My Bee Farm Visit

Part 2: These Bees Don’t Sting

Unlike My Bee Farm Visit Part 1, in last month’s Howler, this story will not start with, “Owww!” That’s because mariola bees, which I’ll talk about here in Part 2, can’t sting.

You may ask what mariola bees are. Well, they are a kind of bee that doesn't sting. Mariola honey has been used medicinally for thousands of years. It can aid sore throats and coughs, in addition to cuts, burns and other physical wounds. So we can say that mariola bee honey is a kind of medicine, and medicine sometimes is expensive. As you can probably tell, mariola bee honey is very expensive too. A small jar costs about $150 — that's a lot!

But let's skip to the important part of how I first met mariola bees. Two months ago, my mom took me to an organic farm for an ice bath and breathing meditation. When we got there, it turned out to be quite a nice place. But after an hour of lying down and taking breaths, I started to get bored. I opened my eyes, looking around to see if something would interest me. Still while lying down, I noticed a lot of small insects, and for an hour I couldn't make out what they were.

Story and photos by Marek Nahorski

When my parents finally finished the meditation, I asked the owner of the organic farm what all these small insects were. He told me that they are mariola bees and they are very friendly and they don't sting. So then I got the videos of having them at my grade. Because the bees are so small and they don't sting, they would not bother anyone.

So that's how I got my bees.

Mariola bee honey is a kind of medicine.

Howler is delighted to feature this first-hand account of an 11-year-old’s journey in Costa Rica learning about bees. Part 1 of the young author’s two-part story takes place at a bee farm, where everything about his perspective changed. This was the inspiration behind the colony he is now starting on his own at his family home.