A Bee Moment...
Today was almost everything a Sunday ought to be, lovely day, no serious work to be done, a little Bee Time with the Bees, where I learned yes, you can get a Bee stuck in your hair (twice) and not get stung.
I forgot to mention that last weekend one of our hives had to be, I am not sure if there is a Bee Term for it, let's just call it "Cancelled Mid-season" The Queen had died, we re-Queened, she did not survive, the workers made two new Queens, they never hatched....
It was time to give up. There was no way they could come back and make enough honey for winter. Rather than let the workers die off, we decided to try and introduce them to the Kitty Hive. You can't just tell them, "Ok, gals, why don't you just nip on over to Kitty and just pitch on in"
The way we did it was we put the Brood Box from the Dead Olga Hive, in the middle of Kitties Brood Boxes, and put a sheet of newspaper on the bottom and the top, and it is hoped that by the time they eat thru the paper their little Bee Thoughts are more "HEY Here we are, we have rescued you! We must be together and the hive will be strong" And no one will notice that all these new bees, are, well, new bees.
This seems to have worked, we found out today, the Birdchick and I. I only got into trouble when we went to the other hives, the Mimko and Bickman hives, they are such nice bees, and we have tended to get a little lackadaisical, shall we say, about how far away we are from the hives when we take the suits off. Like, say, three steps.
(Note: Bee suits are HOT when it is over 80 in the summer)
We were standing by the Bee Table talking and all of a sudden I heard the one sound you DO Not want to hear when tending bees, a buzzing in your hair and the FEEL, which leaves nothing in doubt of what is about to occur, of a Bee digging in for a sting!
I have really long thick hair (which rather than grow myself, I pay a lot of money and spend a lot of time to get) and it was in a scruntchie bun. (Either you know what that is or you don't) and here is this Bee caught up in it. Cut to screaming, and me desparatly trying to recall everything that happened last year when Sharon was the victim and I the rescuer. I did not touch my hair and tried to stay still, and Sharon smoked me frantically, saying "RUN RUN RUN!!!!!!!!!!" Get out of it's territory. Fast.
I ran, she said, "It's Out! I saw it fly!" Great, thinks I. And then it came BACK. (Insert word of your choice here) I am SO stung now. RUN said Sharon, running after me with the smoker. I found out I can run Very Fast when there is an angry bee stuck in my hair. (you would be surprised how very fast you can run)
Thank Fod, and I do, it left. I truly believe it was nothing short of miraculous that I didn't get stun. And that I have just used my Get Out Of Jail Free card in regards to the Bees. Still, the Birdchick and I did better than when it happened to her, she not only got stung, but I stomped on her head trying to kill it.
Not to get too poetic here, but I am typing this on my deck, and looking at the sky, which is full of flying Bats, and my woods, which are full of Fireflies.
A perfect Sunday, if you ask me.
Love and Stingers,
Lorraine
posted by FabulousLorraine @ 7:31 PM
29 Comments
29 Comments:
well thank fod you didn't get stung - and how lucky you have fireflies, i miss them so - we have very very few here, and that has always made me sad. i still think they are magic. on a silly note, poor hub called me up - went berry picking in virginia, and somehow got a bit of poison ivy in an inopportune place (snicker). extremely difficult to exhibit appropriate sympathy (snicker).
Sue, check this out...We have them and they are magic.
http://www.fireflymagic.com/
(no, despite Pantagruels best efforts I STILL cannot hyperlink)
Snicker. Snicker again. Poor man.....
oh so very cool!!!!! didn't your boss mention these lights a year ago? do you have them too? i will have to add them to my wish list, magic they are. i love lights and glowey things - i would have xmas lights up all year if i dared. and when i am a crazy old lady i probably will :)
snicker snort he was horrified - to scratch or not to scratch? that is the itchy question ...(hahahaha)
Boss has the lights, not me. In fact before he left on his latest jaunt, he had the idea that they should be installed outside on the tower of his house.
