I just started working and suddenly the phone rings….
In my attempt to answer and as I hastily open it the click happens....and a picture comes out by mistake!!! I imagine it has happened to many of us….
I answer the phone…..orders, obligations, everyday life…..another day has begun…..I hang up and a photo appears….
My smoking room! It is there, lit, its thick smoke wafting proudly, waiting for me to spend another day together. So old, but so soft in the hand (beekeepers can understand me...) that I wouldn't trade it for anything! For so many years he has been by my side, with me, every day and every hour, that sometimes I think he has become an extension of my hand... But I never noticed it, I never gave him the appropriate attention!
I remember the words of a beekeeper grandfather I met on the mountain when I took my first steps as a beekeeper
"It takes art to light the smoker my girl!"
A few pine needles at first and a match. As soon as you see the flame rising high, you drop some pine needles and even with the bellows you give some air to the fire. Not much because it will go off. A little, as much as to give a breath to the flame. And then it's important to add some tree bark peels to make it last. And then you blow again, to give it life, until the husks become coal, and only then will you fill it to the top. Don't rush, because when you need it, while you work, it won't be on anymore... it takes patience and love!
I grab the smoker almost mechanically and think about how important a tool it is for every beekeeper. It calms the bee and protects you from many stings. But most important of all, it gives you the ability to coexist with thousands of bees and work in harmony with them, without distractions. No need to smoke too much, too much is never good.
The chirping of a nightingale nesting in the nearby tree interrupts my thoughts. His song reminds me that it is still spring. He calls his beloved… how beautiful! My soul calms down, it calms down... The bees are buzzing around me…. Magic…. Time for work! Coming back to my thoughts……
A day at the apiaries without my smokehouse would be a complete disaster. Bites, anxiety and finally irritation! But this old smoking room offers me the peace and quiet that I need during all hours of work. It allows me to enjoy every moment and banishes worry, negativity and irritability.
I wonder, how easy would our lives be if each of us had a "burning smoker" in him? A "smoking room" that would expel all negative energy and allow us to enjoy every moment, with calmness and peace, in harmony with nature!
Or maybe we all have such a "smoking room" inside us, with us, every hour and every moment that we simply does it take art, patience and love to "light" it?
Lena
