Page 73 of Must Love Bees
“You and Tansy are Master Beekeepers?”
She nodded. “I’m a Master Craftsman Beekeeper. So is Rosemary, my other sister. But Tansy and both of my aunts are Master Beekeepers.” She shrugged. “It makes sense, being a family business and all.” She gave him a head-to-toe once-over. She really couldn’t get over it. Charlie, in a beekeeper suit. That fit. Which meant it wasn’t the one she’d left for him. “Where did you get that suit? It fits you.”
“Magnolia brought it this morning. She thought I’d help out today.” He shook his head. “That got the girls excited. Halley expects me to record everything so she and Nova can watch later.” He surveyed the suit. “I think I did it right? There are a lot of zippers.”
She’d never thought of a beekeeping suit as an especially attractive look, but Charlie made it almost sexy. “I’ll double-check all your zippers,” she murmured, her attention wandering to his mouth. Sexy and kissable.
He cleared his throat, pulling her gaze upward. His face was red and he stared at her long enough for her to realize that what she’d said sounded rather suggestive. That, with the way she’d been devouring him with her eyes, had him obviously rattled.
“Your bee suit. I mean.” She was a little rattled herself. With Charlie, it didn’t take much. “Where were we?”
He ran a hand over his face. “Bees. Testing.”
“There are four levels in Texas. An Apprentice Beekeeper. An Advanced Beekeeper. Master Beekeeper. And Master Craftsman Beekeeper. You have to advance from level to level—no skipping ahead. Each test gauges your knowledgeandskill set. Only Kerrielynn and Benji are testing, but the others can observe and help and count these hours toward their eligibility.”
“What sort of things are on the test?” Charlie circled the hive, wary of the bees flying back and forth.
“It starts with knowing the parts of a hive—”
“Which are?” He stepped closer to the hive.
He was curious. She could see the concentration on his face. And his curiosity had her bursting with excitement. “This is a Langstroth hive. It’s the most common because it’s easy to work. It comes apart.” She pointed at the seams between the hive boxes. “You can add boxes or take them away.”
“These sections or boxes make up the hive as a whole?” He waited for her to nod. “Why are there different size boxes?”
“Each serves a different purpose.” She moved from hive to hive, pointing out the three different depths. “Honey supers are the smaller ones. The medium size boxes are called a honey super, too, sometimes. We use something called a ‘queen excluder’ to keep the queen in the larger, lower box to lay all the eggs there. The rest of the boxes will be all honey.”
Charlie nodded, taking it all in.
“The larger bottom boxes are normally the brood box. It’s where all the baby bees are fed and groomed until they’re ready to work.” She didn’t want to overwhelm him with information, but he kept asking questions so she kept answering.
By the time Tansy arrived with the Junior Beekeepers, she’d given him a rundown on the internal parts of a hive and the jobs and life cycles of the bees.
“Hey, Charlie.” Tansy waved. “Fancy seeing you here.”
“Everyone, this is Charles Driver. He’s been kind enough to have us here for our project. When we’re done, I’d like there to be no trace that we’ve been here.” Astrid waited for them all to nod. “Charlie, you’ve met Benji, Kerrielynn and Leif. This is Grace, Felix, Crissy and Oren.”
Charlie nodded.
“We’re all taped up and ready to go.” Tansy gave Astrid a thumbs-up. “Kerrielynn, how about you go first.”
“Okay.” Kerrielynn approached the hive and clicked the smoker, releasing a cloud of white-gray smoke.
“What’s that?” Charlie asked.
Astrid grabbed the tape from Tansy’s pocket and walked to Charlie’s side. “It’s a smoker. The smoke interrupts the bees’ alarm signals and helps keep them calm.” She held up the roll of tape. “Extra security.”
He glanced at the young beekeepers, then Tansy. “You don’t have any,” he whispered so as not to interrupt Kerrielynn’s running dialogue.
“I’m the bee whisperer.” She winked.
He shook his head but stood still while she circled him, securing the multitude of zippers and adding a strip of tape over any potential spots the bees could sneak in. Not that Astrid was worried. She knew these bees well. They’d been requeened until all four of the hives were sweet-tempered and high-yield honey producers.
She pulled Charlie’s hood forward and zipped it shut. Even with the mesh, he was frowning.
“Stop frowning, watch and listen,” she whispered. “Kerrielynn has to explain as she goes, it’s required. She’ll probably answer most of your questions.”
“I will, once your hood is on.” He sighed. “Bee whisperer or not, you did get stung.”
