Lisa Akers's Blog - Posts Tagged "bees"
Face Your Fears!
I DID IT!! I conquered my fear!
All my life I have been terrified and terrorized by flying, stinging insects. If I'm outside and I see a bee near me, I freak out, running and waving my arms like an idiot, and usually throwing myself onto the first person I see for protection... Even if I don't know them--the person, that is, I don't know any of the bees Seriously. I've embarrassed myself (and my hubby and son) too many times to count doing exactly that: looking like a raving lunatic over one friggin' bee! So this summer, as some of you know, our Koi pond suddenly had a colony of bees in the rocks. ALL summer long I haven't been able to hang out there, walk over and look to see if my baby koi had grown, use our patio set or pull weeds from around the pond... I was banished, from my own yard, watching from afar. Finally I had enough! I called a pest control service and was going to have these bees taken down--out--TERMINATED! Then I started googling... After reading about the plight of bees here in the U.S., and our desperate need for bees, I put the pest control on hold and started googling beekeepers instead. I found Sally, from MamaBeehive Honey Farm. She said she'd come out right away! She and her friend and fellow beekeeper, Cynthia Robinson, two very delightful ladies, came out and determined they were indeed honey bees. They picked up several of the rocks and determined the bees didn't live here, they just drank our water! Then they watched their flight pattern and wrestled through the barrier of trees and Leyland Cypress to the neighbors yard and saw them traveling over there... But they couldn't see a hive-box. Voluntarily, they began to cover the majority of water with sheets. They needed an extra hand on the other side--the side closest to the bees--and I (me, who would rather face a pissed-off possum) faced my fear and climbed into the ivy, while sock-footed, to help! When it was covered, we sprayed it with Old Spice--yes, Cologne--the same stuff your daddy might have worn (bees don't like it either). ***My point here is even if you have been afraid of something your whole life, sometimes it's not too late to face that fear and conquer. Just jump in with both socks and DO it! ***
**UPDATE**: after driving around on the golfcart with my husband looking up into the tops of trees for over an hour like a couple of goobers, I finally just went over and asked the neighbor if he was having bee problems, too. Turns out, he's a beekeeper! Yep. The hive was on his back porch, right outside his kitchen door! Never would've thought to look there! once the bees went home after a long workday serving their queen (I wish I had servants like that), the bees were quietly relocated last night to a nearby farm. I took advantage of one of the few days of Summer left and enjoyed an hour in the sun today, sitting beside my koi pond watching my fish; and the best part... I made two awesome new super cool friends. Thanks, Sally and Cynthia!
All my life I have been terrified and terrorized by flying, stinging insects. If I'm outside and I see a bee near me, I freak out, running and waving my arms like an idiot, and usually throwing myself onto the first person I see for protection... Even if I don't know them--the person, that is, I don't know any of the bees Seriously. I've embarrassed myself (and my hubby and son) too many times to count doing exactly that: looking like a raving lunatic over one friggin' bee! So this summer, as some of you know, our Koi pond suddenly had a colony of bees in the rocks. ALL summer long I haven't been able to hang out there, walk over and look to see if my baby koi had grown, use our patio set or pull weeds from around the pond... I was banished, from my own yard, watching from afar. Finally I had enough! I called a pest control service and was going to have these bees taken down--out--TERMINATED! Then I started googling... After reading about the plight of bees here in the U.S., and our desperate need for bees, I put the pest control on hold and started googling beekeepers instead. I found Sally, from MamaBeehive Honey Farm. She said she'd come out right away! She and her friend and fellow beekeeper, Cynthia Robinson, two very delightful ladies, came out and determined they were indeed honey bees. They picked up several of the rocks and determined the bees didn't live here, they just drank our water! Then they watched their flight pattern and wrestled through the barrier of trees and Leyland Cypress to the neighbors yard and saw them traveling over there... But they couldn't see a hive-box. Voluntarily, they began to cover the majority of water with sheets. They needed an extra hand on the other side--the side closest to the bees--and I (me, who would rather face a pissed-off possum) faced my fear and climbed into the ivy, while sock-footed, to help! When it was covered, we sprayed it with Old Spice--yes, Cologne--the same stuff your daddy might have worn (bees don't like it either). ***My point here is even if you have been afraid of something your whole life, sometimes it's not too late to face that fear and conquer. Just jump in with both socks and DO it! ***
**UPDATE**: after driving around on the golfcart with my husband looking up into the tops of trees for over an hour like a couple of goobers, I finally just went over and asked the neighbor if he was having bee problems, too. Turns out, he's a beekeeper! Yep. The hive was on his back porch, right outside his kitchen door! Never would've thought to look there! once the bees went home after a long workday serving their queen (I wish I had servants like that), the bees were quietly relocated last night to a nearby farm. I took advantage of one of the few days of Summer left and enjoyed an hour in the sun today, sitting beside my koi pond watching my fish; and the best part... I made two awesome new super cool friends. Thanks, Sally and Cynthia!
