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Bees: The Story Of A Fascinating Meeting And A Wonderful Friendship

Thursday, April 6, 2023, Passover 2023, the day after the Seder night. I was in the garden, fixing the gazebo that had been damaged by winter winds, when suddenly I heard my then-partner shouting for me to come inside quickly. I looked up and was stunned to see a huge swarm of bees heading our way. I ran inside and eagerly started filming.

There were hundreds of bees flying frantically around the porch, and then, in a perfectly organized manner, they formed a temporary hive on the gazebo like a massive weight. The sight was both terrifying and amazing at the same time.

 

A photo I posted to my story back when I was only dreaming about beekeeping. “So small, so important. Everyone has an important role to play here.”

The importance of honey bees in our lives.

Since I started growing plants, I have deeply understood the importance of bees in producing our food. Sometimes, I had to be the bee myself to ensure my plants would bear fruit. This experience sparked my interest in amateur beekeeping to help pollinate my plants and, who knows… maybe even produce real honey with all its benefits. I researched the subject and became fascinated with different types of beehives and the wonders of these incredible creatures. So small, yet so important!
In my wildest dreams, I never thought the day would come when bees would come to me… right to my home. This was yet another wonderful lesson in manifesting my desires from the universe 🙂
Excited by this incredible manifestation that came into my life, I sent an emergency message to a beehive seller I found online, along with the video I had recorded. He immediately called back, equally amazed by the situation. After a short conversation with Avichai Barzani (that’s his name), during which he understood my interest in adoption, he gave me detailed information on what to do and how to handle the situation on an emergency level, until we could proceed further on Sunday after the holiday.

 

 

The Origin Hive

So, with the gift from the Creator that had landed in my garden and the information from Avichai, I packed myself and my partner and we drove to the nearest place that sold beehives and was open on Passover – Sakhnin, a two-hour drive each way. When we arrived, we met Muhammad, a wonderful guy who was waiting for us despite needing to break his Ramadan fast. He welcomed us and patiently and kindly explained everything we needed to know. We memorized every word he said and purchased everything required until I felt ready for the task.
When we returned home, I immediately put on a protective suit and started following Muhammad’s instructions. I took out five frames from the hive and coated the remaining five with honey. I placed the hive on a raised table near the swarm to make the transfer easier (adrenaline was rushing through my body!). I began transferring the swarm to the hive as I had seen in Avichai’s breathtaking video. When I touched the swarm and started moving it, I felt the buzzing vibration like an electric current tingling in my fingers. Electricity! Slowly and gently, despite the intense excitement, I transferred them all to their new home. Once finished, we closed the hive and moved it to a different spot in the garden.
The next day (Friday, April 7, 2023), the bees were flying around near the house. I thought maybe they didn’t have enough space in the hive and that it was time to insert the additional five frames. Once again, I wore my courage suit and set out on the task. The mission was successfully completed.

Suddenly, the bees swarmed out of the hive and returned to the place where they had initially formed the cluster on the gazebo. Then I remembered—I forgot to coat the new frames with honey. They must be hungry. I took out an amazing honeycomb that I had saved (probably for this very day!), spread it on a plate, and brought it to the hive along with two water feeders for the bees. I placed a generous amount of honey and honeycomb inside the hive and coated the additional frames with honey as well. The bees disappeared, and not a single one remained near the house. Maybe the honey helped? Or perhaps it was because night had fallen? We’ll find out tomorrow.

Saturday, April 7, 2023

Indeed! The honey did the trick, and the bees stayed in the hive.
Later that day, I decided to move the hive to a different spot in the garden that would be more suitable as a permanent home. After the move, the bees went wild again. I opened the hive and discovered they had devoured all the honey! I quickly brought them more and then tried to leave them alone as much as possible to allow them to acclimate and build their new home in peace. Occasionally, I would just walk by and observe them.

After About a Month

I noticed the number of bees had significantly decreased, and there was no longer any activity of bees flying outside the hive. I went online and started researching the potential reasons for the declining population and realized there was likely an issue with the queen.
I called Avichai, the expert, and after examining the hive’s condition through several photos and videos I sent him, he concluded that there was no functioning queen in the area. He gave me two options:
  1. Bring a new queen to the existing swarm.
  2. Bring a complete and established swarm with its own queen.
After explaining the pros and cons of each option and feeling quite disappointed, we decided to go with a complete swarm.

Hive No. 2

Monday, June 5, 2023

Avichai arrived in Tel Aviv straight from Rosh Pina with a complete swarm in his car. He expertly placed the swarm into my hive. It was an especially exciting day!
I took the opportunity to bombard the expert with all the questions that had been on my mind. We had an interesting conversation filled with fascinating facts about the world of bees and crucial tips for successfully raising my second generation. After about two hours, Avichai bid me farewell, and we agreed that I would check on the new residents in three weeks.

