Installing the Bee's Part 2

PATIENCE IS TRULY A BLESSING AND A MIRACLE

So there we stood..........side by side........hive tools strewn all around us.........the smoker lying in the grass still billowing  smoke......... some dead bee's near our feet......the ones who "took it for the team." Sadness filled us..............but I was not defeated. I made good my inner promise to think positive. "She'll come back." I told Donna. "Don't give up, we'll just keep a good eye out for her and give this some time......." barely did the words leave my lips and Donna cried out with such excitement. " I think I see the Queen!! Look, look on the concrete block holding up the hive." Well, I'll be damned. There she was sitting statue still as her "attendants" crooned and groomed and gushed over her. It was almost too good to be true...........but prayer takes you to places you never thought you would be. So I just don't question its beauty anymore.

We were beyond giddy with relief and a joy that filled us from the inside out and then back in again. It was an amazing feeling!

Donna was on it this time. I don't think she wanted to take any  more chances giving me too much space. "Get the marker! Hurry, get the marker! I stooped over and grabbed the green bee pen from my box and then quickly colored her ............she was a beauty,  florescent green wings and all.

I tried to pick her up.......ever so gently............but she just kept moving.........quickly.........avoiding my fingers at every turn.  I was afraid I might crush her if I pressed it any longer. Finally I picked up the queen cage and believe this or not, after 2 or three tries......she just waltzed back in. Another amazing!

We were rolling along so nicely now. The queen was marked, in her cage and we plugged up the end with a marshmallow.  The queen will start eating her way out from one side, while the  house bees start eating their way towards her at the other. We lower her cage into the hive now full of all the bees. During these three days they will continue their acclamation process. And when the queen is finally released..............she will start laying the eggs..............and the magic begins. Before you pick up your box of bee's, the Queen has  already completed her "maiden flight." This is the only time she is every outside the hive. She  takes off and finds a male or males................fills her baskets up with a lifetime of sperm............and back to the hive she goes................and begins her 5-6 reining years of doing nothing but laying eggs.

We fed them sugar water, put the hive back together again, and walked away......tired but  happy.  In our way, we had just made the world a little better. It wasn't a huge thing.......it wasn't a small thing............but it was something.

It was after 5..............we were hungry.....and so drove down to the old Paxton Grille and had a nice dinner. We were still shaking our heads............unable to end the mystery of the extra four bees in the queens cage.

When we pulled back into Grailville we spotted Mary Lu........her hands holding a basket full of herbs and onions. Mary Lu is my bee mentor and a long time resistance at Grailville. Being a grail member, she works the land, teaches classes on permaculture and works the few hives on the property. He duties, accomplishments and teachings reach beyond all that. She lives a simple life by choice and the love she has  shines in her merry little face.

Donna stopped the car..................Mary Lu was heading for home after her gardening class, and she was excited and anxious to hear how we did. I immediately repeated the story. She grew very still, and with a look of utter disbelief she spoke softly, "those 4 bees were her attendants. The queen cannot live without them. Did you kill them?". Ok............that  hideous, jaw dropping awareness hit me hard....very, very hard. I had intentionally destroyed ( I will not use the word kill) an innocent little bee that gave up his life for his queen. I was a slug once again.

In defense, I told Mary Lu that I had to, as the bee wouldn't let me have the queen. Her eyes deadlocked with mine, "She was protecting the queen from YOU.

Imagine that.................

We planned to meet later to further discuss our beekeeping techniques and the things that went well, and those that went didn't. We all sat on the veranda of the old Victorian house and talked.......and laughed...........our smiles wide and full of mirth as a gentle rain began to fall.

We planned to meet the next afternoon. I asked Mary Lu to check the hive and make sure we were in good shape. She starting teaching and we started learning..............the  queen is safe and snug inside the dark warm hive. They had even started building comb!

What a day it has been...........full of disappointments and wonderful, magical surprises.

I eagerly await my next visit. I will be all alone this time. 

I feel ready.

So much to learn..............but I know the bee's will be the greatest teachers ever!

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Installing the Bee's (Part 1)

P1010653           Are you adding a note or a person?

