The glorious hive unveiled at last

The glorious hive unveiled at last
Originally uploaded by ladotyk

We finally got our bee hive removed from the column support of our deck, on St. Patrick's day of all days. It's surprising how fond I've grown of our bee friends, and how I've come to admire their tireless work-ethic. We were good neighbors, and we never got in each other's ways. Well, that is until I learned about how wild hives will mature a new queen each spring and send out thousands of bees to form a new colony, which is exactly what prompted us to have them removed early this season. We didn't want to be *those* neighbors. Paul the Bee Boy did an excellent job of dismantling the support to expose the hive within, then using a converted vacuum carefully sucked the bees into a series of wire cages which were used to transport them to a new home. I know this is "all for the best" and yadda yadda, but my backyard is a lonelier place now. I miss seeing the bees fly in and out of their tiny hive hole, coming in for a landing on a set glide path, saddlebags laden with pollen pockets. I miss listening against the column to hear the powerful humming within, a sound which never failed to widen the eyes of friends when they finally deciphered the low-tones of the hive. Good-bye bees, it was lovely while it lasted. Thanks for the honey.