Robber Bees!
Today, when everything was rolling along just fine, thank you, I went to do errands and thought to myself "My what a lot of Bees there are around." HA! By the time I got back, Hans, our Sherpa guide and woodsman par excellence mentioned that there seemed to be a LOT of Bees in the Garage, in fact the place sounded like the inside of a hive!
Holy Hive Batman! A swarm! (thinks I) and I went out and darned if there weren't 100's of bees all over the old frames we had from last years Kitty hive (may it rest in peace). Of course the Bee Suits were hanging NEXT to these 100's of Bees, so I did what any competent PA would do in a situation like this and said "Hans, I will give you one million dollars to go in there, get some bee suits" Bless him....
Here is a picture that looks very like what my brain saw...
I got on the phone to the Birdchick and explained the situation, and she asked would I like her to come out? I asked if that was some sort of strange trick question and could she please come as quickly as possible. By this time it was a full on Bee Party in the garage.
One thing you look for in a Swarm is a large ball of Bees, in the middle of this would be the Queen. This we could not find and came to the conclusion that some random Bee, in the half hour I had the garage open wandered in and went "WOW!!! An empty hive with frames with HONEY bits!!!!!" and flew back to her hive and did the "You gals aren't going to believe this, but come with me Dance" and as word traveled, more and more of her friends came to check out the Party.
We got the frames out, opened things up, and told them Party Over. Out. And went off to check the other hives...
(The Birdchick will no doubt be telling the Full Story of what we did to the other hives over on her Blog, so I won't worry about that now...Including the bit where we did in fact steal some honey, all in the name of Beekeeping)
Here is a Bee's Eye view into the Kitty Hive, it's such an amazing Bee World in there, and so beautiful...
One of the most Magic things ever happened to me next. The Birdchick wondered aloud if she could get a Bee to eat from her hand, and I wondered aloud if I was brave enough to do that too...So I took off my gloves, dipped my finger into some honey and...
Magic. Here is me and my new Friend. It felt like electric, magic, connected and like nothing I have ever felt.
I wondered what she would go back and write in her Bee Journal that evening something like "Magic today, I don't know, never experienced anything like it, I was in the hive, and honey came down, so sweet, and another being and I bonded together, two souls linked forever...."
The Birdchick said....
More like she wrote "Licked a Girl and Liked It."
Love and Bees,
Lorraine
posted by FabulousLorraine @ 7:19 PM
30 Comments
30 Comments:
You got to feed a bee by hand! It totally made me go "awwwwwww."
Birdchick's comment is still making me giggle though.
Remember all that rain that missed you up in MN? We got it by the bucketload hear in Indiana. It was raining so hard downtown that I could barely see the road earlier tonight. The lightning was great though..better than fireworks.;)
That is cool!
Closer my Fod, to bee?
That turned out very well, I think! Did you actually give Hans a million dollars? ;)
I have had a Day. I can't decide if Fod got cranky, or just distracted and looked elsewhere for a bit. But Fod, you better shape up, pal, because I'm designing your worshippers' shirts! Piss me off any more, and you're getting some horrid fuschia monstrosities that've lost a fight with a Bedazzler. And the font will be Comic Sans. Don't think I won't.
--A very Disgruntled Priestess of Fod, who is seriously thinking about recanting and going back to Cabal's Cabal.
That's so cute. I remember Sharon writing about a bee eating nectar off her finger last year and she was all Awwwww too. Good on you for being brave.
So stray bees, eh? Did you guys offer them a spare hive to stay? Cheap rent, just a little honey...
Feeding bees by hand does make you go Awwww...That's just how it is, you feel so tender about them.
Ariandalen, I just have to learn if you post, I will snort tea...Very funny!
Poor disgruntled Val! Don't worry about Fod and it's T Shirts! (Worry about my flyer, hee-hee)
No, we didn't offer them a new home, we told them to the party was busted and to get their bee butts back to whichever hive they had come from.
I so have to go home and go to BED!
(With ice? Or Bees?)
ANd no, I didn't give it to Hans, but he has hope, and he won't know I am totally lying, as he never reads the comments, or leaves any...
I WANT SOME RAIN HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Arian, you are too too funny, or is it punny? Val, hope your day goes better by Fod, threatening a bedazzler is serious business. Lorraine - what was the bedtime choice - bee or ice ;) That is pretty cool getting a bee to feed off your hand whichever way you look at it - Sharon's comment cracked me up. Here's sending rain wishes (geez I'm tired, i just typed witches, tho maybe that would help too) to you!
I have this mental image of Lorraine as the Bee Mom, pulling in to the garage only to discover that the bees have been having a party while she was out. There are tiny, empty beer bottles everywhere and some bee has thrown a recliner into the pool.
"Just wait until your father hears of this!", she threatens, before phoning Birdchick.
"Party's over you crazy bees!", shouts Birdchick upon arrival.
All of the bees buzz away in a flash, muttering about squares harshing their buzz.
Hee-hee, we so harshed on their mellow...
By the time I got to bed, it was sleep in an instant, after a stern letter from Spacelaw in Italy telling to be Go To Bed!
Good to know that you did and slept.
Dreams?
Yes, odd ones. Ack. I dreamt the bridge on my violin broke and the new one was encased in Ice and it kept melting. No, I am not making this up.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio than are dreamt of in your philosophy"
I think Fod is telling me to get my darn warped bridge FIXED.
