I’m taking a course here at the Prague Institute called Bees and Beekeeping. My professor is a professional beekeeper that works with honeybees. He works on his own land and has over 1,000 bee colonies. Today, some of my classmates and I went to the Bee Institute.
It was my first bee experience, but also my first train-ride in Europe. The train was extremely quiet as it traveled through the scenic countryside of Prague. Once we got off our train, we walked over to the edge of the river. Ahead of us was a boat and on that boat was my professor! As soon as we got to the site, he took us to where the bees were in their wooden boxes.
The bee with the yellow and black colored “59” is the queen bee (see below). My professor said they label the queens so they’re easier to find. The queens have a different shaped body than the others because she has all of the bee babies! (see her in the photo? she's in the center and she has a yellow dot on her)
I got to pet the bees! I ran the back of my hand across the bees. It was ticklish and furry. I couldn’t keep my hand there for long, but it amazes me that the bees didn’t seem to mind.
Somehow one of the bees got on my shoe. It stayed there for so long, then crawled up the outside of my jeans.
Here’s beeswax:
We went into this room to taste different types of honey.
Some of them were surprising because of their texture and color. Some were grainy, some were dark, some had a floral taste, and some were tart.
Overall, I had a great time today! I bought some honey and even a chocolate bar (that has honey in it!). The chocolate is a lot softer and oh so delicious.
I am looking forward to the rest of my semester in Bees and Beekeeping!
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