Thursday, April 22, 2010

The Ladies are Back in Town

Saturday found beehusband and me standing behind a metal building in New Columbia, Pennsylvania. It was cold and windy. I was wearing sandals. Of course, I saw one other woman wearing flip-flops, so I didn't feel too weird. Most people were dressed appropriately for the weather; hiking boots, insulated vests. Layers-you get the picture.

What could entice us to drive over two hours and stand out in the cold? Bees. Along with forty other people, we gathered behind the Brushy Mountain Bee Farm storefront to watch someone "shake" bees into a hive without creating either physical harm to oneself and ending up on YouTube, or watching your queen bee fly away, never to be seen again. The queen part is a bad thing. YouTube is just a catastrophe of epic proportions.

The bee wrangler seemed very comfortable with the box of bees (similar to the box of bees sitting in the back of my Volvo wagon), and with great calmness, clarity, and a certain degree of humor, talked us through the process. He finished the demo; the bees shaken, not stirred, and all was well.

After lunch at Applebee's, we drove home and following the addition of several layers of clothing (and shoes for me), we bravely walked back to our hive and proceeded to shake some bees. We put the queen cage on one frame, per the demo, and did the deed. I added a feeder of sugar syrup, put on the top, and beehusband and I shared a cup of celebratory coffee.

Sunday, beehusband voiced concern over the number of bees left in the box sitting outside the hive. You must understand, sometimes the bees decide to take their time entering the hive, and would rather walk in than settle for the unceremonious shaking. However, the night was chilly, and we thought the bees had froze. I brought the box indoors, only to discover the little cadavers began walking around. So they returned outside.

Four days later, I checked on the little ladies. Everyone seems very energetic and are entering the hive laden with pollen and other bee-type goodness.

It is good to see to ladies flying about. I missed the activity in the yard. Winter took its toll, and now spring has given us another chance to be spectators and caretakers of the hive.