Garden Geekery

I don’t really have a lot of time at the moment, but I just had to write this post. (Have to let my heart rate come back down, anyway.) I’m extracting a bunch more honey this weekend, and I just got in from clearing the supers of bees and taking them off the hives.

I have never been so thankful for my bee suit.

This was the first time I was actually a little freaked out by all the bees trying to kill me. I used the Bee Quick method, just like a did a couple of weeks ago. I don’t know if the weather was different, or it was just because I was in the bee yard longer, or something else, but they were crazy mad. Both hives, tons of bees.

It didn’t even freak me out when I accidentally instigated robbing a couple of seasons ago. Then, the bees were crazy, but they were mainly looking for food and attacking each other. This time they were ALL AFTER ME.

I REALLY wish I had set the camera up. I didn’t, because I figured watching me carry boxes around would be boring. It wasn’t. Though I would have had to edit out all the freaked-out swearing.

Lesson learned? I have no idea, because I don’t think I did anything wrong. It’s probably just what I should expect when I’m taking their honey. (Though I’d welcome any thoughts any other beeks have!) I may try the triangle escape board next time, because that way when I go to take the supers off, they should already be mostly empty of bees, so I shouldn’t be disturbing the main colony.