Pregnant woman taking pictures with bees – Why is she doing this?._Baby Angel

Commercial beekeeper Bethany Karulak-Baker decided to have a maternity photoshoot after getting pregnant. Her job and life seemed to be a natural part of it. However, Bethany decided to do something most people would cringe at, staging the shoot so that thousands of bees were on her belly.

Finding the perfect photographer was the next hurdle, with the pair taking 10 attempts before eventually choosing Brooke Welch. Then came the logistics. Bethany said, “We tethered a queen around my belly while she was in her cage. It is common practice to place queens in cages and doesn’t hurt her whatsoever.”

Once the queen was tied around her belly, they had to ensure the temperature was perfect (cloudy and cool). They chose to work with pure bees who are the most docile and selected frames filled with pure bees, removing them from the hive. Bethany held a folder under her belly, and they dumped the bees onto her belly, where they climbed up from the folder to “beard” around the queen in her cage.

Around 10,000 bees were shown in the photos on Bethany’s stomach, and she wasn’t stung once. The photographs soon went viral, but Bethany says “the response has been overwhelmingly supportive, kind, and loving.” Many women have come forward to share their own experiences of suffering a miscarriage, and others have placed orders for honey from their commercial honey business.

Maternity shoots can be taken inside the four walls of the homes or outside to give it a more natural touch. Still, they are usually based on various themes. In this instance, a pregnant woman who is allergic to bees set up a photoshoot with thousands of bees on her belly. Bethany and her husband decided to challenge themselves with their photoshoot, working with their hives to have them ‘beard’ around her over-eight-months-pregnant stomach.

While there will always be some people who find this kind of photoshoot bizarre and dangerous, the couple took all the necessary precautions to ensure Bethany’s safety and the safety of the bees. They chose the right weather, worked with the most docile bees, and took measures to prevent any potential sting.

In the end, they were able to capture a unique and memorable moment, celebrating both Bethany’s pregnancy and her profession as a commercial beekeeper.