• Tag Archives bees

  • Bee Log: Stardate Day 23

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    Ow. Okay, so it wasn’t the best plan.  I may have exaggerated when mentioning the term “appropriately cautious”.

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    It’s with some authority that I can now state the following:

    1) Bee stings hurt less than getting a tattoo. Of course, getting a tattoo implies that you’re expecting it to hurt on one part of your body, whereas bee sting locations will be entirely artist driven (aka the bees)

    2) Wearing the appropriate footwear will now be required when attempting to correct some hive behavior. While I knew that wearing vans slip ons wasn’t a great idea, it didn’t turn into a really bad idea until I dislodged some propolis that was holding one of the combs to the bottom of the hive – which REALLY seems to make bees angry. My initial plan was to put some sugar water out and then went into, “Well, while I’m here…” To wit, a suit of armor and a pair of flip flops does not good protection make.

    3) Proving the hard way that you are not allergic to bee stings is not recommended. As I clutched my ankle, crushing the bees that had stung me, I wondered if my profuse sweating, impending dizziness and increased heart rate were a sign that this was not only a bad idea, but a TREMENDOUSLY bad idea. As it turns out, bee venom makes you feel “funny”. Too much funny might kill you.

    4) Saturday afternoon bee stings are worthy of a beer. Cheers!


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  • Anti-tour Diary – Day 1

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    Whooo!! My girlfriend just left on  TOUR! I’m going to CAUSE SOME TROUBLE WHILE SHE’S GONE!!

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    Dropped her off at the airport, heading to the house, making some plans for tonight….

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    Yesiree, flying solo. Mmmm-hmmmm!
    Warmed up some shrimp jambalaya, well, I’ll just just check facebook for a minute…..grab a beer….. uh..hey, it’s been almost an hour now.

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    No time for that, time to PAR-TAY!

    Whoops, cats are hungry. Out of cat food. Driving in the rain, whistling at the opportunities that are heading my way. Whoa! Old lady running the checkout is flirting with me! I know I’ve GOT IT. Whooo!!

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    Make it home and feed the cats – well uh-oh. Dishwasher needs to be emptied, suppose I can handle that before the big night out. Ahh, shoot, better hand wash all these delicate items and bamboo cutting boards. You know what would make this better? Another beer! I’m just warmin’ up!

    Harpoon UFO Raspberry Hefeweizen
    Sayyy, didn’t I DVR Mad Men last night? Need to check that out while I’m….uh….folding laundry? Darn it, didn’t I do that already? I need my work clothes to be clean. Well, beer makes it better (again). What do you think, Don?

     

     

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    Check facebook really quick…..darn it, there goes another hour. Wait! A Bee question, I’d better answer this e-mail now –

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    You know what? It’s getting kind of, erm, late.

    Maybe I should get some rest and try this again tomorrow.

     


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  • “We’re this pack of honeybees just working away.” Ray Garcia

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    Gosh what an exhausting day.

    The bees finally showed up. Woo-hoo!

    The brakes of the UPS truck creaked as it glided to a halt. I peeked out the window as the driver walked slowly to the door, holding the box up so he could see the precious cargo. In the middle of a conference call, I answered the door with a headset and laptop in hand.
    “I’ve been delivering packages for about ten years. I’ve delivered live lobsters, but this is the first time I’ve ever delivered bees.”

    Me: “Oh really?”

    This is what he was carrying. As is. Pretty cool, huh? The scary part:  Those bees were mad. Aaaangry. Very irritated.  Hearing about a 1000 angry bees in your home is a little unnerving.

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    As soon as I brought them in, I put down some newspaper and sprayed them with some sugar water.  They immediately calmed down. Holy crap! It worked!

    It was go time.

    I suited up with my army surplus mechanic’s coveralls.  Sure they were green, and the bees could mistake me for a bear, or a bear shaped object and sting me to death. I’d take my chances. I put on my pith helmet and the bee veil and gloves.

    Game time.

    I put on my big boy pants, swallowed my nervousness and grabbed the bees.  I ignored the book, went straight from memory. Pulled the queen out, checked to make sure she was good (she was) and then pinned her to the first bar. The first rush of bees when I pulled the queen and feeding can…..uh…..*gulp*. Since there’s a giant mound of bees, the sugar spray really only gets on the outside of the screen. The bees on the inside were pretty excited.

    Gathered my wits, installed the bees….uh….and I left the feeder inside. D’OH!

    Ran inside with no bees trailing and got the feeder. None of the bees were really in attack mode. I didn’t get stung, I think they were more curious than anything. Pretty interesting.
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    So I’m also supposed to start a bee log.

    So here goes:

    Day 1.
    Installation.

    No comb (obviously)
    Refilled feeder once, they had emptied completely after installation while I was at work
    Weather: 80 degrees, up to 90 during the day on the day of install.
    Blooming: Only noticed dewberry bush in the backyard blooming. All front yard quit blooming about a week and a half ago (during one of the cold snaps) Fruit trees in neighbors yard aren’t doing anything yet.
    Combs: None
    What is in the Combs?: N/A
    Swarming?: N/A
    Queen Issues: None, queen healthy, removed cork, they should be eating away.
    Celebratory Beer after massive adrenaline rush from installation of bees: Revolver Blood and Honey

     


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  • “If you can do a half-assed job of anything, you’re a one-eyed man in a kingdom of the blind.” Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    Have been unbelievably busy lately. Since my last entry, I had the back fence replaced which temporarily turned by backyard into a cat haven. I had no less than five stray cats all asking me for food. I quit feeding even the one cool cat and they’ve all more or less disappeared.

    Since my backyard has somehow become the focus for 2013 (again),  I’m in the middle of trying to build my bat house (finally). I posted the plans [HERE], still trying to figure out if I need vents or not.  Because I’ve become a blogger without a blog (relatively speaking) I didn’t take any pictures, but it took about five hours to score all the boards and my body is about ready to give up on me.

    Bartender! Bartender? Yes, an Old Fashioned please?

    Lastly in other backyard related news, I think I’m about to put a beehive in my yard. Make my own honey, candles, and bee stings.

    Pictures to follow….maybe?


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