A Bee-Free Winter

Not only does autumn delight my family with dazzling displays of crisp blue skies to contrast the brilliantly colored leaves, but it offers a promise of hope.  Fall's cold weather soothes us because we know that bees and other stinging insects cannot survive the drop in temperature.

All summer, my girls avoided the woods.  Who wouldn't?  After stepping on a bee hive, a swarm attacked them.  Now, before you get all particular on me, realize that I call anything a bee that has a even a hint of yellow, flies, and stings.  So don't leave comments about the fact that bees don't make nests on the ground.  I don't care.

The three wee ones were in the woods with a neighbor girl when I heard the screaming start.  Truthfully, I  had heard them cry wolf so many times that I didn't sprint over to help them.  I just figured someone's feelings were hurt.

Instead of walking into a fight, I walked over to a scene straight from a horror film.  Those poor children were paralyzed by fear, so they wouldn't walk out of the woods! From the tree line, I could see the bees fly around their heads and crawl on their clothes.

My first instinct was to run into the house for cover.  Then I remember that, as the adult in this situation, I needed to rescue them.

Bravely, I stepped one foot into the woods and coaxed the children out.  In my mind, I was a strong figure who inspired confidence.  If you ask my children, they'll say that I was screaming my head off.

Finally the sobbing children gingerly stepped out of the woods and into my stiff arms.  I ran to the house holding them at arms' length.

With the help of the oldest two children, the three littles were put into a bath to soothe them.  The then-four-year-old sustained the worst of the attack.  Sporting over a dozen swollen mounds, we found that the reason her whole body swelled and turned bright pink was because two stingers remained inside her.

While I made plans on the phone to drop off kids at the neighbor's in order to have the ER nurses remove the stingers,  my oldest daughter plucked out the two stingers herself.  I tell you, that girl has got grit.

After the two stingers came out, the four-year-old's body returned to a normal aching post-attack state.  She and the other two moaned all day about the pain.

Those bees attacked my children several months ago, yet the painful memory of that horrific attack continues to scare the youngest from the woods.  My hope is that the coldest months of the year will erase those bees and the memory of that attack.