It Was My Own Damn Fault.

 

Thank you to Brushy Mountain Bee Farm for the Master Beekeeper Suit image.

Some of the best stories begin with, "It was my own damn fault."

For a beekeeper ("beek" for short) this time of year can be wildly uncertain.  One day it's 85 degrees and sunny - then overnight cold winds come down from Canada dumping snow in the mountains and rain on the lower levels.  The hives have been quiet over the winter months but now they are beginning to ramp up along with the blossoms.  Swarms will begin soon as the stronger colonies outgrow their homes and look for roomier digs.  We wait and watch.

My plan was just to tend the bee-yard: weed around the hives and add oil to the paint cans that hold the frame stand legs to keep out the ants.  It was too cool to get into the hives. At about mid-40's Fahrenheit the scout bees go out looking for nourishment.  At about the mid-50's range more foragers go out.  And by the time the mid to high 60's hit the foragers can be in full flight swing. 

But beeks ideally need a day that's in the sunny 70s with no breeze so the colony does not get chilled when you go inside the hive box.  Even when you get good weather, take care.  If the previous days have been cool and cloudy (as ours were), the bees can be as cranky as toddlers penned up without TIVO.

There's a small gap where my beesuit zippers to the veil.  Just enough for a honeybee body to get through if she's looking.  Then she and I are trapped in there together.  With more of the colony swarming around it's a good idea to just walk away until they lose interest in me - but there is still the matter of getting to the honeybee (or bees) who are inside.  And taking off the veil is not an option.  Having learned my lesson the hard way I slap a small piece of duct tape over the hole when I plan to work the hives. 

This is where I get to: "It was my own damn fault." This day I broke all my own rules:  I left off the piece of duct tape to cover the gap.  I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to quickly work one hive.  I did not fire up my smoker ahead of time.  I don't like using one but it's a nice idea to have it lit and ready in case you want to calm cranky bees.  The weather was not the best.  The bees were cranky.  And they let me know it.

I can't blame them that a few facial stings later I look like a Shar-pei with mumps.  It was my own damn fault.

TIPS: The price of experience: Be prepared.

If you are going to court, be prepared.

If you are going to the hospital, be prepared.

 If you are making a meal, be prepared.

And when you screw up because you were not prepared, the responsible thing to do is admit it, make apologies or mea culpas (if needed) and move on.  Life is short and sweet as honey.