 A LESSON IN HUMILITY

I labored over how to tell the tale of the bee installation. The truth wasn't going to be pretty and neat......overly impressive.....nor  pleasant and sweet to admit. So omission was a serious consideration...........well OK, not a serious consideration................but I had toyed with the idea of embellishment of some sort for damage control. After-all I had thought myself quite prepared for this moment.............you know ...where the rubber meets the road of life. There is no more book help....no more Mary Lu holding my hand........just sheer guts..... a strong belief, a steadfast resolve, and Donna yelling "You can do this Renee,...........cause if you don't I will!"..... just as my hand dived into a box full of 10,000 bee's to rescue the queen.

But before I begin....without a proper introduction of "the queen bee", concepts could be lost that are crucial to my story. The queen is the heartbeat of the hive....without her the worker bees' could not survive. The queen is incapable of taking care of herself and so she needs an entourage of sorts.......her "attendants". They groom her....feed her.........care for her in every way in order for her existence to be productive. At her best she is capable of laying 1500 eggs a day. Without her attendants she would surely die.

That being said, I pick up  my bee journal and  write:

 April 23, 2010

---Installing the bee's

Donna came into town to hep me install my first colony. The temps were cool (in the low 50"s). Misty rain, but not the downpour they had predicted.

What a time we had.

We lit our smoker....the smell of it was warm and woodsy and put us in a wonderful frame of mine as we then put our gear on (jacket,veil, gloves, elastic around the cuffs of our pant legs). We were ready....more than excited.........and full of a mixture of concern and apprehension.

I pried the top off the cover of the box of bees with Greg's pliers.....keeping my hand pressed hard against its surface as not to dislodge the them. Finally the top is  loose.....OMG!!   I don't know what to expect.....are they all going to fly in my face........or is the feed can blocking their exist to freedom. The Queen is safe inside a cage of her very own inside the box. She has to be slowly introduced to the hive in this fashion....or they could kill her. So I began lifting the feeder can.....little by little......a sigh of relief as I see it is taking up the entire circumstance of the opening. As instructed, I needed  to lift it up one inch , as Donna was to pull the tap the queen cage was attached to.   Which she did.......with more vigor then either of us had anticipated. Since the tab was connected to her suspended cage within the bee box, she fell to the floor and I had to go after her! EEEH!  I was consumed with dread...."I don't think I can do this, Donna"...(I really needed some encouragement .....fast!) and she yells back " You can do this Renee"................then she added............"cause if you don't, I will!" The hell she would.

Thousands upon thousands of bee's filled the air around us. A tempest of tiny winged creatures upset at the aggressive handling they had endured. My hand dove into the hive and pulled the queens cage out.........very carefully...........we smoked them again, our hopes to calm them bought us extra time. And I cried out......"I got her!"  Donna peered inside her cage and discovered our greatest fear..........there were four other bee's in the cage with her!!!! Might they kill her, we thought. Donna was sure of it and I just didn't know what  to think or do. This wasn't covered in bee school..........this wasn't in my damn books........this wasn't even in any discussions I have had with other beekeepers. How in God's name could those bees have gotten in there with her.

We were in a full fledged panic!

We had to make a decision and quickly..........time was not on our side. Convinced with the notion that those four bees would sting her to death, we made the decision to separate her from them. But how? We tried prying the other bees away from her. They were having none of it. They would not allow us near their queen. And so the decision was made...........we would have to destroy the four worker bees for the good of the entire hive. It went against everything I had been trained to do. I was heartbroken as I used my tiny screw driver and made fast work of destroying worker bee #1. I felt sick inside.........Donna was still in shock and I was working feverishly to get the other three bees out of the way. I didn't have the stomach to kill them. And that is when the queen took flight. I could not believe my eyes.........out she flew......she was gone.......out there all defenseless and my hive was now queen less!

I could barely look Donna in the eyes. She just kept repeating, "I told you not to do that...it was a no brainer...." I felt lower than a slug. Beside myself....what could I do to buy back those last 2 minutes? How could I have allowed such a thing to happen. But sadly and tragically enough, the deed was done.

The queen was out of the hive..........on her own.......with nary a bee for protection. And we were helpless to do anything but hope................ Then Donna's voice filled me with guilt. "I told you that would happen. That was a no brainer....why didn't you listen to me." The look on her face was filled with disdain, disappointment, and shock. She could barely accept what my actions had caused. Thankfully, the one thing she did not say was "I traveled 2000  miles to watch you let the queen escape!!!  I didn't know where to go with the guilt that was filling me up. My heart was down around my bee boots, and I felt as helpless as the poor queen that was left defenseless.

