The Wonder of Honeybees

Of all the living things that God put on Earth for man's benefit, the honeybees are the most amazing. I find it a wonder how those dainty insects produce sweet honey that leaves us licking our fingers when we taste it.

Not only is honey sweet, it also has great health benefits. Nutritionists tell us that honey contains antioxidants that reduce the risk of getting stroke, heart attacks and some types of cancer.

Beneficial though honeybees are, they can sting. Back in the '90s, a swarm of honeybees occasionally invaded a bridge near my hometown of Kiserian, making it impassable. Afraid of being stung, some people would cover their faces with sheets as they walked across the bridge.

One afternoon in those days, I was walking to or from Kiserian when I found the bridge buzzing with bees. And lo! They stung me mercilessly. When I reached home with my face swollen, an uncle of mine called Ndonga teased me that I looked like a boxer.

I heard on the grapevine that some farmers got rid of those honeybees that invaded the bridge by blocking their nests with mud. Why the farmers did so, considering the benefits of honey the bees produce, is something I don't understand. There ought to have been a wiser way of dealing with the bees.

At my home, we were fortunate to have a swarm of honeybees on our farm in the '90s. They created a nest in a hollow space that was in a certain tree on the land where we grazed cattle, but they never stung anyone in my family.

Had we possessed bee-farming skills, the honeybees would have been a blessing to us. But we made them flee away by harvesting honey in an unprofessional way. To this day, more than twenty years later, the honeybees have never gone back to that tree.

Fortunately, a swarm of honeybees has nested on another section of our farm in recent years. This time, my family - led by my brother Bob Njinju - is trying to professionally harness the bees as a source of honey. A few months ago, Bob hired a carpenter to construct five beehives that were placed on that section of the farm where the honeybees are.

Because the bees are yet to occupy the beehives, Bob bought a wax that smells like honey with the intention of using it to attract bees to the beehives. He melted the wax and applied it on one beehive for a start. Oh, the wonder of honeybees!

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story on the wonders of honeybees, you might also enjoy another one on "Laughing Like a Little Child".