Hubby's Honey Hobby

As if all the financial shenanigans weren't enough, Margaret Wente also had a sub prime honey harvest.

My husband and his partners are depressed......Usually, they can count on their bees to produce at least 250 pounds of honey. This year, they only got a quarter of that.

Bees don't like to work in the rain, and it was a very rainy summer. Then there were the queens. Some of them failed to carry out their royal duties. Acts of regicide had to be performed, and newer, better queens procured. Then came the revolt of the workers. The bees started swarming, and threatened to fly away for good.

The partners are an elite unit.

The partners have been keeping bees together ever since David, the bee master, turned 80 and decided he needed to bring in some younger blood. They call themselves the Bee Boyz, even though none of them is under 60. Every week, they get together to check the hives, which are behind the honey shack at Jamie's place. They enjoy this weekly chore, because it gives them an excuse to sit around the honey shack telling dirty jokes. They also enjoy putting on their white bee suits and hats, so they look a bit like a nuclear decontamination squad. Usually, there's not much work to do. Bees pretty much look after themselves, which makes them the perfect choice for animal husbandry.