Don't worry, it is not these things upon which you will be judged.

I made a mistake with the bees yesterday. 

After helping Iris pack the tent down because it was breaking itself against the wind, I was passing the bees in my flapping nightie and I got very excited about the beard outside the Flow Hive entrance, wondering whether they needed the next brood box straight away, so I opened the edge just a tad to look in. Seems that such stupidity deserves a short sharp shock and without even head-butting me in warning a couple of amazons whizzed out and stung me on the ankles. The one on the right foot got my slipper and died, the one on the left hit skin. 

I felt very chastened. 

I left them alone, hive lid askew and bees staring out. Iris helped me work out how to get my bee suit, lit the smoker and supervised what I did back in the bee coop. 

As with the sting on the 23rd, after the first pain it really didn't do anything much all day. However, both stings' reactions came up at night (say 10 hours later), the first then spent the next day or two looking slowly worse, and the day or two after that getting slowly better. My finger was almost back to normal when today's reaction from yesterday's sting set it off a little again. This ankle one is still in the building up stage and it is painless but ugly. 

I quizzed Aunty Google regarding reactions to bee stings who suggested that this is a Large Local Reaction (which 10% of stung people have) and that having them is a tad inconvenient but not dangerous unless something important (eg a tube you breathe through) swells. I was feeling pretty confident but decided to ask Sean to take me to the after hours clinic when my ankle got puffy enough that I was limping and all the elevation, ice packs, antihistamine lotions and pills that I thought might calm it down didn't seem to be doing so.

When I got there the triage nurse decided I might be working toward a severe allergic reaction and told me she thought it would get worse and worse and I should give up bees. I did not cry, argue or tell her off. I just told her that I really love my bees and held to my mind's heart all the stuff I'd been reading about the difference between local and systemic reactions. I internally reminded myself of my lack of rashes, pain, shortness of breath, and dryness of mouth to regain calm while she took my blood pressure, but didn't really mind jumping ahead in the triage queue or her dots to check the flushed area wasn't growing. 

The doctor agreed with Google, which was such sweet relief that I had to refrain from crying then too. She said she was glad I love my bees, that I should spend a day or two with my foot up and cool, take antihistamines and use hydrocortisone cream. 

Sean and I fed the bees this morning and Iris and he went down just now, they fed them some more since they'd taken all the syrup already and about 20 amazons were just hanging out on the verandah. 

I think we'll give them that next storey on Saturday. If it's not windy, rainy, or cold, with our suits on and some smoke nearby, like sensible folk who are way too busy to spend a day or two with their feet up. The question is, can I organise my brood box an observation window before then? Windows would be a lot more relaxing for everyone and is why I wanted a Flow hive in the first place. 

https://youtu.be/X_JxJeUmGv0 

Peeking humans.

Sean got out the macro lens but I haven't seen the photos yet. 

We inspected the Flow Hive first, here is some capped honey (left), some capped brood (right), Hippolyta (wearing this year's fashionable green dot) and her attendants (all taken by Sean with his phone). 

We didn't give them the extra box we'd prepared because they haven't quite finished building the comb on the frames they have. My guess is that the peeking bees are courtiers and Hippolyta was near the entrance. 

I don't know how accurate my notes are as I'm not yet very good at spotting the differences between shiny egg cells and shiny nectar (or syrup) cells, or different coloured nectar vs pollen. I plan to go back through and look at the photos again. 

We inspected Malka's (3/4) hive second. 

See all those tiny white dots in the cells? Those are her youngest babies. 

Here is my youngest baby: 

And what I think we saw. 

And lastly, I got my first bee-sting since 1986 and was very relieved to discover I haven't become allergic in the intervening years. While I was tidying up after today's inspection I picked up the tape a bee was resting on and squashed her against myself. It hurt quite a bit, I flicked the sting out with a hive tool, moved my wedding ring onto my right hand in case of swelling, and when I got inside, I took this photo and put an icepack on the wee spot. About an hour later I could only feel it if I pressed hard and now not at all. She died, of course.