Honey Bee in a Jar

I lived in Rose Park, near Salt Lake City, from the time I was born until I was 6 1/2 years old.  We lived in a smallish house that was painted a bright glossy green with white trim.  To the south of our house was our driveway, then our neighbor's property with a small strip of grass, a bush, then the house.  The neighbors were the Riches, although I'm not sure about the spelling on that. The father's name was Mac.  For whatever reason, I don't recall the mother's name.  The next house down was Grandma and Grandpa Case's house.  They really weren't my grandma and grandpa, but they were the granparents of the Riches' children.  Enough of that trivia, let's get to the interesting thing, the bush by the driveway.

In the springtime, the Riches' bush, by our driveway, was covered in blossoms.  I remember the sweet aroma.  As a wee lad of four years old I found myself fascinated by the honey bees in the bush, seemingly rummaging through a flower then flying to the next flower.

 I wondered what they were doing and why they were doing it.  I asked my Mom if we could catch a honey bee in a jar and watch it.  Given that our house was perpetually blessed with babies, we had just the jar for it, a Gerber baby food jar, with the paper label removed, of course.  We captured the honey bee and took it into the kitchen.  My mom and I sat by the table and talked about the honey bee.  I was fascinated to learn that these bees made honey and they helped the flowers.  Why were the bees in the bushes?  Where did they live?  Did they have a mom and a dad?  Could they be pets?  Could I keep some bees in my bedroom?  My questions were endless.

My Mom and I went to the library and got a good children's book on honey bees.  I sat by my Mom on the green vinyl couch in the living room as she read the book to me.  We looked at the pictures.  We talked about the pictures.  I learned that bees lived in hives.  I learned there was a queen that laid eggs.  I learned that bees gathered nectar and made it into honey for their food.  "Honey is yummy!" I exclaimed.  I liked honey on toast, on pancakes, but most of all on peanut butter and honey sandwiches.

I learned much about honey bees for a four year old.  I was enthralled by the idea, that maybe one day I could keep bees and they would make honey, enough for themselves and for me.  I eagerly looked forward to the day when I could have my own hive of bees, and honey from that hive.