Our Bee Season - Part 2

They LOVE it here! The bee man put up new screening and wedged a piece of wood behind the downspout to keep it tight, and the bees are still swarming! We don't know when they'll be gone.

Pooh. (Click to see the gory details.)

Old Tobacco Ads (and ...)

Click to embiggen. Do you like men in uniform? These guys are cute, I think, and I like that last line ....."Lest We Forget." It has resonance right now!

I like this ad; the man relaxing with his long, clay pipe (called churchwarden), his faithful dog, a light libation and the bee skeps off to the right. I wish my bees were contained like that, instead of hanging to the side of my house.

(Well, it DOES mention a tobacco product!) LOL. I received this in email today and I won't tell who sent it unless she gives the okay. I think it is funny!!

The Last of the Blues but Not the Bees

Since Anna says that Tuesday will be the last of Project Blue, I thought I'd post all I had collected in the last week. The symbol of the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach, VA, and several blue bottles line my dining room windows.

An old mustard pot against cloud wallpaper in my bathroom.


A cobalt bottle I paid $2 for in a junk shop. I love that color!

One of the star designs on a quilt I have. Too bad they aren't all blue!

Graniteware bucket; hanging from the ceiling in my kitchen.

Frog on Blue!! I went out to put the deck umbrella back into the stand and when I moved it off the chair it was leaning against, this frog appeared. He had searched for shade and found it under the closed umbrella. I don't know where he went after I moved it, but there is not much shade to be found when it is 101*. I bet he's happy now that the pool is open! I sure am. The bees are too, since they continually scout for water. I don't think that chlorine will be good for them, but I suppose when it is 101*, you get water wherever you can.

He's so warty!! For more of Project Blue, go see Anna!

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The bees are not cooperating. The bee man put up his contraption weeks ago, and the bees were supposed to adopt the new hive and put their honey into it, instead of the house. But most of the bees are swarmed up against the side of our house, while a few gather honey and put it in the hive. I wonder where the queen is - and whether the honey inside the house is melting? What a drama this has turned out to be!! Stay tuned for further developments, as they occur.

Our Own Bee Season, Part Three

Twice before we have had bees get into our home and make a hive. They have always entered behind the downspout, at the point where the siding meets the brick. Apparently, the original caulking has shrunken and fallen out, allowing them access. The bee man says it only takes a 3/8 " space for them to enter. Both of the previous times, the bees made their hive in between the joists of our bedroom floor and the ceiling of the guest bedroom below. This time, we thought for certain that they would be in the same spot. But guess what? They are not - and they cannot be located yet. There is speculation that they are between the "weather board" and the brick, making it almost impossible to removed them by the usual means (taking up the floor or removing a section of the wall).

The bee man had to put up this wire mesh trap and hive. The theory is that the bees can get out of the house through the funnel, but they can't get back into it, therefore, they will go into the hive and deposit their honey. After all the bees have abandoned our house for the new hive, he will let them back in, and they will remove all the honey from our house and deposit it into the new hive - then he will remove the hive and take them far away from here.

What I am concerned about is what if they don't remove all the honey, or if they decide they want to stay in my house - what then? I am a pretty good hostess, you know, and they might just decide they like it here. That could require a section of the bricks to be removed, in order to find the hive and remaining wax and honey. Oh, the thought of that is mind-boggling (and not in a good way!)

Here is a photo taken slightly closer and below - closer still - as close as I dare to get to it! You can see the bees swarming on the mesh barrier, as well as those inside the funnel. I can assure you that the bees are as mad as hornets about that mesh!! Of course, their queen is still inside, and I suppose I'd be mad too.

This window is one in the guest bedroom. I need to open that window and remove all the ivy, but if you think I am going to do that while bees are swarming no more than 12' away, you are nuts! I could do it from outside, but it is a tight fit, since stairs come down off the deck only 3' from the window. By the time the bees leave here (and pray that they do!), the ivy will have overtaken the window and be growing on the brick above! The bee man says we will have to leave the mesh, funnel and hive in place for about 2 weeks, and by then we will probably be bee free.

If you know anything about this process that might help us, feel free to leave comments.