"1. Master beekeeper Eugene Roman prepares to pull a frame from a hive as beekeeper and son William Roman follows closely behind with  a smoker, used to clear the hive at Rosewood Estates' 21st Vineyard and Honey Processing Location in Jordan, Ontario, July 25, 2012.  (Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail) 2. Bees crawl around a sheet of honeycomb with capped brood at Rosewood Estates' 21st Vineyard and Honey Processing Location in Jordan, Ontario, July 25, 2012.  (Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail) 3. Bees crawl around a sheet of honeycomb at Rosewood Estates' 21st Vineyard and Honey Processing Location in Jordan, Ontario, July 25, 2012.  (Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail) 4. Master beekeeper Eugene Roman examines a frame from a hive at Rosewood Estates' 21st Vineyard and Honey Processing Location in Jordan, Ontario, July 25, 2012.  (Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail) 5. Master beekeeper Eugene Roman examines a frame from a hive at Rosewood Estates' 21st Vineyard and Honey Processing Location in Jordan, Ontario, July 25, 2012.  (Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail) 6. Niagara College summer coop students Audrey Friendship (left) and Benjamin Brown (right) as well as Vineyard Manager Luke Orwinski (centre) put capped frames through an uncapper before placing them in honey extractors, July 25, 2012 at Rosewood Estates' 21st Vineyard and Honey Processing Location in Jordan, Ontario.  (Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail) 7. Niagara College summer coop student Audrey Friendship opens a honey extractor, revealing the frames inside, July 25, 2012 at Rosewood Estates' 21st Vineyard and Honey Processing Location in Jordan, Ontario.  (Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail) 8. Harvested wildflower honey and various wines for sale in honeycomb-shaped shelves at Rosewood Estates Winery in Beamsville, July 25, 2012.  (Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail) 9. ""Queen bee"" Renata Roman pours honey in a back room at Rosewood Estates Winery in Beamsville, July 25, 2012.  (Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail) When Randy Velocci, one of my editors, sent me an email assigning me to shoot a photo essay on a honey harvest, I kept my mouth shut about my fear of bees. For one thing, spending the greater portion of a day in the picturesque little town of Jordan, Ontario, away from the suffocating humidity of the city, sounded like a good thing. For another, the chance to actually have multiple photos published was exciting. For another, I'm an intern. Saying no is not an option (and I wouldn't have even if it were). I know my fear of bees is totally irrational. I've been stung and bitten by all sorts of other things - mosquitos, black flies, spiders, stinging nettles, dogs, squirrels… But I'd never been stung by a bee. I don't know why that particular insect provoked such fear in my heart but I was one of those people who flailed around in a panic and ran away whenever they got too close. Part of me has always feared I might be allergic. I mean, who knows, right? It's been at least a decade since my last allergy test. So death by bee always seemed like a terrifying, if probably unlikely (though possible), scenario. Aaaaaanyway, I sucked it up and went along with reporter Tamara Baluja. I had a feeling this was going to be my chance to overcome. When I'm shooting I often get so focused on getting my shots that every other emotion goes away. Sometimes I get a bit of tunnel vision. I would probably be a terrible (and short-lived) war photographer.  So, with the exception of a few seconds outside near the hives when I thought a bee had flown up into my mask and a few seconds inside when I discovered a drowsy bee clinging to the top of my camera about a centimeter away from my eyeball, I was fine. No panic. Just fun and concentration and sweat. Shooting through a helmet/netting is kinda tough. You can't get the viewfinder right up to your eye so the edges of the frame get kind of lost in a vignette and sometimes you aren't sure if you're hitting your focus. But it all worked out. And neither of us got stung! I felt more confident around bees after that. I started thinking I'd probably just never be stung. Classic, though. A couple weeks later, on a day I was shooting a 16-kilometre obstacle course, I got stung for the first time as I was moving from a standing to a crouching position. Right in the back of the knee. It really wasn't that bad. link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/gold-rush-harvesting-honey-on-a-wild-weather-schedule/article4457546/"
{"Image ImageDescription": "Harvest honey at Rosewood Estates Winery in Jordan, July 25, 2012.  (Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail)", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image Artist": "Galit Rodan", "Image Copyright": "The Globe and Mail", "Image ExifOffset": "208", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto"}