Bob's beekeeping adventures #4

Wahhoooo! Pick up day (Mon 5, 14). So I went out in the afternoon and talked to Eli, who by the way is an awesome guy, and he suggested I come back at dark when all the bees were home chilling out. No problem. Later that night, I went to get my bees. Eli wasn't home but his son was helping me out. He went to get the nuc boxes and close them up. After a short time he came back from the field and said the bees were getting out of a small hole and that they were getting a little bit mad. He had another idea so after grabbing a handful of various and sundry items, he was off again.

After a few more minutes, he came back and was worried because now the bees were really angry and he couldn't get it sealed all the way. He grabbed the second nuc box, which sealed up successfully and we put it in the car. By now we were both scratching our heads wondering what to do. We took off back out to the box. Unintentionally, I used Eli's son as a diversion while I jammed a stick in the tiny hole that the bees were frantically trying to escape from. Success! Now quick to the car!

I read Kristi's blog about treating her bees like a newborn - carefully getting them home safe and sound. Well, I was pretending to be an ambulance driver getting a dying patient to the ER. Yeah....all I could hear back there was the loud buzz of some really ticked off bees. I kept playing scenarios over and over of what I would do if one of those sticks fell out and the bees sought revenge. Man was I glad to get home.

I carried the boxes out to the apiary where I hoped the sound of the crickets and frogs would sooth the mad right out of those little critters. To be continued............