Holy Bees, Batman!
It was a hot, muggy day. The high was forecast to be 29 degrees centigrade but felt like 34 degrees. A thunder storm was supposed to come that evening. I had just finished an interview at work when a text from Bill arrived..."Your bees are swarming!" This was a surprise since I thought I had done what I needed to do to avoid that. An amazing video was attached to this text. The sky was filled with flying bees.
If you think that all Bill does is watch the bees, let me explain that Bill is a metal sculptor and his shop is on our property. (sometimes I think I should just hand over my bee suit since he has much more opportunity to work with them than I do...sigh)
As soon as I could, I called Bill to find out what was going on. He was very excited. Hippolyta had landed in the cedar tree next door. Happily, our neighbour loves the bees though that many bees has to be disconcerting to the most bee-friendly of people. Take pictures, I said!
I immediately called the President of the Beekeepers Association and left a message with his wife. He was in his own beeyard at the time. When he called Bill and found out that the swarm were high up in a cedar he said that they were probably not retrievable and we should accept that they were leaving. I came home as soon as I could and got to see the huge ball of bees in the cedar.
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| Bees in the our neighbours cedar tree |
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| Close up of the ball of bees in cedar tree |
I wasn't going to let them go without a fight so we decided to set up a bait hive to see if we could entice them back. I bought some lemon grass and put a bunch of it on top, in front and inside the hive. I know it was a long shot but why not?
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| Bait hive on stump facing cedar tree |
I then sat in the garden armed with camera, binoculars, my phone and snacks. I was ready but I didn't reckon with the heat. It was so hot I retreated into the house. Of course, soon after I left, I heard my neighbour yelling. The bees were on the move. The sky was black with bees flying over our house. The roar they produced was awesome...like a plane right over my head. It was so extraordinary. I followed them as they flew towards the rail yard. So fast! They then headed into a small wooded area and disappeared. It was all over in a couple of minutes and I had no camera. It was epic. It was spectacular. It was humbling.
Hippolyta and Queen Elizabeth I are happily buzzing away now as if nothing had happened. Now I must go in to see how they are doing.
Nature is amazing.
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