After Three Weeks

I suited up for my official introduction to the new residents and was surprised to discover that all the frames in the hive were full of honey. The hive was so crowded that it clearly needed another layer. As usual, I sent photos to Avichai, and we decided to add a second layer. To my astonishment, after two months, the second layer was also full, and it was time to harvest a significant amount of honey.
Why was I astonished? Some beekeepers give their bees a sugar-water solution to increase honey production. I have never given my bees this solution because it’s not natural, and I’m not interested in running a honey factory. For me, whatever the bees produce is a blessing, and I am grateful. Despite this, the amount of honey was substantial and produced in a very short time.
Over time, I learned that a happy hive is one that produces a lot of honey quickly. How wonderful it is that they are so happy!

Rosh Hashanah Is Coming and the Honey Is Ready

I was so eager to harvest the honey with my family during the upcoming holiday. It felt incredibly symbolic that the bees arrived at my home during Passover, and after all the challenges, it was finally time to harvest honey right before Rosh Hashanah.
I searched and found the perfect second-hand honey extractor from a lovely local beekeeper named Dan. Following Dan’s instructions, I packed two frames with honeycombs from the hive and headed north to celebrate the holiday with my family.
Up north, the men set up the honey extractor while my sweet niece Nesli and I worked on removing the wax seals from the honeycombs so we could extract the honey. We then placed the honeycombs into the extractor, which was ready for use on the garden lawn, overlooking the beautiful northern scenery.
After several unsuccessful attempts to turn the handle and some resistance from the machine, my dear brother Netanel suggested repositioning the honeycombs to face each other instead of being side by side. We followed his advice, and lo and behold, it worked! How lucky we were to have him!
Everyone took part in turning the handle, causing the honeycombs to spin forcefully and release the honey to the sides of the tank, thanks to the created centrifugal force. When we finished, it was amazing to see the honeycombs empty of honey but still intact and undamaged, meaning we hadn’t destroyed the bees’ home in the process.

Flowing Honey

I opened the valve of the honey extractor, and honey began to flow out, in a color I had never seen before. I filled the first cup for a taste of apple dipped in honey. It was delicious! The entire extended family enjoyed the wonderful honey given to us by the bees, and even my little nephew Niel made “wow” faces as he kept dipping his apple repeatedly in this marvelous honey.
The most amazing part of this story is that Niel had been sick for several days and wasn’t sleeping well at night. Immediately after eating the honey, he fell asleep, slept through the entire night, and woke up healthy!

A Gift for the Holiday

That same night, I emptied the extractor’s tank and filled 6 kilos of honey jars, which I distributed to the whole family with wishes for a sweet and happy new year.
A blessing at Passover with their arrival and a blessing at Rosh Hashanah with the first taste of honey. Ultimate joy.

Simchat Torah and the Iron Swords War

On October 7th, we all experienced an indescribable disaster. Our lives were completely shaken, and the entire country, including myself, was busy trying to comprehend what had happened while picking up the pieces for one another.

During this time, it was time to prepare the hive for winter to ensure it would survive. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the chance to take care of this task, which led to my hive not making it through the cold winter.

Deeply disappointed by the loss of my second swarm, I tried to find ways to “revive” the hive. However, all my efforts were in vain because the people I knew were from the north of the country and didn’t have access to their hives during this cursed war. As of writing these lines, they still don’t.

The Journey and Shot in the Dark

On March 23, 2024, I traveled to visit my family in Manchester, England, to celebrate the Bat Mitzvah of my sweet niece Nesli. From there, my mother and I continued to fulfill a dream of a mother-daughter trip to the East to celebrate my birthday.

Before the trip, I made sure to extract all the amazing honey left by the previous bees. I came up with an idea to try to attract my beloved bees to come back.

I remembered Avichai telling me that bees love the smell of lemongrass. I bought organic lemongrass oil and simply dripped it all over the hive, inside and out. I closed the hive and prayed for another blessing…

Hive No. 3

A month and a half later, I returned home to find that the idea had worked! A new swarm had arrived and settled in the hive that was waiting for them 🙂 I am filled with gratitude that twice in my life, bees have chosen me to give them a home.

This time, I am not disturbing or interfering with them, just watching the miracle of this world from the side, enjoying the abundance created on my trees, and being there for them in whatever they need, having learned from my failures and gained the experience to provide them with the best home.

Now there’s a happy swarm in the garden, and the homeowner is delighted 🙂

Want to Learn About the Many Benefits of Honey? Check out the article “What’s Good About Real Honey?”

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