Or maybe it''s a comment on ice, if we are going for deeper meanings here...
Your music would certainly melt hearts of ice.
I like the bee-bonding moment. Very nice. Glad you have an intrepid Sherpa guide to grab the bee-suits.... that could have been ugly. I like the line 'I asked if that was some sort of trick question...' no kidding.... and Sharon's comment 'Licked a girl and liked it' is hilarious.
Danth... lol... harshing their buzz
Oh, my little heart is melting!
Actually, I just a moment ago listened to the first of the live tracks for the cd. ( Been putting it off nervously) Maddy said Who IS that??? And I said, I don't know. They rock. It is meant to be me and Paul...
Who knew???? I mean, it was a REALLY lovely version of Over The Water to Charlie, which we had played maybe twice ever....Might listen to the rest of them...
Yeah, Sharon is pretty funny. I am still laughing...Bee bonding makes me happy.
You and Paul *do* rock! I can't wait to relive it through the CD.
You'd better watch out, Quiche. Some disgruntled bees might decide to roll the house. The Boss will open the door one day only to discover that it's been combed in!
I meant to ask, btw, if the title was a reference to Stuart Immonen's Robber Bees volumne in his "Criminal Insects" set?
I almost said, "How sweet!" but figured it would have sounded like a pun.
Reading your blog makes me feel so guilty whenever my mother takes poisonous spray and kills a hive of bees in our shed! And I know that the world actually needs more bees. I mentioned that killing bees was a very bad idea in the present situation (are bees still dying out?) but she did not know what else to do .... perhaps you could suggest something, Lorraine?
Ah! Of course -- we need BEE LEASHES!
~Emily
Emily, your mom needs to call the local Agriculture Extension Agent. If you don't have one of those, call an exterminator and tell them you want the bees relocated and NOT exterminated. Or look in the phone book for beekeepers and call one of them.
I had a really odd dream, too. It had to do with comforting and supporting a guy I went to high school with. There were two other women there, but I didn't know them, nor did it matter as we were there to help him. The weird part is that this guy has been dead for almost 28 years; he committed suicide. I haven't figured it out yet.
Good one, Dan!
Dan has done Bee leashes, believe it or not. And pun away, we are all for that here!
Emily, it depends on what sort of Bees they are. If they are honey bees, and they are swarming, you can call and get a local beekeeper who is on Swarm Patrol (like Sharon and I) and they will come and take the bees. The police or the DNR might have a list.
If they are yellow jackets, or these weird black bees, they need to be removed, not safe.
If they are the HUGE bumble bees, leave them, they are harmless and quite friendly.
Dan, Robber Bees is actually a beekeeping term meaning a hive that has found a weaker hive, like a Queenless one, or an empty one and is stealing their honey.
The book says you can tell, because you notice the bees flying furtively around the alien hive.
Right. How do Bees fly furtively?
(I think that word is what I want, sort of undercover-stealth flying)
Ariandalen is right, find out what sort of bees they are.
Tho I am not so nice. Wasps, hornets and yellow jackets DIE here....
The other night I happened to find one of those "weird black bees" in my bedroom. It was huge. I slept on the living room sofa that night and we are still unable to find the bee. It was huge and will probably murder me in the night.
~Emily
It might. If it is possessed by a demon, hard to say....If it is a regular bee, remember, you are bigger than it. And have been trained to Kill.
(if it is a honey bee, put some homey on your finger and carry the little darling outside, so she can get back to her hive...)
Ha. I am hardly bigger than that bee. It might be possessed by a demon but is more likely a demon itself.
And I am not bee expert (although I am become one thanks to you) but I have a feeling that enormous black bees with stingers quite that long are not honey bees.
~Emily
And now, due to the blogs title, I have "The Bonny, Bonny Banks of the Virgio" running through my head.
::sigh::
I suppose it is punishment I have earned.
I suppose the only cure is to sing it, and loudly. Then my DD1 will ask me what it's about...oh, never mind. I just figured out the darn dream. ::head palm::
::rolling eyes::
What a grand adventure! Feeding a bee... what an amazing thing. Too bad you guys had to play the role of killers of the buzz for your bee friends, but I am so glad that it did not turn out to be an actual swarm situation.
ariandalen -- you are too funny. Sometimes a little painful, but truly funny.
I have had half song in my head all darn day...Don't even know what they are, but they are speaking to me...
(Wait, is this like hearing voices, darn, I'm going mad.)
Big black bees with long stingers do not sound fun. Not at all.
Emily, stick with Adrialdalen, she will teach you the fine art of the Pun....
Q, you charm the bees out of the hives...
i love that feeling you described. magically tuned in with nature, lady.
It is truly something else. Paul and I had a long talk about it today, as Bees were a Deadly Fear of mine before I started tending them.
There is something about facing what you fear most that makes you stronger, and more able to deal wtih other things and fears, it's like, the worst was there and did not happen.
Not only that, but sometimes what you fear most, is what you end up loving the most. That which does not kill us makes us stronger....
How do Bees fly furtively?
Ensconcing themselves in black trench coats, with mini fedoras low on their eyes and they go around whistling nonchalantly.
OR
They do the Jedi thing and tell you that you think they are normal bees and they just can go about their business.
That's exactly it! They do tho....It's like they all know everything and have this complex communication thing going on.
I am still not sure about the whole stealth flying thing, tho the old beekeepers do tell.....
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