I took a deep breath.......OK, I reasoned....what is done is done.......I can only move forward and I must not allow regret to keep me paralyzed. I said a short prayer.............and then it came....the answer..........."relax, trust Me...Everything is going to work out....step out of the past and use your inner resources." And then I felt the shift. Everything really would be OK. I could feel it deep inside. I just didn't know how but I did trust my inner voice. And it was without error...this I knew.......my anguish gave way to promise and faith. And yes.......I was rewarded.

Then Donna cried out again, "I told you that would happen." I swear, her disappointment was shattering my already shredded heart. My ego rose up swiftly, you would have thought this was HER queen....Her hive!.

And in that single moment it became very clear.....this was her queen....her hive. She had lived through every bit of the past 2 years  of my retelling her my adventures with the bees. She was totally vested in this project. Had traveled thousand of miles. She was as caught up as I, in her love for the them. The bees were in her heart and in her spirit. And now she had lost the queen and possibly the hive.

I felt sick. I just kept apologizing over and over, "I'm so sorry Donna,,,,,,,I am so sorry that I lost the queen.

But it was MY queen too, I kept reasoning. Then again, that tiny voice inside that never lies reared its head. "It was as much her queen as it was yours......maybe more........... we'll never know.  Little did we know that mother earth was on our side and we were about to get another chance to rescue the Queen.

To be continued.

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The House of Joy

The House of Joy is where Donna and I will be spending Friday night. The bee's will be installed on Friday. I have not named the hive yet? Any idea's?

This beautiful Victorian home sits on the property and is amazing. If anyone ever gets the opportunity to visit,  it is a place you will not soon forget. Amazing and wonderful artifacts and furnishing. My bee's will be so happy on the property.

.....................about Donna..................

Are you adding a note or a person?

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Are you adding a note or a person?

  Have you ever met anyone in your life where it was almost "love at first sight." That is how it was for me when I met Donna. I think of myself as different yet not peculiar. My taste in friendship leans  towards merriment, diversion, joviality, tomfoolery  buffoonery, high spiritedness and  compassion. She could only be described as joyful, charming, cheery, witty and full of a deeply intense spirit  that lights up her being. The kind of spirit most people would find intoxicatingly impressionable. A more benevolent individual I have yet to meet. 

She is well read in the metaphysical, bible, and more books on spirituality than  ALL the books I  own! She is an enthusiast......................a naturalist.............. survivalist.............a humanitarion and like me "bout as crazy as they come".

I'm not sure I really appreciated laughter at its purest form, until I knocked on her door just days after her Mother's passing. She was in mourning...............and I was in love with her spirit.

Within days of meeting we were inseperable. 

Donna spent over 30 years working for Delta.................and has lived in California for about 40 years. Her Mom lived next door to me. For 15 years Donna would visit her Mom 2-3 times a year...........and we talked only once or twice in all that time. She appeared elegant, worldly and professional........but so intensely warm.

Her Mom dying so suddenly brought her to Cincinnati, along with her sister Carol. Their job for the next 8 months would be to settle the estate and sell the house. The two sisters had an often troubled history,....................and so living together again............making decision upon decision.......agreeing........disagreeing................tempers flared ...................grief and love united.

And in between it all we danced..........around Carol...........around Greg..........around life..............and had the times of our lives. Partied in Over the Rhine..................took a taxi home at 2:00am because DONNA wouldn't leave.................claimed she was going till the good times ran dry........................ugh! I begged, then pleaded..................then I gave up..........for a while.........and then I called a Taxi and forced her to come. No small task that. If only, if only I had known her as I do now!

Went to Oktoberfest at the Madeira Inn................we walked there  ( only a few minutes from home) and Donna has to pee............so no, we can't stop somewhere like a store.......she has to go now!.............in the bushes!! and laughed and laughed and laughed.....................a true naturalist. We never did anything extraordinary by the measure of most. And yet we shared the most extraordinary thoughts and insights and love of great spiritual books. She was my teacher..................and the love she brought into my life was one of the realest things I have experienced.

We laughed harder at her kitchen table than I can ever remember laughing in my life. We were just high on each other's company. And have been ever since.

On Thursday..................She's coming to visit and help me put my bees into the hive.

I wait impatiently till then.