My Bee Adventure
About two weeks ago I was out in the yard playing with John & Sarah when I noticed something odd in the middle of one of the trees. So I walked over to take a look.
As I walked closer I realized that my tree was alive! And I didn't want to get any closer to all of those bees! Not knowing much about bees I thought they were going to take up permanent residence in my tree. And needless to say I did not want bees living in my tree, could you imagine what would happen if the kids accidentally hit the tree with a ball while they were playing?
I did the first thing that popped into my mind, call our county extension office. Surely they would know what to do or know someone who would. An hour or so later I received a call from a local bee keeper asking me about my "swarm" of bees. He said he would be over as soon as he could to get them. He was was happy to come and rescue me and my tree.
The kids were taking a nap when the beekeeper arrived, so I showed him the tree and was going to leave him to do his work. But he encouraged me to stay and watch, and I am so glad I did. He has been a beekeeper for 31 years and was so good to explain what he was doing and answer all of my questions.
Here is he getting the new hive ready. He said my swarm probably had about 3,000 bees in it, and that they would soon learn my tree would not make a suitable home and in a day or so would be on there way to find a home. I guess I called at a good time.
He poured a solution of honey water all over the bees, lit a "smoker", gave the branch a quick shake and they were out of the tree.
I asked him, "How do you get the bees to stay in the new hive?" His simple response, "The bees will go where ever their queen goes." He saw that she was in the hive so there was nothing to worry about. It was just a matter of a few minutes before the bees would find there way in and stay there. He said if the queen had not fallen in, the bees would have gone back up in the tree to be with her.
Hmm! So many parallels to draw to life. Who do I follow? Am I such an obedient servant? How do I get my kids to follow with such exactness?
Perhaps I need another swarm to come to visit my trees so I can learn more lessons from the beekeeper.
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