Three floors up. Now I must figure out if one needs to rent a cherry picker to do this or if Hans is sufficiently suicidal to attempt it....
They are cool lights tho....
Perfect indeed apart from the bee moment - a very mature one thought if I may say so - I am so glad you did not get stung, but my that bee was really being obstinate...
Cesare was just telling me yesterday that you can hardly see fireflies anymore here (too much pesticide and more and more constructions and less gardens) whereas when he was a kid...
We could try the magic lights (not on the roof though because he would climb and install them himself, that reckless man - I still tremble just remembering him going up on the roof of our very tall three storey Dutch house).
Someone who has a crane with a lifting basket (such as they use to replace light bulbs in the streets) should be able to install them for you.
Whoa..that was rather too close for comfort. I know if I had a bee in my hair I'd have been a gibbering wreck. I'm so glad you didn't get stung.
Bats AND fireflies, that's a great view.
ivenotime: Oh no! *giggle* Poor guy!
So glad that you did not get stung, and kept calm during your Bee Moment!
Dude. I must have some of those firefly lights. Never seen them in nature, but they look so, so cool.
Firefly Magic
There, now it is linked.
Another Kitty haiku (these are so much fun;)
Counting off cities
Omaha to St Louis
Missing Ms Kitty
Bees (especially bees that refrain, somehow, from stinging)! Bats! Fireflies!
Nice.
Fireflies are one of the things I consider my reward for being good and visiting the Midwestern in-laws (the boy needs to see his cousins, after all). The other is a trip to Chicago but I'm more likely to get the fireflies. Heh.
Must get those lights.
I'm glad to hear there was no stinging or stomping on heads this time...although that was one of the funniest stories from Sharon.
Sue- *snicker* Tell hub to stop wearing those darn short shorts.
I almost never see fireflies here in the city, but I love being further out and looking over the farm fields at night. It's like a fairy dance out there.
Lorraine, that sounds like the perfect way to draw a Sunday to a close.
You stomped on Birdchick's head? I didn't realize it was *that* kind of Sunday.
(SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY! See the titans clash at Minneapolis Colluseum! Fabulous "Quiche SMASH!" Lorraine takes on Birdchick "I'll smoke you!" Sharon in the main event!)
I did kind of stomp on her head, it was pretty funny. I'll try and find the link to that story...I mean, it wasn't funny at the TIME, but it got funny in the re-telling..
We either have lots of fireflies or a very very few. It's sad that they are not around so much.Putting them up tho is going to be something, here anyway, they work well on small bushes and trees, dead easy.
Spacelaw, the crane and basket is , for no reason I can discover, what we call a "Cherry Picker" I mean, cherry trees just aren't that tall, one would never rent one to pick cherries...Think what it would do to the lawns....
Besides it seems like an overkill for cherries, even if cherry trees can grow tall (and the best cherries always seem to be out of human reach).
Can't the lights be tied outside a window or something?
I bet the bats eat a fare share of the fireflies too.
We have tiny ones (bats that is) here (size of a sparrow) and they are really cute but last year there was so little of them - pesticide must be killing off all their food.
I was glad to see them coming back to grace our summer evenings with their erratic flights.
I am thinking along those line, putting them on wires perhaps....And you are right, the best one are just out of human reach, perhaps a lesson from Fod, eh? I just know I have to get them up...Somehow.
I bet the bats do eat the fireflies, too bad they don't then glow.... Perhaps Dan Guy could work on that?????
It is such an odd year for fruit, we got almost no cherries or apples or plums , but the pear tree is loaded, wonder why?
HA! Found the story of when Sharon getting a Bee in her Hair.
Not sure how to link, but the date is Wednesday September 12th 2007, if you go to www.birkchick.com and search thru her archives....
(if anyone can give us a direct like, you will be my hero...)
Here you go:
"Hello Bee Sting, Goodbye Dignity"
FODS! You rock. That was fast....
