Getting some HUNNY

In what can only be described as an episode from Winnie the Pooh I decided that I wanted to get some honey and was willing to get up close and personal with it. 

First we found the hive. The guide kindly showed it to us and gave us some small amount of netting to protect ourselves. 

Note the hive is a wild hive and the bees are significantly bigger than your average honey bee in North America. 

The beekeeper then proceeded to smoke the hive to get access to the delicious honey trapped in it. This is where things went wrong. The smoked out bees were angry and I was up close and personal just to get you these amazing pictures. I am looking through my view finder  when my hand felt like it was being stabbed by an ice pick. In the commotion of getting the bee off my hand, my head netting fails and lets a bee inside my personal space resulting in me getting stung on the nose. This is followed by me running like a mad man thru the jungle away from the hive. The score:

We got some honey. I mean honey comb and everything. Not quite a fair deal for the bees.

The bees got some revenge though. Ali had to pull that stinger from my nose and two other from my hand. 

My face fared well but my hand did not. The next day I had to find a doctor. Other than getting an antihistamine I just had to tough it out for a couple of days. They recommended ice but we could not find any on the small village we were at and our boat has no refrigeration. So I just had to wait it out. 

Lesson learned, use a zoom lens when dealing with bees.

Now I am off to enjoy my honey.