dad.

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My dad's an angel! He picked up the bees 🐝went to his friend's house in our town and picked up the beehouse kit. My dad had to drill and hammer the kit to put it together.

About 3 hours later or so, the bees were fiercely abuzz, adapting to their new home on our property. It remains to be seen if this is a permanent arrangement or not. 🤷‍♀️

My dad has always wanted bees to harvest honey, but he wasn't quite ready for them yet.

Well, guess what?

When life hands you busy, buzzing, bees 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 you get ready as fast as you can!

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Would you have done the same?

Friendship seems to be our theme this month...huh?

It's no wonder people love my dad. This isn't the first time, and won't be the last, that my dad drops everything for a friend. He's also gone out after 10pm to help a friend collect a deer they shot in the woods. You call, my dad comes.

I admire my dad for that. But I did find myself cautioning him not to become the proverbial doormat.

He just shrugs. Gotta love him.

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So, why title this email beautiful bee barf?

First, because bees are amazing and second...because God has a great sense of humor.

Anything humans regurgitate would be disgusting, vile, and full of bacteria, aka vomit.

But when bees regurgitate, they make honey!

Essentially, we're eating bee barf.

Ok, not really. The process is different.

Technically, the bees don't digest the nectar. They store it in a “honey stomach” or "crop” until they transport it to the hive. While in the "crop" the bees add enzymes via their saliva (bee spit). Then they pass it to the mouth of another bee who regurgitates it into a hive cell.

By the way, fun fact. Nectar is a sugary liquid produced by plants. I didn't know nectar was a liquid. You live long enough, and you learn fantastic things. I wonder how it took me 49 years to learn such a simple plant fact. Maybe I learned it in the 2nd grade and forgot.

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I started thinking about what lessons could be learned from all this (cause that's my main joy in life-learning).

What in the world can you learn from honeybees and their barf?

Good question!

I'm not 100% sure yet. 😜

What came to mind is this: artists, writers, and creative types are told that in order to produce ONE masterpiece in life, they need to produce a lot of garbage. You need to be ok with barfing out creative work over and over again until maybe you're satisfied with ONE thing.

God made nature so perfect, honeybees get the barf right EVERY TIME. Every drop they put out becomes honey.

BUT that's not true for humans.

We make a lot of garbage. We say a lot of garbage.

And we're lucky to get ONE DROP of something good out of all that garbage.

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What other lessons did I extract from bee week?

Be 🐝 creative. We're all creative in one way or another. Produce, produce, produce! Don't worry how good it is.

Be 🐝 industrious. Bees work hard! There are no shortcuts. Sorry.

Be 🐝 available for friends (and others too). Bees work together to make honey. Each bee has a specific job. Every bee is important in the hive.

Be 🐝 adaptable. I'm amazed at how those bees adjusted to their new home. They wasted no time.

Be 🐝curious. This is my favorite one. A true sign of intelligence isn't how smart you are but how curious you are, how open you are to learning and to new experiences. It can be tough sometimes. But life is anything but boring. There's a whole world out there! Go exploring. Even in your own backyard!

Be 🐝yourself. I had to throw this one in! Some people think bees are creepy, they can sting if provoked. Some people are allergic. But bees are fascinating creatures. I love photographing them. Don't worry about what other people think of you, just don't go around stinging anyone. And if you do, apologize!

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If you have any other ideas for lessons by all means send them my way.

Get out there and bee curious!!!!

You'll never run out of things to talk about.

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Until our next fun & feral adventure,

Anna

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​aferalhousewife.com​

I'm looking to grow my newsletter & I'd love your help! ​ If you're enjoying these newsletters why not forward one to a friend? Or send them this subscribe link: ​​Subscribe to A Feral Housewife​​ ​ The Ponderings of a Feral Housewife is a weekly newsletter to inspire you to learn, to be creative, & to grow emotionally for more peace, joy, & fun in your life. ​ ​Unlike other feral housewives I'm not a rebel & I don't swear. Although I LOVE wit & independence, I highly value family life, good health, & personal growth. ​ Anna Celotto Writer & Emotional Intelligence Life & Health Coach