Run Sheet
00/04/25
Few things in this world are better than starting new beehives.
Yesterday I took delivery of three new "Nukes" of bees. A "Nuke" is short for a "Nucleus" which is a started hive. It's got a laying queen and about four pounds of bees and capped brood. It's a small hive ready to get working.
The nukes come in cardboard boxes with their lids duct tpaed on, and a scree in the top where the bees are clearly visible, but can't escape.
I recieved the bees late in the evening so I left them on the deck at the back of my house just outside my back door under the roof in case it rained. I was going to put them in their hives the today when I got home from work.
Well i got home from work today, and my sister in law and her family were here. My sister in law is a nice gal, but a bit ditzy. I couldn't spend time being a gracious hostas the bees needed to be put in their hives right away. I got to work assembling all the materials and getting things set up for the transfer. It's a pretty easy thing to do, but, like any job, everything needs to be set up first.
I finally finished setting up and came upon the deck to get the boxes. My oldest boy was standing there and I handed him one. My kids aren't particularly afraid of bees, they're pretty much a fact of life around here, so we don't really think much of them. My sister in law came out the back door just as I handed the first box to My son, the boxes are about four times larger than a shoebox, and weigh about ten pounds. I grabbed the second box and asked Janie to grab the third. She happily grabbed it and I turned around and started to walk out to the back yard.
The next thing I knew there was this keening wail from behind me. I turned around wondering what the problem was...
"BryaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANTTTTTTTTTT!!!
Janie stood there white as a sheet holding the box and staring fixedly at the buzzing mass behind the screen on the box top. Her wail rose and fell like a siren as she held the box as far from her body as she possibly could, and danced from one leg to the other while screaming.
AAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
I guess perhaps bees aren't a normal part of everyone else's life.
To her credit she didn't drop the box, I came over and took it from her hands. (actually the buzz they were giving off was that of a prety happy colony)
She ran off into the house screeching and waving her hands around, she was pretty upset for the rest of the evening. I honestly hadn't given it any thought, I guess its all a matter of what you're used to.
Bees aren't particularly dangerous, they might sting you if you behave foolishly around their hives, or if you wave your hands at them while they're flying around you. Other than that they're pretty benign.
Anyway, Janie has a way to go before
she believes any of that.