“Count yourself initiated,” she said. “You can’t be a true beekeeper without getting stung.”

After you get stung, you can’t get unstung no matter how much you whine about it. I just dived back into the riptide of saving bees.

I felt somebody should personally thank every rock out there for the human misery it had absorbed. We should kiss them one by one and say, We are sorry, but something strong and lasting had to do this for May, and you are the chosen ones. God bless your rock hearts.