This is actually a story written for grandchildren last spring ('o7) but I'm sure we will" enjoy" many deja vou' "days soon, one of our replacement hives and a new queen are scheduled to "arrive" in a week or so.....it. While we do have some spiffy , new mason bee condo's ready to put out....( thanks and hugs to hubby ), I am wondering if they are not doing so well this year...
I had trouble fining any new ones and the ones I did purchase....oh my goodness...I identified with Brer Bear in the Song of the South movie...... a dollar a minuet ...I am makin' a dollar a minuet.....
well who ever was selling these little critters was makin' OVER a dollar an individual critter
and mine did not emerge...I be a takin' my dried up little critters BACK...for a refund, hopefully.
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Boy things have been BUZZ-----ing here on our lil place :-0…….a week ago yesterday while I was doing chores I started to walk under a tree and there was a huge swarm of honey bees hanging on a branch right above my head…..well I dropped my “apple picker” (animal cleanup tool)…..and took off to grab an empty bee box (we have been keeping bees for many years and a tree “lopper” to cut the branch …whole new story as I actually aimed for the cluster to land in to the box, resting on a barrel I’d lugged into the paddock (and I was cutting from a step ladder…in reg clothes I may add…ummm bees in a swarm “generally” are pretty mild…unless you cut their little tree branch and it actually was two branches and thus half of the cluster falls and “misses” the intended castle :-0. Oops and Betty is off and running….
Betty returned with Hals bee suit on.,…..I caught our first hive in an empty small wooden kitchen cabinet about the size of two apple boxes stuck together…(you know one of those “things” you keep on “hand” as you may “need” it. well it did come in “handy” after all J so perhaps there’s future hope for some of the other “stuff” out “there”) anyways we got a “real” hive body and frames from uncle Perry and TA DA we were in the bee “biz” (well perhaps not to well as while we did get honey from that first hive and I may add the best honey we’ve ever tasted bar none…it has been a rather hit and miss honey “venture”. Perhaps living on the river is a bit to chilly?? Or the fact we had a very weird neighboring “farmer????” who sprayed nearly everyday (with a friends crop plane I may add…and even I was covered in “stuff” on occasion, while I worked out side ugh!!!! After informing the “farmer” we had bees and politely asking, that we would like to be notified whenever he was going to spray with some insecticide, our rate of “dusting/spray” seemed to escalate….(he was kind of that “way”…that summer all our bees ended up dead, but I wasn’t able to actually prove from what. That takes quite a bit of work…..) .
Well we kept replacing our poor bees, and so it went for many years, sometimes we got honey some times not….well the last two years we’ve managed to keep a hive going (hmmm our farmer no longer lives around here. well with in bee flight distance, at least…coincidence ?????) Last summer looked like it would “bee” a good year as our new Queen Azalea had built up a sizable “kingdom” , so well that she “flew the castle” taking her little sweet gathering “army” with her. I saw her go…and followed her to a large oak, I tried to capture them but to no avail…poor things, that particular oak fell last winter and of course the whole kingdom drowned during the high “tide”…..I had told the queen that I had a better castle for them but she was rather proud of her little fort. I was sad but then life goes on……
Queen Azaleas successor….queen Ester has done very well and built up an amazing kingdom (well with the help of our sugar syrup during the early spring but she left her kingdom too(the swarm I caught a week ago Fri) We are assuming Queen Ester had done such an amazing job in building up her kingdom as she left it under the guidance of princess buttercup. Princess Buttercup unfortunately also decided to strike out on her own….rather young and inexperienced, her little jaunt didn’t even get off the ground (literally) she had her small army all gathered for “marching” orders about 10 ft in front of the castle…but in the horse paddock . Hal who was filling in for me with “clean up” duty came upon the would be army “mission”. And before they had decided where to go. he promptly put another empty box on top of them.
Hal and Betty had to do a “flying” trip to the “bee” store and get additional frames for Princess Butter cups new castle.,,,while at the “bee” store , Hal bought Betty a very chic bee “outfit” for her up coming birthday …um Hal’s didn’t fit her well and oh my goodness Betty found it is quite exciting to have “someone” find their way into your “outfit” . Anyone want to learn a new version of the momba,cha cha cha and twist with a bit of Indian rain dance thrown in???(Betty just invented one), although, Betty didn’t do any war hoops(the kind Hal has added on similar “adventures” ) or as she has done when “venturing” into the electric fence, that was “off??”. It is no wonder that the neighbors dogs like to come to the fence at the top of the hill and watch her as she does chores…it is very entertaining, beats the day to day routine of looking for lost bones.
Betty must add, it is quite the experience to “bee” in the middle of a kingdom of bees, even while inside a very chic bee outfit…who needs any of the common “thrilling daredevil adventures?” I say put some of those teenagers inside a bee suit, stick ‘em in the middle of a swarm of bees and most likely they would have had enough excitement to last and calm their hormones down for at least a month J..
