Helen's Hijinks: Oh yeah...we got bees!

The other day, the Ponderer's dad (Senior) told us he'd like to place a hive of bees in his yard. And would he (said Ponderer) like to set it up and take care of it? Let me tell you, that boy was over the moon!

Weeks before, we had gotten in contact with someone who makes hives locally. This guy stays rather busy in spring and summer building them and it took a week for it to be ready. What a great hive! We're hoping to get a few more from him in the coming years. I'm sure by now, most people have heard about the dire state of bee populations in the US, especially, so I'll try to stay off that soap box. But, I will say that in addition to the honey, wax, and the pollination that bees do, having them around is especially important for the biodiversity of our planet. So 'nuff said, on the the bees!

So much buzzy potential!

We located someone willing to part with a nucleus or nuc (said like nuke) of Russian bees, and made arrangements to pick them up. I can't tell you the sense of trepidation when I saw that, um, cardboard box--the only other nuc, which is a tiny hive complete with queen, workers, and brood, I had seen was in a wooden box. Not a cardboard box. My little brain just about went into overload. You must know that I am always anxious and somewhat OCD about stuff (now quit yer snorting, I am NOT that bad!!!), and the thought of going 20ish miles partly through town with a cardboard box of bees was really daunting. You see, I held the box...in my lap. Yep. In my lap. I expected the box to be heavy, but I was surprised at how warm it was. And fragrant with the smells of honey, bees, brood and queen. They buzzed and buzzed, and I remembered from the classes that the Ponderer and I took that you can tell how your bees are doing by their buzzing. They sounded pretty annoyed. I guess I would be too, having been poked in a box, put in a car and toodled off to who-knows-where. I did my best to relax. Yeah...I forgot that we'd have to stop and pick up medicine for my mom that wouldn't wait. That, thankfully, didn't take long, and we were off once again for Senior's. Except that I must have shifted the box enough to let out one little worker. I freaked when I saw her fly up from the backside of the box. That stupid cardboard box. I just knew it was going to be a catastrophe of horror film proportions. I sweated. I saw stars. I had all the familiar symptoms of a panic attack coming on. The Ponderer remarked, "If you don't shut up and calm down, you can get out of the car. Your choice."

The girls are in. With out incident.

I took a deep breath, and tried to get a hold of myself. It was just one bee. And she looked so tiny and vulnerable, desperately searching for the way back to her sisters. Around and around the air holes she marched. I felt bad. I hoped she would just stay by the air holes where I could see her, and maybe she'd follow us when we carried the hive to its location. Nope. She started crawling further and further from the air holes. Then she disappeared behind the box again. Don't get me wrong, I do like bees. I just can't take the thought of her tiny little insect feet on my flesh. I've got friends with feet issues, err human feet issues. I have bug feet issues. So we ended up letting her out the car window at the next traffic light. Poor girl. I hope she finds a new hive.

Waiting for the stragglers to go in

On we rode, me clapping the lid down as tightly as possible, towards their new home. I'm sure I looked pretty ridiculous hanging on the lid like that, but I didn't care. No more escapees for me. All stinging fears aside, we need every bee. They've got a lot to do this year. We'll not have any honey for ourselves this year, and that's okay. The sisters are going to need every drop, and even more, to establish the strong, healthy hive that we (the bees included) hope for.