Everything Fred – Part 505

20 December 2024

It seems I’ve embraced Artificial Intelligence. Probably a good thing since I’m questioning my intelligence more and more lately. Apple put out updates to their operating system today for the iPad, the iPhone and the iMac. All were AI updates. The only thing I can see different is that Siri doesn’t seem to know as much as she did in the past. One step forward….

It’s been a meh type of day. I felt pretty good this morning and managed a mile walk but then my feet/neuropathy was killing me. I had to pick up a prescription at Publix and a few grocery items. Jim dropped off a Christmas present (a good wine) caramels, squash/zucchini, blueberries, faux gift boxes, and a Yellowstone journal for me to take notes. They are headed to Orlando to see Marilyn.

The honey seemed to work last night. My only problem this morning was congestion. After reading a little and trying to nap, I got to coughing this afternoon again so I’ll dose again with the honey tonight. I’d forgotten how much I like the taste of honey.

One of my most interesting experiences in life was when our Scoutmaster, Mr. Polk, and our Assistant Scoutmaster, John D. Stokes, took me and John’s son Butch out to rob a bee tree. Mr. Polk knew what to do and he guided all of us through the process.

We wore long sleeves (taped to our wrists) and long pants (taped to our legs) and we had mosquito netting around our hats and tucked that into our shirt. Butch and I were warned to not show any fear around the bees – right. Mr. Polk owned a smoker so he started by smoking the bees which makes them start eating their honey and lethargic. Then Sergeant Stokes cut the tree down with a chain saw.

Mr. Polk had a bee hive ready to go and found the queen and inserted her into the hive and the bees followed. He continued to every so often smoke the tree for any remaining bees and the hive to settle them down. Absolutely no one got stung! It was my first taste of raw honey from the waxy comb. It was delicious.

Mr. Polk also had a centrifuge that he used to separate the honey from the combs and we watched how he did that. Then came the filtering. I think I remember ending up with a pretty big jar of honey and the majority of the requirements for a bee keeping merit badge.

What I also learned is not all honey tastes great. Some of the pollen bees harvest gives a bad taste to the honey. This tree was a “good” one. Later I learned you can sell your honey based on the major pollen source. One of the most expensive is Tupelo honey from Tupelo trees.

That bee tree had to be one of my greatest learning experiences. I’m glad I was old enough to understand what was going on and was smart enough to pay attention. I’ve never been too afraid of bees since. Hornets are another matter.

One experience I was too young to understand was at Scout Camp at Camp Kickapoo. I was a second class scout and Mr. Polk and Sgt. Stokes wanted me to earn a merit badge. The one they selected for me was surveying. The camp had a professional surveyor to teach the program for the week. I learned about angles, rods, how to hold the range rod, how to set a plumb bob, why you used a metal measuring tape, and much more. The only problem was you needed a basis in trigonometry in order to work out your surveys. I pretended I knew trig (not until two years later did I take the course) and I apparently did enough to pass and earn the badge. That was one example of what not to do to earn a merit badge.

Tonight and tomorrow are down in the 50’s. A little cool weather is nice but I’ve gotten to where I don’t like real cold weather (like the 50’s). If I’m up north and in the cold, it’s different because I can dress for that. However down here, if it is 50 in the morning, it’s likely to be 75 in the afternoon. You are constantly putting on and shedding clothes.

My weekend is free and Wade arrives on Monday. Stay tuned!