Next Stop: Amanda's Uncle Erik and Aunt Ann-Mari's home for a bit of "Bee Keeping 101".

Bee Keeping Fashion Plate: Yeah...I know...I am a veritable fashion plate...Aw...Gee...Gosh...The outfit is very important to wear. It must be loose fitting so the bees cannot penetrate the fabric. The pants were ski pants (I think), and the rubber boots made it impossible to get stung on the lower legs. The hood was very comfortable and had lots of mesh for good air exchange. I was wearing Ann-Mari's outfit. Amanda was the brave photographer for this gig.

Happy Hiving: I was so excited to be allowed to share this experience with Erik. It was so magical to be surrounded by bees, to hear the buzzing, to see inside the hives. It really takes a lot to annoy honey bees. They are very docile.

Erik inspects bee box: Each box was opened and inspected for hive health. The bees became quite a buzzzzzz with excitement when this was done.

 Erik chooses honey comb to inspect: The bees hang onto the honey comb as he lifts it from the box.

Erik inspecting honey comb: Each honey comb was inspected for honey in the cells.

Erik replacing lid on hive: Each bee box had to be closed up after honey inspection. This was a very poor year for honey yield. My thanks to Erik for a great lesson on bee keeping.

Uppsala Travel Companions: During the afternoon, Amanda's uncle and family visited with us in Uppsala and gave us lots of information about this city. From left to right: Amanda, Uncle Erik, Aunt Ann-Mari, Donata, and cousin Emil. Emil and Donata were visiting from Vienna.