rescuing the beehives - Laura Foster Nicholson

Another day that makes me think that it might be smart to start building an ark. Instead I wound a warp and spent a wet afternoon dip-dying it, then got wetter inspecting my various basements and making sure the sump pumps were working. Rain kept pouring down all day, so at the end of the day I went over to my old house to check the beehives, as Ben is out of town and I am worried about those bees. Yesterday the water had been approaching them (The land they are on is five feet higher than the level of the field they sit next to) and water was lapping at the bases. The brood (eggs) are usually in the lower chamber so if the hives flooded even a little it, the next generation would have no chance.

I found a very strong man to move them to higher ground. He was amazing, and like a gentle giant lifted each heavy hive off its base and relocated it to the new area. It was too wet for many bees even to bother coming out under all this commotion, but some did. I got stung only once and Steve, who performed all of this gloveless even though I insisted he wear a veil to protect his face, caught only one sting. He isa natural with them.

Here are the before & after photos – -we finished up just before nightfall.

3 thoughts on “rescuing the beehives”

Lynn May 3, 2011 at 10:40 am

Reminds me of the story about the man who walked along the beach, tossing stranded starfish out into the ocean. [“Made a difference to *that* one.”] Thank you for thinking of the bees.
Anonymous May 3, 2011 at 4:25 pm

Yeah for the bees. Aren’t you glad we live in a nice helpful town?

Candy
LFN Textiles May 4, 2011 at 1:05 am

Happy to report that the sun was out today and the bees were happily buzzing around their hives.

Comments are closed.