Just got in from moving two hives this morning plus one of the stands now that it had been emptied. One hive was extremely heavy to the point that my son and I had to move it a few feet and then set it down for a few seconds, lift, then continue, but we managed. That particular hive was also PISSED about being moved.
To make matters worse the entire world was covered in a very heavy frost this morning which rendered my usual way of blocking the entrances up on the hive we were moving almost impossible. The tape wouldn't stick. We had just got the first hive set in place when one lone bee escaped somehow and took off after us. She didn't even make it 20 feet before dying in the cold.
The second trip however was really exciting.
The cloud cover we have had for the last few days was gone and although the temps still haven't climbed out of the upper 20's the sun was warming the hives up. We set the second hive in place next to the first one and began taking the moving frame off when my son stepped right in front of the first hive we had moved. He was instantly attacked by about a dozen guard bees. No we weren't wearing veils either. He made a "Bee-line" for the truck and jumped in without getting stung but when I jumped in after him he quickly discovered he had a passenger that had stowed away between the hood on his jacket and the watch cap he was wearing.
This is why I been insisting we move the hives at dawn before the sun or the temps get far enough up to get the girls moving. My son learned a valuable lesson that I had told him over and over but he forgot.
Don't step in front of a pissed off hive.
I have to admit though the boy has really stepped up to the plate on this move. Every morning before dawn I am getting him up and we are moving bee hives in the 20 degree temps and until today fairly cold winds. Not one complaint or grumble about it either and I have noticed a definite increase in his strength and stamina too. I couldn't have done this move without his help under these conditions.
At this point I need to go down and level out one more three hive stand and then move the last two hives tomorrow morning. I am going to wait until this afternoon to venture back down there though and give that angry hive some time to cool down. I lifted the last remaining hives a bit and one was really light while one was a bit on the heavy side so the advantage of this move is I now know which hives I need to feed on the next warm day we get. The verdict still isn't in if the first four we moved are even still alive or if we did some damage jostling them around.
I guess we will soon see.
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Never a dull moment, eh? Glad to hear that your son is stepping up - that's always a rewarding time for parents.
ReplyDeleteRP - He has always been a good kid but was never as active as I would have liked him to be. He was always a reader and a computer geek which I know he comes by naturally but it really cut into a lot of manual labor I should have been making him do. Just different times I guess but lately he has been working out and getting his strength up. Of course you have to realize my opinion of strength is a bit different than normal people's it seems these days. I think nothing about grabbing huge logs and carrying them around and people stop by and ask how I moved the thing. My dad was the same way so it never really dawned on me that most people just refuse to pick heavy things up until I had to find help.
DeleteHow old is your son? I don't think my girls would have helped without complaining the entire time! We have a bee company less than a 1/4 mile away, and they raided our first try at bees and we lost them all. At this point I don't think any new hive we bring in would make it against their numbers. They have thousands of hives that they split and sell. On a positive note, I don't have to worry about pollinating.
ReplyDeleteIzzy - He's 20 and suffering from the same problems I had around here. Too remote for there to be much to offer job-wise, too smart for his own good and too White for any kind of help getting the good positions. Piddly jobs aren't a problem but he doesn't even have the out I took at his age. I joined the army. He tried and passed all the tests but then they told him since he was homeschooled he was required to take two semesters of college. So that's what he is doing now despite the fact I think it's a waste of money.
DeleteI'm pretty sure there are many times I didn't want to help my dad on the farm (5 o'clock on market day mornings for one) but it instilled a good work effic in me and for that I'll always be grateful. If the army won't have him how about getting a trade. If he's smart he'll go far and might love it like I do.
ReplyDeleteI tried to steer him into going to trade school to become an electrician but he just wasn't interested. There is time yet though unless things all fall apart and then it won't matter as much.
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