Heya crew! A little late in posting the letter, but here ya go. Happy Monday!
Letters from Josh
The Bees’ Knees Letter 77 4/12/22
Howdy, folks! How’s it rollin’ over yonder? (That still doesn’t sound right. One of these days I’ll sound more country…I reckon. Bless my heart.) (People keep saying “bless my heart” to me. I’m worried.) Guess what! The bees have arrived! Sunday afternoon found a fellow named Larry pulling into the driveway with a box ‘o bees…about ten thousand of them, all buzzing in a mysterious symphony. Contrary to being frightening, it was captivating. “Ooo, I like them.” It was off to the bee yard. Two hives awaited, each one a stack of two wooden boxes, resembling outdoor filing cabinets. (Indeed, the frames that the bees build comb on look almost like folders.) We all had our bee jackets and screens on. Larry spritzed the cage with sugar water, opened the lid, and removed the queen bee in her little cage, placing her on a frame. (She’s held captive by a sugar cube that the workers will eat through in time.) My own mother dumped the multitude of the critters out of the box into the hive, and out they tumbled, a hundred or so flying around, but most of them clustering around their queen. Larry pointed out several workers on the front slot of the hive, their “butts” in the air, frantically flapping their wings. “They’re fanning the queen's scent so the other bees can find her.” Surprisingly tame, some buzzed around in the air to orient themselves to their new home…and what a glorious view it was! The hive sits high on a hill, overlooking a creek in the valley, as the field drops away beneath it. It almost makes me want to be a bee. Overjoyed at how nifty this experience was, we all stepped out of the yard, retreated to a safe distance, and started to take off the protective gear. THEN…mom suddenly doubled over. A bee had flown up her nose, came back out, and stung her right on the face. YOUCH! (She’s fine, although it was sore.) We just checked on the hive this afternoon, giving them another pouch of sugar water to snack on. Opening the top, an energetic buzz wafted out, the workers busy as, well…you know. These critters are the COOLEST! I’ll keep you posted. You might place bets on how long it takes me to get stung. (You’ll hear about it.) If all goes well, the colony will increase to 60,000 bees this summer. Now THAT’s the bees’ knees! (360,000 of ‘em, to be precise.) Till next time…stay strong. - Josh