One of my Sunday paper route customers was
Albert Greenslaw. His home near the Post Office had a back yard filled
with bee hives. On a particularly nice fall day, I was collecting
and noticed activity in the backyard. The smokers were going, the
hive opened and honey being harvested. Of course I was curious.
"The smoke quiets the bees," I'm informed, so I step closer and one bee
didn't get quiet, having just returned from the field with its leg pouches
full. Enraged at what it found, it took aim and hit me just below
the left eye. Several days of suffering later, Albert met me and
commented how well I tolerated the attack.
Well, I was hooked. I studied all I could find, asked questions,
bought a hive, frames, foundation, a hood, a smoker, etc. Put everything
in place in the lower lot, under the plum tree. The queen and her
swarm arrived in the spring at the post office. In response to a
frantic call from Mr. Fraiser, the Postmaster, I arrived and found the
screened box on the back loading dock. No fair! The peeps,
when delivered can be heard throughout the postoffice, inside, protected
from the weather. Perhaps the fact that a number of robber bees were
working the outside of the box may have been a factor...
Got everything up and running. Placed the
box and released the queen on top of the main frames and closed it all
up with an empty super, until the colony was settled. Before harvesting
any honey, I joined the Navy and the hive died out. Now that I know
how to do it, I bet it would succeed next time.
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