On Labor Day we geared up to harvest honey! I was so excited see the fruits of all my hard work with "my" hives, and to put in to practice all I had learned in my apprentice beekeeping course earlier in the year.
Everything started off well, and we were able to get a couple gallons of delicious, beautiful honey. I happened to get two stings in the process - one on my left pointer finger, and one on the back of my right hand. I took some benadryl and iced my hands, assuming they'd be better the next day.
The next day, however, they continued to swell. And swell. And swell some more. It got to the point that I couldn't touch my thumb to my fingers and all my joints (fingers and wrists) were hurting.
Thankfully I was able to get in to urgent care relatively quickly. I had instructions to go home, take massive amounts of benadryl, and sleep it off. After about 24 hours I started to see improvement, and after 48 hours I was able to return to work. (I had been unable to drive or write with my hands that swollen!) By a week later, my hands were finally back to normal.
The following weekend we bottled all the honey, and I made the difficult decision to leave the hobby of beekeeping. My reactions to stings just keep getting worse and worse, and I don't want to risk what could happen if I get stung on the neck or face. Mike actually did get THREE stings on his neck, but thankfully he just had a tiny bump and the itching went away pretty quickly. So, all that to say, we think we have a buyer for our bees and honey extractor, but if the deal falls through please let me know if you're interested!
The other excitement of the month was the Grammy came to visit! She and Rose got to spend a week together while I worked and Mike was off elk hunting. They read books, played games, and watched movies - it sounds like a wonderful time was had by all! Thank you again, Grammy :)
Hope you all have a lovely October!
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