A few hours past midnight, freshman Ansley Watson sat in the back seat of a van, hugging a large, white, buzzing box.
Watson was moving to a new house about an hour and a half away from her old home. Which meant she and her dad also had to move the home of her bees.
“The bees are supposed to be in the hive at night,” Watson said. “But it was hot outside, so they were sitting on the outside of the hive, fanning it when we went to get it at 1 a.m. We put a net around the hive – and it is not light – and carried it to the back seat.”
While the drive went fairly smoothly, it was upon arrival that problems arose.
“My dad took the netting off the hive, and the bees just attacked my dad,” Watson said. “I was acting like a girl and not standing anywhere near it, but my dad got stung at least seven or eight times.”
This midnight escapade all came about because of a hobby Watson began a few years earlier: beekeeping.
While on a family vacation four years ago, she spotted something on the side of the road.
“We were driving down the interstate and I saw beehives, so I asked my dad about them,” Watson said. “My dad used to be a beekeeper and after I saw the hives I became interested and asked to start beekeeping.”
Some time later, Watson started taking classes from the Illinois State Beekeeper Association.
“I just took lots of notes at the classes, and I won a free bee hat,” Watson said, laughing. “They even provided free cookies with honey at the classes.”
After finishing all the classes, Watson began purchasing her beekeeping supplies. These included a bee tool for separating the frames in the hive, the hive itself, a smoker and a brood of bees. The brood is a group of bees that are not yet fully developed.
“In a hive there are 10 frames and [those are] where the combs [come] off which is where you get the honey,” Watson said.
Watson also said she has spent about $600 on her hobby since she began in spring 2008. However, it is not very time-consuming.
“I only harvest the honey once a year and have to feed them sugar water in the spring for a couple months,” Watson said. “My dad helps me take care of them when I’m not around, so he’s taking care of them right now.”
Although some people, including Watson’s younger sister, dislike or fear bees, Watson sees no reason to.
“I’ve only been stung four times, and it’s just like a sharp pinch, it’s not that bad,” Watson said.
She plans to continue beekeeping for the time being by having her dad watch over the bees and doing it herself when she is at home for breaks and over the summer.
“It’s just so interesting to see how [the bees] take care of themselves,” Watson said.
