Buzzword: Beekeeping

(This is not me, but a fellow PCV. )

For the past two weeks, I've been in the Kombo region, assisting with the final week of the Health and Community Development training (the newbies swore-in on April 18...I'm now a second-year Volunteer...woo hoo!) After those festivities (and a nice little party thrown by JulBrew, I shifted from the role of trainer to trainee as a participant in the Agroforestry sector's In-Service Training this past week. My primary objective of joining this training was to learn more about beekeeping and tree grafting, all of which could be successful in my village and surrounding communities. It was a great experience to get to know other Volunteers and to gain some invaluable knowledge. (Shh...don't tell anyone, I secretly want to be an Agfo, but I practice good hygiene, so I guess that automatically disqualifies me to be a member of the Dirty Agfo group). I also had the opportunity to meet some Volunteers from Senegal and Guinea; it was great to hear about their experiences.

In addition to being a trainer and a trainee, I purchased my visa and ticket for my upcoming vacation to Sierra Leone and celebrated my 26th year! What an exciting past few weeks. Oddly enough, I think I'll be looking forward to going back to my site and relaxing and waiting for the rains to come at the end of June. Rainy season is such a peaceful time here...and it'll be my last one, so I'll have to make the most of it.

Anyway, back to the In-Service Training...Learning how to properly harvest bees and then processing the honey are probably two of the most exciting things I've learned about here.

After learning the process, dress, and tactics used for harvesting bees/honey, our group broke up into smaller groups. We suited up at dusk, duct taped our shoes to our pants and gloves to our sleeves, and then entered the harvesting area, looking as if we were members of a strange moon-walking cult. Not too mention, the full moon added an element of eerieness to the whole experience.

We entered the apiary and began to work. I was the designated smoker, but then had the opportunity later to cut off the honey comb. Bees swarming, buzzing, close against your skin, tricking you to believe that they're crawling all over your skin. The suite provides protection, but they can still sting you. The adrenaline, the risk, the fascination that such small things---the bees---can produce such a glorious sweetness, while potentially being a huge risk to one's comfort and even one's life. I escaped without any stings (still never been stung), but left with an appreciation and new-found respect for something so small, but so important.