The Berks Barrister Summer 2017 - 15

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behavior, and that's very important in beekeeping. Every time we
open a hive, we need to observe the bees' behavior."
There is no doubt Bucci loves bees. The Monday after our
first meeting he caught a swarm out in Mount Penn. They were
found in a rose bush off the side of the road. He caught them, put
them in a cardboard box, and took them home with him. "When
you catch a swarm, you take the cardboard box and dump it in
front of a hive," he says as he shows me a video on his cellphone
of his catch. In the video he can be heard saying "Going into the
hive, just as we want them to..." as hundreds of bees march into a
hive.
Later, when we meet at his chambers, he tells more stories
of the many times he has stopped on the side of a road to collect
a swarm. He carries empty boxes in his car just for that, just in
case. He tells me about the time a swarm took residence on the
tree across from the court house on Court Street. How the court
reporter from the Reading Eagle came and wrote an article about
it. He laughs as he remembers the day and how he chased after
the swarm until he was able to catch it.
A few days later I'm searching for this piece of Bucci's
history at the Reading Eagle archives. I find it filed under Lawyer:
Bucci, James. (Bees). There it was, a yellowed photocopy of a young
Bucci holding a box covered in bees. I emailed him the article; he
could not believe I was able to find it. In the next few hours, he
e-mailed the article to every single person he could think of.
A week later, I find myself going down a country road with
Bucci at the steering wheel. He eagerly explains to me the plan
for the day as I warily glance to the side and notice he is not
wearing a seatbelt. We are at his friend's farm which is about four
miles from Bucci's home. Here he keeps what he refers to as his
"mean bees."
We park a few meters from the hive, and, as we get out of
the car, Bucci explains to me that these bees are not local; they
come from Georgia and, honestly speaking, he is kind of
afraid of them. However, his excitement over
the potential treasure trove of honey that
lies hidden inside the hive overcomes any
trepidation he might have about these mean
bees.
Not ten minutes have passed when I
am stung on my left leg. I help Bucci lower
a hive to the ground and I tell him I was
stung. He tells me I should not have worn
black pants; the bees probably think I'm
a black bear. As I waddle my way back
to the car, his friend and owner of the
farm pulls behind where we parked.
Thank my lucky stars! Someone else
will help Bucci finish the job that day.
After we finish with the bees, we
make our way back to Bucci's house
where his wife, Carol A. Genduso,
is waiting for us. She is ready to
begin the honey extraction. She
is gracious and welcoming, and
once Bucci tells her I was stung
by a bee, she rushes me into a
bathroom so that I can wash
my leg and ice it.

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As I roll up my pants and inspect my wound, I can hear Bucci
from the kitchen talking about what a great harvest this was and
how much more is left in the hive. Everyone participates in the
extraction, although I was relegated to putting the
labels on the bottles where we packed the honey.
A self-imposed job given the state of my leg. At
the end, we counted 14 pounds of honey. Not
bad.
When Bucci is around his bees, he takes on
a live-wire presence that's enviable for those of
us who are yet to find our joie de vivre. When
I tell fellow beekeeper and attorney Timothy
Bitler Jr. that I've never met anyone so happy
around bees, he starts to laugh. "The Judge
is definitely passionate about bees. There
are a lot of people that spend an entire
life searching for something they are
passionate about; I think he found it."
When Bucci is around his bees, it
is easy to forget he is the Honorable
Judge James M. Bucci. When Bucci
is around his bees, he is just Jim.
Ana T. López Vives is the
Community Service Manager
for the Berks County Bar
Association.
Summer 2017 | 15
The Berks Barrister Summer 2017

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