A beautiful welcome gift from Chiang Mai…………………….

Driving from the South to the North took us 2 days. We had to time our route so as not to get ourselves caught in the unrest in Bangkok if there are any.

Something interesting happened and you will never believe it! By the time we reached Chiang Mai, we were dead tired. We stayed at GardenView Hotel in Chiang Mai. When I opened up the door to my room, I saw something huge hanging outside the window. As I walked closer to see, I was very shocked and surprised to see a colony for the Himalayan bee, (Api Dorsata is the largest honey bee species in the World), clinging on to the window.

The sight was breathtaking! One can never have the opportunity to view this species so up close. Api dorsata are very aggressive when disturbed. Imagine the size is about the size of your pinky.

I really could not believe my eyes! It was as if Chiang Mai is welcoming me with such a special gift, a gift from God!

Picture taken from the outside of the window.

I could not resist. I had to open up the window, (8th floor), to get a better, clearer picture for my collections. It was indeed a priced photo.

One interesting behaviours about this species is that every afternoon, they will leave the nest in a swarm and start to defecate. During the Vietnam war, American Soldiers who were on their tour of duty experienced it and initially thought it was a chemical warfare deployed by the Viet Cong. It was known as “The Yellow Rain”.

Up close and personal with Dorsata.

I had the honor to see them up close and personal. 🙂

Api Dorsata

Professor Burgett and Dr. Pichwand immersed in deep thoughts.