By Wolston Farms
About us | Trial
New
Made From Sheep
 | Wool |
| Bedding |
| Sculptures |
| Sculpting kits |
Featuring Sheep
| Note cards |
| Xmas cards |
| Clothing |
| Fine art prints |
Sheep Information
| General |
| Festivals |
| Books |
| Photos |
| Ruminations |
Buying Online
| How to |
| Security |
| Returns |
| Wholesale |
Related Sites
| Wolston Farms |
| BC Styleyes |
| Raven OKeefe |
| Wool Sculpture |
Sheep Thrillz
39562 Hwy 226
Scio, Or 97374
503-394-2021
ir@sheepthrillz.com
Please note we are unable to take online orders directly at this time. Please call 503-394-2021 to place an order.
Dinah and the Bees
It was a beautiful
autumn morning on Bear Mountain. The leaves were changing color, the birds were
singing and there was not a cloud in the sky. For those unfamiliar with Bear
Mountain, it might not look like a special place. Certainly it is a pretty
little mountain ‹ not too big but definitely a mountain and not a hill ‹
snuggled at the end of a sleepy little farm valley. However, as the name
indicates, Bear Mountain is home to a population of black bears. Like most bears
they are generally rather solitary creatures, but on Bear Mountain there is an
unusual bear named Griz who is very sociable and loves adventures and spending
time with his friends.
Griz has a sister named Dinah who loves nothing more than sitting down to a good meal. Dinah has a rather round tummy as a result of a little too much of her favorite food, honey. Her cave is a regular treasure trove of honey pots, all carefully marked with the location and year that the honey was gathered. This is the story of one honey gathering trip when Griz and Dinah had an unexpected adventure.
Dinah hurried excitedly around her cave gathering all her empty honey pots, humming a jolly little tune. She was very excited, today was honey gathering day, and her big brother Griz was coming along to help. "It's only fair," thought Dinah, "after all he does come over for a breakfast of my honey often enough!" Just then Griz came through the cave's entrance. "Hello, sis, are you ready to go, or should we have a little breakfast first?" asked Griz hopefully. Dinah really wanted to get started, but the thought of a good breakfast was too tempting, so they sat down with a pot of honey and had breakfast.
A short time later Dinah and Griz set out to gather honey. They decided to start high up the mountain where their friend Rosie said had been a particularly beautiful display of wild flowers that summer. Dinah had a hunger for some wildflower honey, her current supply being a little on the low side. If he were he being completely honest, Griz would have admitted he was feeling a little apprehensive. He didn't like bees very much, and the weather was rather warm today so the bees might not be as sleepy as he would hope.
After a long but pleasant walk Dinah and Griz arrived at the upper meadows that Rosie had told them about. "Yes, this looks promising," commented Dinah, and began her search with a spring in her step and a happy tune in her head. Suddenly there it was, high up in a tree, out on a limb of a large pine tree: a huge bee hive. "Griz, I found a big one! Can you come over and help me, please?" she called over her shoulder. "This one could be a bit tricky."
Griz arrived to find Dinah climbing the tree. He looked up at the hive. "Wow, that is a big one, but isn't it a bit far out? The branch might break!" he said. "That's why I need your help. I'm going to break the branch, and you can catch the hive when it falls," said Dinah. "But what about the bees?" ask Griz nervously. "If we knock their house down, won't they get upset?" "Don't be a baby," said Dinah, "we'll put it back on a lower branch when we've taken the honey out."
Dinah reached the branch with the hive on it and began to claw at the wood in an attempt to break it. Suddenly there was a cracking sound. "It's ready to come down now, be ready to catch it!" Dinah called to Griz. With that she gave the branch a big thump, there was a loud cracking of wood, and the branch with the hive attached tumbled down.
As the branch came down, bouncing off other branches, the bees woke from their slumber and came streaming out of the hive headed straight for Griz! He managed to catch the hive but quickly dropped it as a swarm of angry bees descended on him. "Ouch!" he yelped, taking off as fast as his legs would carry him toward the stream. The bees headed back to where their home had been, only to find a rather startled Dinah scrambling as fast as she could back down the tree. Dinah raced toward the stream and dived into the pool where her big brother was already hiding. "I told you we should have left that hive alone" grumbled Griz, when the bees had left and he and Dinah crawled out of the stream. "Not my best idea, I know," she admitted, "but at least in a little while we can go back
and gather up all that yummy honey!" The two bears waited quite a while
before heading back to the hive. By then the bees had settled down and it was an easy task for Dinah to gather up the honeycombs and put them into jars. Griz gingerly placed the slightly dented hive back into the tree on a lower branch.
As Griz and Dinah headed back down the mountain toward Dinah's cave, they had a good laugh at the day's activities. "At least I have a good supply of sweet wildflower honey now," said Dinah. "And I have a great new adventure to tell everyone about" said Griz. By the time they arrived back at Dinah's cave it was supper time and Griz was more than happy to stay a little longer and share in Dinah's feast before heading back to his own cave and a nice long sleep.
Dinah the bear Wool Sculpture $39.95
