The year 2016 is manifesting a few visions I've had for the past couple of years. I spend a lot of time in my head with things before I act on them. I've got that whole 'responsibility' thing as my number one strength, so I have to be sure that I have the ability to follow through on any commitment I make. This year it seems that four or five of my major ideas are coming together and happening all within a 30 day time period. I didn't necessarily plan it that way, but here I am. I've been wanting to get back to writing so I thought, why not do a few blog posts on these new happenings in my life. Though who knows if I will have time to actually write anything once I have all these added responsibilities...
First up is adding a new beehive to the garden. This time one that Chris and I are 100% responsible for, not just acting as surrogate parents. We had a hive here in 2014, but I didn't have the honor of setting up their home as I did this year. After a brutal winter, I was devastated to learn that the hive we had on our property didn't survive. I wasn't ready to invest myself into beekeeping last year, but this year we took on the challenge to be parents to what will be close to 100,000 bees at the peak of the summer. I suppose the loss of that first hive was a motivator. We've gotten books and taken classes, working together to ensure we are setting this hive up to be as strong as it can be.
I've been sharing my new found bee knowledge with my friends and it seems they were intrigued enough that they wanted to make an event out of our honeybees' homecoming. So Friday May 20th was Bee Day! We took the day off of work, stocked the fridge with awesome beer and setup the BBQ. In honor of the Queen, Ashley even rocked a tiara.
Our package was 1 of 600 boxes of bees that made the 19 hour drive from Georgia and landed in Vermont about an hour south of our home. There were 14,000 little girls (mostly) and a Queen that needed to be in the hive by 6:00 to ensure the best rate of survival. So Friday afternoon we headed south, attended a quick workshop on how to install the bees in their hive and picked up our box from the transport truck. Riding in a car with thousands of little creatures at my feet was a pretty awesome experience, though my border collie was less than impressed with the buzzing addition to our car ride.
When my girlfriends said they wanted to make an event out of this, I thought it was a bit silly, but I am always up for any excuse to have a party. There will never be another evening like this, when seven of us and our dogs got to experience the magic of a hive homecoming for the very first time together. It was epic, unforgettable, bonding and beautiful.
Erin caught most of the installation on video, which was essentially what I thought it would be ~ open box, dump bees, close lid. I didn't envision what would happen next...
The air changed, magic surrounded us and we were all mesmerized. We barely spoke to one another, bees were everywhere and we were all mostly talking to them. Erin tended to the dying, Sonya's purple do gave them hope for pollen and Ashley watched closely as they choreographed their waggle dance.
They hovered in front of the hive, studying the colors and shape so they knew where they needed to return after foraging. Some went right for the sugar water food, other set to work on the frames and the adventurous ones hit up the dandelions right off the bat. They were so happy to be free from their box and the buzzing that surrounded my friends and I was so calming. They were home!
With facial recognition being another part of their acclimation process, there was more than one joke made that these southern belles must have thought they landed in Utah and got themselves four mommies.
Many didn't make it through the trip and others died shortly after release. I guess the excitement of it all was just too much for some of them. I'll never forget the image of a bee who laid on her back in Erin's palm waving her tiny leg in the air as if to say goodbye. Another little girl mistook Sonya's hair for a flower and tried to forage her scalp.
We were covered in bee poop and couldn't be happier about it. We stayed with the hive until the very last bee had left the box and found her way home; it was just before sunset and they finally settled in for the night. As we walked away from the hive and towards the house for dinner, Ashley said to me "It's so quiet, I already miss the buzzing."
We closed the night out with a heartfelt conversation about the qualities of meaningful friendship. A magical evening indeed, like a "little furry fairy festival" as Ashley coined it. I'm a bee mom again and this time they're all my responsibility. Welcome home girls!
