The silence is broken by the low humming sound: the sound of winging bees. Those diligent workers were filed out of the hive as the smoke of burning apple wood was released into their neatly delegated home. 

Last Saturday, Mr. Mohlman led us to the hiking area on campus, where two hives were properly settled. We grabbed two bottles of sugar mixture, a smoking box, some old newspapers and four protective clothes before entering into the enhanced hive. It’s super fun for us to put on those special clothes–the white bee suits and gloves (super professional). While spraying the smoke around hives, buzzing bees suddenly went out and hung around us. It really is a unique and amusing feeling of being surrounded by bees. Right after most of the bees came out, we opened up the covers of the hive and noticed all of the two bottles of sugar-mixture were consumed by the bees! Mr. Mohlman said that within two months, the bees are usually able to consume two big bottles of honey, which is super amazing. 

Glistening under the sunshine, the neatly arranged hives are like the secret workings of nature. We also observed baby bees that are still growing in the hives. All the other adult bees worked diligently to construct their home. Step by step, we put some new sugar mixture into the hives, led the bees into their hives, and closed the covers up after everything was done.

Back at Mr. Mohlman’s biology classroom, we’ve tasted the gift of lovely bees–honey. Sweet but not greasy, the fresh natural honey was like the sweetest silk gently flowing across my taste buds. It has such an unforgettable flavor. I really hope to have more opportunities feeding the bees and visiting them in the future. Way to go, honey bee keeping!