So last Thursday night, May 26, a beekeeper acquaintance Steve came by in his borrowed pick up truck and took away my babies. It was the right decision. But that doesn't mean I'm happy about it. Steve reported a few days later that his little kids were being chased around his back yard by my mean girls. He has 2 other hives that have never bothered his kids, so I guess it's fair to say I DID have a slightly aggressive hive.
I concluded that they had to leave my house when both Doug and I found that we couldn't do much of anything in the back yard during the afternoon, especially the late afternoon. It was one thing for me to abandon outdoor activities in deference to the bees, but it was another to ask Doug to do the same. Plus, for the entire summer I would be worrying anytime a friend was in our back yard. I could no longer say "oh don't worry about the bees, they won't bother you."
Steve believes the hive doesn't have a queen (which maybe explains the bees' aggressiveness???), but now that's his problem not mine, and I confess to being happy that it's not my problem. I'm not sure I'm done with beekeeping. But I'm definitely not doing anything this summer...maybe next spring I'll revisit the situation. Or maybe I'll find some place nearby where an owner will let me keep a hive -- a church, a house with a very large yard, a nursing home -- and I can still be the primary beekeeper and visit often.
Meanwhile, I'm told that the lingerers won't stay longer than a week after the hive was removed, so that gives these girls 2 more days before I expect them to fly away. Or will they? I read that burning incense, lots and lots of incense, will drive them off. I need Joss Sticks. Plenty of Asian markets in this area. I'll search them out if the girls don't leave soon.
Boo hoo.
5 comments:
I'm so sorry! One of our two hives was always more aggressive than the other, but they seem to have switched places from last year to this. Their aggression seems (so far) to when we're mucking about with the top off.
I'm so sorry! :(
Oh bummer. I'm sorry they didn't work out for you.
Well, I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak, about the bee situation. And I'm feeling sad for you. Your photos of bees being driven away in the red pick-up were just a little heart wrenching for me. And the "lost souls"--oh! I hope they move on soon. After all, out of sight, out of mind.
I completely understand the need to be able to work in the yard--especially at this time of year. And did I see that Doug has been creating more screens for the yard on his blog? (Sorry. That sentence is clumsy, isn't it?) The yard looks like a completely different place than when I saw it in March--but, of course, it would!
I applaud your thoughts about finding another place to keep your hive(s) in the future--but I spit out my coffee when you mentioned a nursing home.
Pam, this is my first time reading about your aggressive bees and thought I would pass on some info that we learned in class that I thought might be helpful for the future if you didn't already know and wanted to try again. When a hive is nasty apparently you can pinch your queen and introduce a new one into the hive. A great docile variety are carniolans.
If we couldn't work in the yard our bees would have to go too. We love gardening too much.
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