From Natural Horsemanship to Natural Bee Keeping!

I have a couple of hives at the bottom of the garden. I've kind of inherited them but the thing is: I'm dead scared of bees!

Today I had to rob my hives and had a few "Oh Boys!" moments. First of all, the Queen had decided to move in "upstairs"in the boxes where normally there is only honey. This meant that the whole hive had to be taken apart and reassembled. So, rather than the fairly straight forward process, which although still a bit scary, I have learn to deal with, I ended up with a whole hive of bees flying around and wondering what on Earth was happening to them. I started feeling more and more anxious and bees like most wild animals react to fear and not in a positive way! I normally sing gently to soothe them as much as me but this afternoon, my throat was dry with fear.

My first thought was: "What would I do if it was a horse?" Approach and Retreat, of course. So I moved back and retreated to the safety of the bushes till I felt calm enough. Each time my fear crept back, I walked backward. It was very much like playing the yoyo game except that I was the horse! By the time I had finished with both hives I was calm and composed and actually in the moment enjoying the peaceful hum of my little workers who had settled down by then. This is the first time in 3 years of bee keeping that I got to that level of peace and serenity working the hive!
My point is that I have reached the place where; whenever something unsettling comes my way, my instant reaction is to turn back to my horsemanship. The question is simple: "What if it was a horse?" and the answer always comes straight to my mind.