Love for Honey B

What can we say about Honey B?  Honey B is playful, loyal, highly sensitive, so fun and sassy.  She is also intelligent, clever, sneaky, mischievous and unpredictable.  For all of these reasons, and so many more, we LOVE Honey B!

To a level unlike any other chimpanzee person at CSNW, Honey B keeps us on our toes.  Honey B may very well be systematically taking the Sanctuary apart, as we speak, one screw at a time.  Back in 2023, Honey B took down a panel in one of the greenhouses.  If you haven’t seen it, check it out here, Honey B gets down to business at 1:56.  At the end of each day, the Lead Caregiver has an extensive list to check off in order to safely and properly close up the chimp house for the evening.  Honey B’s antics have added some things to the list.  Such as the time she got a hold of the hose in the middle of the night.  Recently, when we were introducing George to Cy’s group, Honey B decided that “privacy” was overrated and made an adjustment to a paper covered window.  You can also count on Honey B to do what it takes to improve her living situation, whether it’s holding out in the front rooms for some alone time, or when she’s in the mezzanine with Willy B and gets tired of him throwing his bouncy balls around.

Honey B will be turning 37 on June 11th of this year.  She was born at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery to our very own Missy!  According to our records, her father was Herbie, which means that she is half siblings to Cy, Lucky and Rayne.  In 1996, she moved to Wildlife Waystation in California where she lived with Willy B and Mave.  After the facility closed in 2019, Honey B, Willy B and Mave moved to CSNW.

After some unsuccessful introductions, thus far, Honey B is still living with Willy B and Mave.  But she has many friendships with chimps from Cy’s group.  Especially Dora!  When we think of Dora’s best friend, we automatically think of Mave, however Honey B and Dora have a great friendship!  While Dora spends a lot of time lying about, and grooming with Mave, Honey B is for raucous play!

Honey B and I didn’t always get along.  When I first started volunteering in 2019, Honey B and her family were rather new to the sanctuary.  I had never met a chimp before, and I thought that her intense stare and spits to the face were “friendly”.  I soon learned that that was not the case.  It wasn’t until the summer of 2024 – 5 years later – that Honey B decided, out of the blue, that I was alright.  Prior to that time, Honey B would spit in my face, so forcefully that it once went through my mask, up my nose and down my throat!  I have a whole series of photos of myself covered in Honey B’s smoothies.  If I was cleaning in a room adjacent to a space that Honey B occupied  – like when she holds out in the front rooms – she wouldn’t let me or my tools anywhere near the shared mesh.  She would occasionally lure me to her by wiggling her sweet toes at me – you can always get me with a toe wiggle – then scream in my face.   But, once Honey B decided I wasn’t so bad, our relationship blossomed.  I’m always excited when I get a new scratch to the back of my hand or elbow because I know Honey B will be thrilled to spend some time grooming/bonding.  It really is an honor to be friends with the spitfire that is Honey B!

We would like to thank Honey B’s 8 pals for their support each month!  We couldn’t do what we do without it!  Do you have a pal yet?  You can become Honey B’s pal, or any other chimp’s or cow’s pal by clicking here.