I purchased my home almost twenty years ago. In the second year, I wanted to build a small shed in the backyard.  As I prepared the base I found what appeared to be the bones of a human.  The police were informed and a forensic team conducted an investigation. After some time it was discovered a native American had perished there some two hundred years earlier.

After some discussion with authorities and the nearest reserve in my area, it was decided I could build my shed with locally grown materials.  A small ceremony was provided by the Golden Lake Shaman, after which I built my shed.

About seven years ago my wife, with deep roots in the Golden Lake native reserve, noticed hundreds of honey bees coming and going from underneath the shed. For fear of our children getting stung, she requested I destroy the hive. I felt uneasy about doing that. I really don't like the idea about killing things do to some unsubstantiated fear that honey bees were dangerous. After all people have had a rather close relationship with them for thousands of years.

At the time, the internet was recently connected to my home. I did some research and discovered that the honey bee was having some difficulties surviving world wide. It was decided that we would not disturb the nest. Every year the hive seems to do well and none of us have ever got stung.

This spring we wanted to install an in ground pool. I contacted the Chief and requested an exhumation. He was , as expected, upset. He informed me that I would need to build a shrine, ( my word) to honor the the dead soul. I informed him that my project included a stone barbecue and I would be happy to enshrine the remains at it's base. We reached an agreement on the matter as long as the first meal was venison. My father in law is native and provided that meal.

Within that agreement some forensics were to be carried out by the Historical Society of Canada. In it's report the cause of death was allergic shock, due to bee stings.

This spring and summer has been especially busy for me and I haven't been able to use my stone built BBQ. Tonight is Canada Day and I decided to smoke a cigar and sit out back as the sun was going down, with fire crackers exploding in the background.

As I sat there I noticed thousands of honey bees pollinating the trees. Huge swarms coming and going from inside my stone built BBQ. The pesky buggers made a nest inside the chimney.

Honey roasted chicken anyone?