Carmen Joyce, 50, likes everything about honeybees.
She likes the way they sound, the way they smell, the way they move with urgency and intention. She even likes the way they raise their hind parts to spread pheromones, a signal that it’s time for the bees to calm down and regroup.
Sometimes, when she has finished a busy day as a tutor at Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences, she just sits and watches the bees come and go from the bee boxes in her yard.
“It’s a very sensory-oriented thing to do,” she said of her quiet time watching bees. “The smell, the sounds, the visuals of it. Even the stings use (our) senses. …
“When you open up a hive, there is no smell like warm honey and wax. When I’m overstimulated, I will watch them fly in and out. … It’s definitely therapeutic.”