Our bee “kingdoms” now include Queen Ester, Queen Abigail, Mary Queen of Scotts, Mary Queen of honey pots and Princess Buttercup, may their little kingdoms prosper and may sweetness “rule” .
I had trouble fining any new ones and the ones I did purchase....oh my goodness...I identified with Brer Bear in the Song of the South movie...... a dollar a minuet ...I am makin' a dollar a minuet.....
well who ever was selling these little critters was makin' OVER a dollar an individual critter
and mine did not emerge...I be a takin' my dried up little critters BACK...for a refund, hopefully.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boy things have been BUZZ-----ing here on our lil place :-0…….a week ago yesterday while I was doing chores I started to walk under a tree and there was a huge swarm of honey bees hanging on a branch right above my head…..well I dropped my “apple picker” (animal cleanup tool)…..and took off to grab an empty bee box (we have been keeping bees for many years and a tree “lopper” to cut the branch …whole new story as I actually aimed for the cluster to land in to the box, resting on a barrel I’d lugged into the paddock (and I was cutting from a step ladder…in reg clothes I may add…ummm bees in a swarm “generally” are pretty mild…unless you cut their little tree branch and it actually was two branches and thus half of the cluster falls and “misses” the intended castle :-0. Oops and Betty is off and running….
Betty returned with Hals bee suit on.,…..I caught our first hive in an empty small wooden kitchen cabinet about the size of two apple boxes stuck together…(you know one of those “things” you keep on “hand” as you may “need” it. well it did come in “handy” after all J so perhaps there’s future hope for some of the other “stuff” out “there”) anyways we got a “real” hive body and frames from uncle Perry and TA DA we were in the bee “biz” (well perhaps not to well as while we did get honey from that first hive and I may add the best honey we’ve ever tasted bar none…it has been a rather hit and miss honey “venture”. Perhaps living on the river is a bit to chilly?? Or the fact we had a very weird neighboring “farmer????” who sprayed nearly everyday (with a friends crop plane I may add…and even I was covered in “stuff” on occasion, while I worked out side ugh!!!! After informing the “farmer” we had bees and politely asking, that we would like to be notified whenever he was going to spray with some insecticide, our rate of “dusting/spray” seemed to escalate….(he was kind of that “way”…that summer all our bees ended up dead, but I wasn’t able to actually prove from what. That takes quite a bit of work…..) .
Well we kept replacing our poor bees, and so it went for many years, sometimes we got honey some times not….well the last two years we’ve managed to keep a hive going (hmmm our farmer no longer lives around here. well with in bee flight distance, at least…coincidence ?????) Last summer looked like it would “bee” a good year as our new Queen Azalea had built up a sizable “kingdom” , so well that she “flew the castle” taking her little sweet gathering “army” with her. I saw her go…and followed her to a large oak, I tried to capture them but to no avail…poor things, that particular oak fell last winter and of course the whole kingdom drowned during the high “tide”…..I had told the queen that I had a better castle for them but she was rather proud of her little fort. I was sad but then life goes on……
Queen Azaleas successor….queen Ester has done very well and built up an amazing kingdom (well with the help of our sugar syrup during the early spring but she left her kingdom too(the swarm I caught a week ago Fri) We are assuming Queen Ester had done such an amazing job in building up her kingdom as she left it under the guidance of princess buttercup. Princess Buttercup unfortunately also decided to strike out on her own….rather young and inexperienced, her little jaunt didn’t even get off the ground (literally) she had her small army all gathered for “marching” orders about 10 ft in front of the castle…but in the horse paddock . Hal who was filling in for me with “clean up” duty came upon the would be army “mission”. And before they had decided where to go. he promptly put another empty box on top of them.
Hal and Betty had to do a “flying” trip to the “bee” store and get additional frames for Princess Butter cups new castle.,,,while at the “bee” store , Hal bought Betty a very chic bee “outfit” for her up coming birthday …um Hal’s didn’t fit her well and oh my goodness Betty found it is quite exciting to have “someone” find their way into your “outfit” . Anyone want to learn a new version of the momba,cha cha cha and twist with a bit of Indian rain dance thrown in???(Betty just invented one), although, Betty didn’t do any war hoops(the kind Hal has added on similar “adventures” ) or as she has done when “venturing” into the electric fence, that was “off??”. It is no wonder that the neighbors dogs like to come to the fence at the top of the hill and watch her as she does chores…it is very entertaining, beats the day to day routine of looking for lost bones.
Betty must add, it is quite the experience to “bee” in the middle of a kingdom of bees, even while inside a very chic bee outfit…who needs any of the common “thrilling daredevil adventures?” I say put some of those teenagers inside a bee suit, stick ‘em in the middle of a swarm of bees and most likely they would have had enough excitement to last and calm their hormones down for at least a month J..
Our bee “kingdoms” now include Queen Ester, Queen Abigail, Mary Queen of Scotts, Mary Queen of honey pots and Princess Buttercup, may their little kingdoms prosper and may sweetness “rule” .
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