Chimborazo is a village in one of the most elevated and scenic places on the island of Barbados. The view from Chimborazo looking towards the Atlantic Ocean is one of the most beautiful and coveted attractions on the island. Barbados is developed from coral and the formations protrude from the ground as large boulders or very high jagged cliffs. The cliffs, the steep rolling verdant hills painted on to the deep blue canvas of the Atlantic Ocean provide one of the most magical vistas on earth.
High up on the hills in Chimborazo there is steep coral or limestone cliffs which form a beautiful backdrop for Chimborazo. One limestone cliff at the end of Cadogan Road is approximately 50 feet high and forms an elevated transition to the Sugar Hill area. The limestone cliff at the end of Cadogan Road also has a cave and many crevices where lots of creatures and wildlife live. The crevices were favorite places for severalhoney bee hives.
Occasionally, Cyford, one of the local men in the village, went to the cliffs to cut the beehives. Cyford was a master at cutting the hives and extracting the honey and honeycombs. The children usually followed him to the hives to watch him cut the bees and also to get some fresh honey from him. Cyford had no special gear; but he was like a bee whisperer. All he took to the hives was an enamel pail to contain the honey, a long metal rake to reach in and scrape out the honeycomb, while he puffed plumes of smoke towards the bees from his cigarette . Each time he started the process by lighting some bush, which was just dry enough to smoke but not burn. The children usually stood a distance to avoid getting stung by any agitated bees while theywatched Cyford in awe.
Once Cyford was done harvesting the honeycomb with the sweet dripping honey, the children descended on him just to get a chunk of honeycomb. Mmmm! The children moaned as the honey ran down their chins, through their fingers, and down their chests. They chewed the honeycomb until there was no traces of honey left. They used the residual wax to do many crafts; but many of the boys used the wax to coat their herringbone string to keep if from absorbing moisture and also to prevent the string from fraying. Honey harvesting was always a fun time in the village, especially for the boys who accompanied Cyford to the cliffs.
It was another gorgeous day in the village and the local young boys seemed to have exhausted all other forms of entertainment. Ty-Ty, one of these boys got a brilliant idea to cut some honeycomb from the cliffs. He watched Cyford and helped him many times and he was sure he knew exactly what to do. Ty-Ty did not have access to cigarettes, so he decided to make his own. He found a dry breadfruit tree twig, peeled off the bark and used the cork-like inner substance as a substitute cigarette. He took the cork from the breadfruit tree, got a nail and punched a hole from one end to the other to allow the air to flow through like a cigarette. Ty-Ty got an enamel pail just like Cyford did andproceeded to cut some honeycomb. But before he climbed the ladder to reach the highest beehive, Ty-Ty got some semi-dry brush to use to smoke out the bees.
Ty-Ty climbed the ladder, enameled bucket and metal rake, breadfruit cigarette lit and smoldering between his lips, and a handful of brush stuffed in the bucket. Once he reached the hive, Ty-Ty lit the brush to start smoking out the bees. The brush was too dry and immediately caught on fire. Instead of smoking out the bees, Ty-Ty was burning the bees, which made the bees angry and agitated. The bees attacked Ty-Ty placing several stings on his head and around his face. Ty-Ty recoiled in fearand dropped the bucket and the burning bush. He lost his balance and fell off the ladder, flat on his back. He couldn’t move nor could he make a sound. The bush caught on fire around him; but the other boys were too afraid of the bees so they left Ty-Ty and ran to Mr. Branch’s house to get some help.
“Mr. Branch! Mr.Branch!” They shouted with fear and excitement in their voices.
“Wha wunna ragamuffins want wid me dis time a day?”
“Come quick, come quick. It’s Ty-Ty, he fall off de ladduhtroubling the bees fuh honey. We tink he ded. Come quick!”, the boys shouted.
“Looka, I dohn feel like gine down in de grung right now. Wunna go en pick he up and bring he to me.” Mr. Branch instructed them.
But the boys were concerned about their own safety.“Mr.Branch, we skeered a de bees. We kahn ga bak dung deh!”
“I en telling wunna again, go in bring he!” Mr. Branch told them again.
The boys timidly went back to the beehive location. The bees were angrily swarming overhead. The bush all around Ty-Ty was creating a large plume of smoke and it was hiding Ty-Ty from their immediate view. Slowly, brushing away the bees, the boys creeped up to the base of the ladder and Ty-Ty was lying on the ground motionless, while some of his clothes were smoldering. Two of the bows grabbed his feet while two others grabbed his arms, slowly dragged him across the scorched earth to move him away from the bees. Once clear of the bees, the boys headed off to Mr.Branch carrying the motionless Ty-Ty.
They reached Mr. Branch’s house, plopped him down under the veranda, and called for Mr Branch. Mr. Branch came out, took a quick look at Ty-Ty and went back into the house. Less than a minute later, he emerged with a little brown vial, popped the cork and waved it under Ty-Ty’s nostrils.
Within seconds, Ty-Ty gasp a deep breath and sat straight up. “Wait! Wuh happen?. How I get hey?” He questioned the boys still half groggy.
Mr. Branch looked at Ty-Ty and said, “Ya idjit, Wait, wuh you en no Bee Man. You en had no business up dey troubling dem bees. Eva! Put some dah chicken foot soup ya cooking fuh dese boys en pass de hotsauce.
Story by: Stan Brooks