For the record, tonight's title is not an attempt at making a clever pun about us purchasing a fancy potty. Au contraire, we literally got bees today. Lots of them. Two hives' worth, and two queens. We are in the bee business! Wait, no, not business, not yet. We are in the bee hobby. I sure hope Mr S-P has done more research on how to care for them. I have done none as of yet.
He has a friend who knows a lot more about bees than we do. He came by a few weeks ago to see our hives and hear the plans. I don't know the bargain struck, but the friend showed up this morning with boxes of bees, some new comb plates (someday I will have the proper names for stuff), and a metal tool that helps move things around with reduced risk of stings.
They loaded one hive up that is placed in our north yard, next to an apple tree that is in the early stages of espalier. Then they put bees in the one on the south side of the garage, in the middle of a bunch of mint and raspberry canes. Both places are fenced off away from dogs. I asked the pups all to leave the spicy sky raisins alone. Let's hope they comply.
While we waited for the bees to leave their travel boxes and follow their queens into their new homes, Mr S-P took the kids up to Estes Park to watch their Rotary club's duck races, and I stayed home and worked in the front gardens. I planted several pots and weeded until I could move no more. Occasionally a bee wandered out to say hello, and I greeted each of them warmly and told them we were happy to have them here now.
I hereby dedicate the rest of my gardening life to providing a pollinators paradise. It's the least I can do.
No comments:
Post a Comment