I'd ask how you did that, but, sigh, I am sure it is beyond me...
Ya, a night of firefly and bat watching sounds like heaven to me! I had never seen fireflies until I moved to MN and I still can't believe how beautiful they are when one is walking in the woods at night!
I am lucky that we have some bats who fly around our yard most evenings. Not too many things better than bat watching. I think they roost (is that right, roost?) in our soffits. We have had to rescue a few when they got in the house and the cats thought, "what fun!". One poor bat climbed up into the vacuum to get away from the cats. Luckily I never vacuum! I heard her and took the vacuum apart to let her out.
We also have some lovely bumble bees (one at least) living in the garage. Not sure how brave I would be around a hive of honey bees though. The anticipation of pain is so much worse than the pain. Well, for some things anyway.
Heh, dude, don't stress about the link. Just keep a running list of things that flummox you, and next time I see you, we'll go over it until you have them down. No worries.
Don't you have any young teenage boys out there who could be bribed with the thrill of doing something dangerous + illicit beer to hang the lights?
Gayle! A bat in a vacuum cleaner??? Here's to not housekeepeing, that is so funny....
I am not sure I am brave enough to take a bat out of a vacuum, for that matter. Bee-ing is easy . (If you are smart enough to keep your beesuit on...)
We play a game with the bats where we throw things and call them down sometimes. Hours of fun. (Note: Do not use bricks for this purpose.)
Thanks Val! I will, and next time I'm in LA we do just that. I need to SEE , and not just read. (kind of like music, I can play a piece of sheet music, if I have heard the music. Weird)
Hans looked at the Firefly Project (That's sounds funny, doesn't it? Project Firefly. I like it) and said "No." But he has some ideas on how it might be done. It's really high up on atower.
The point may be somewhat moot however, as we can't seem to find the lights.
I think Fod likes you, Lorraine.
~Emily
I think so too.
I'm a very lucky women, it's good to remember that.
The worst bat incident (as of yet!) was when we had someone dog sit for us. We had 5 dogs and 8 cats at the time so, to be fair, there was a lot to do. Everything seemed to be fine when we got home. Three day later the sitter called and said, "Oh, I forgot there was a bat in the basement and I put a bucket over it. Sorry." UM! WTF! So I went down to the basement and sure enough there was a bucket upside down on the floor in a dark corner. I lifted the bucket and the bat was still alive, thank Fod!
Needless to say the poor thing was very upset and I couldn't just pick it up so I got it in the bucket and took it outside. S/he flew off so I hope s/he recovered.
How does one post a photo here by-the-by? I am with you, Lorraine, and probably won't get it unless I am shown but I just thought I would ask.
I don't know if one can post pictures in the comments...Anyone?
If not, you can send it to me, and I will post it on the blog, if you like. Always happy to help.
Who puts a bucket on a bat?? And then forgets? Good on you for saving it!
Seriously! It's the "And then forgets?" part I never could get my head around! I understand that a lot of people are afraid of bats. But you trapped a living thing under a bucket and then FORGOT!? Needless to say she did not dog-sit for us again.
Let me test to make sure, though I'm thinking probably not...
*tests*
Nope. Image tags are not allowed in Blogger comments. Feh.
Val the all knowing designated drinker has spoken. No pictures. Send it to me Gayle, and I will work it into one of my amazing, insightful and helpful blogs.
Heck, it might BE my blog...
Blogger doesn't yet let you post a picture in the comments, Gayle.
The best you can do is link to one.
Oh I see that this has already been answered. Never mind...
So strange to hear you guy (or someone's Boss) talk about bats IN the house. Our bats are keeping well away from the houses, although they might have their nests under the roof like swallow do (not sure as I've never seen one). Mind you with the serial killers at home they do well to stay away...
Sounds like the perfect Sunday indeed! Bee in hair sounds less than perfect but does make a good story.
I do understand the goodness and beauty of bats. I do not like them in my house. Nope. Sorta like bees in hair for me I think.
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