Yesterday, I collected an open air hive from the Pensacola Navy Hospital parking lot. It was in a Crape Myrtle tree about 12′ in the air. I backed the pickup under the colony  and placed a 7′ ladder in the bed.

The contact person helped me spread some of the lower limbs and tie them off so I could climb close to the main limb that the comb was attached to.  I put on my bee suit and taped up the sleeves and legs. I did not, however, put on my veil. I was intending only to cut some of the little twigs to clear the path so I could cut the main branch, which was only about a pencil size, and bring the main comb and bees down. What I didn’t realize, was that one of the twigs had some comb on it and I flipped some bees on my chest just below my chin and one of them nailed me on the jaw. There were about 20-30 bees in that bunch and I decided to vacate the pickup bed in a hurry. I jumped off the tailgate onto the ground and went all the way to my knees.

After walking about half a block before the bees stopped chasing me and  went back to their home in the tree, we decided that now would be a good time to put the veil on. Remember this is the first time I tried to collect an established hive out of a tree. I learned that it would be a good thing to put ALL of my bee equipment on before I even started to cut anything. See, you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Anyway, after securing my veil, I finished the task of cutting the branch and placing it with the comb and bees in my brood box. The bees seemed happy. Yesterday, the bees were very active and flying in and out of the hive. Today, there is not a bee left. Two things come to mind. 1) I inadvertently killed the queen and the bees left, and 2) This is a hive box that had some bees in it before and they left also.  It could be that there is something wrong with this box that the bees don’t like and I will probably have trouble keeping bees in it. The next time I place bees in a box, I will use a different one and see if they stay. If so, then I will either scorch the inside of this box and try again or I will just go ahead and bite the bullet, burn it and build another one to take its place.

Now for the rest of the story. Remember, I am 68 years old and 100 lbs overweight. Yesterday morning, I got up and was weed-eating some of the weeds in my back yard so I could move the new hive of bees I acquired to the stand in the far back. While I was weed-eating, I got int0 a mound of fire ants. After about 20 or so stings, I stopped my work and went inside. I sat for about a hour and went to get up. My left leg was very sore on the front of my left thigh. At first, we decided that it was all the work I was doing, since I don’t do that much in the first place. Later, my wife asked me just what did I do when I collected the bees. That is when I told her about jumping off the back of the pickup.

My wife is a nurse and has a very intelligent way of thinking. She said that since my right leg doesn’t hurt as bad as the left, she is of the opinion that since the left leg was smashed by the 18 wheeler years ago, that will be the leg that is the weakest and easiest to be hurt. I guess that that is the reason that I hurt on just the one side. I will start taking a kitchen step ladder with me when I go somewhere.

Always learning. I am still reading and rereading my magazines. Remember, keep your veil close, your smoker lit, and your hive tool sharp.