The cross on the debris fan is twenty-eight years old now. The survivors who are left are old. I counted: fewer than thirty at the debris fan this year. The priest read the names. I read one.
I will keep going while I can.
Tilek is 14 and has come to stay until school starts. He is afraid of the bees, then he is not afraid, then he is stung on the nose and he is afraid again. He holds the smoker now. I gave him a veil and a hat.
He asked why I do not put the hives closer together. I said: because the bees need to be able to think. He thought about it and said that is a stupid answer. He is right but it is also true.
Lost 3 hives. Mites. They are small and red and sit on the bees' backs, like riders. Last year I used smoke, this year I will use the strips from the pharmacy. The old men say bees did not have mites before. Maybe, maybe not.
Mountain flowers 33 som. Sainfoin 28. A lot of people ask for a discount, but I say: I carried it myself. Gulmira apa takes 12 kg for the toi season. My wife says that if I raise the price one more som she will sell it herself and I will be unemployed.
A bear came to the apiary on Saturday night. He broke open four hives and ate the frames. The dogs barked but did not go near him. In the morning I found the boxes in a heap, the honey gone and the bees angry and flying in circles. I do not blame the bear. He is hungry before the winter.
The district hunter says we may not shoot him, he is protected. Fine. I have bought wire and a battery for the fence. Gulnaz will tell me which wire.
