No Choice…
The day following my post,
Where are the Bees,
I discovered two bees
Buzzing in the bathroom
And three more in the kitchen
Buzz, buzz, buzzing at the windows,
Wanting to go outside.
A week or so later I noticed,
Outside in the garden,
A stream of bees coming and going
To and from the airbrick
On the outside bathroom wall.
I kept an eye on the ins and outs
And so life progressed.
Until last Tuesday when I saw
What appeared to be
Millions of bees flying in a frenzy
In the garden outside the bathroom.
They seemed to me
Really upset about something
And so we went inside.
I looked up Bee Removers
In the Yellow Pages
And phoned all the ones
Affiliated to Apiaries
And/or the Department of Agriculture
And with no exception
They all said the only solution
Was extermination.
The bees had built their hive
In the space under the bath
And the Queen could not be removed
Without breaking the wall
And probably the bath.
And so I had no choice
But to carry out their recommendation.
I couldn’t sleep last night
Because now I feel like a murderer!
We know there are far fewer bees,
So why isn’t there a simple solution
Like enticing them out with a scent
Which they find irresistible
And just leaving the Queen behind?
Picture: Photobucket.com
©DGA 14.10.2010
15/10/2010 at 6:32 am
So sad, adee …
{hug}
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15/10/2010 at 6:59 am
I feel really terrible about the whole thing, Cin. Especially when I had to go out just as it was getting dark and all the bees who had come ‘home’ late were huddled en masse as they couldn’t get back to the hive, and then I had to spray them. Thanks for the hug, I need it! xxx
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15/10/2010 at 8:17 am
Awww Adee, I am so so sorry, how terrible this had to happen, I feel your pain…such an important part of our enviroment…I also send you the biggest hugs my friend. Hope your weekend will be a better one oxoxoxox
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15/10/2010 at 8:39 am
I can’t believe that, with the world-wide decline in bee numbers, they haven’t come up with a better solution. If anything happens to the queen, then one of the drones morphs into a queen to replace her, so surely they could easily find a way to trick and trap the majority of the drones away from the hive and let them begin a new colony. Perhaps someone reading this will be able to answer… The guy who came out said that, of all the calls they get, they only manage to save +/- 30% of the bees. Have a good weekend, dear Amanda. xxx
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15/10/2010 at 11:10 am
Adee this shows what a great person you are….caring and considerate…
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15/10/2010 at 11:53 am
Thank you, Dewald, for your kind comment. I didn’t expect to get this upset, but to see them all huddled and helpless, well… it was terrible!
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15/10/2010 at 12:23 pm
conviction vs. practicality…can they coax them out and move tham vs extermination and if so i wonder why they did not offfer that?
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15/10/2010 at 12:39 pm
I was told that they would cause so much damage trying to remove the hive, perhaps unsuccessfully, that they wouldn’t even attempt it. I don’t know whether anyone has ever tried coaxing them out with certain scents into some sort of container…
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15/10/2010 at 4:12 pm
it is sad about the bees, what a decision to have to make… hugs!
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15/10/2010 at 4:46 pm
Yes, I have always had a soft spot for bees – unlike wasps and hornets! Thanks, GW, for being understanding.
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15/10/2010 at 7:07 pm
I have never been in that situation but I have heard that bees are lulled by smoke. I would care to bet that if there was some kind of natural threat to the hive they would probably move it…but what to use? a shame to have to exterminate them sorry you had to do so.
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15/10/2010 at 7:31 pm
That’s right, the smoke calms them. It was a great pity to have to do that; I thought they would have had more options by now.
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