Here I sit trying to stay awake and get going. Hard to do without my coffee. I am hoping it cools down enough to guzzle it, no sipping this morning.
I get a text form a friend showing all these massive swams his bees have been putting out. Mine are going to do the same since were about a week or two behind him. I am tired from the crazy day at school but get worried about some I hadn't checked in a week. So off I go with a spare nuc box strapped to the jeep.
I get there and go straight to the three most likely suspects. Bees in the super, good. Crack and tilt top deep and rip open attached queen cells, just as I had feared. Search for queen, can't find here as usual, on to next hive. I get to the third one of this never ending scenario and find burr comb with honey built on the inner cover. I think to myself this maybe the only opportunity to taste spring honey. Actually I say out loud this will be some honey you devils won't take off with.
This was the warmest honey I have ever had. The problem is it kept getting warmer, then I realize there must have been a bee in the comb. I like to have never got that quivering little stinger out of my lower lip. It's funny that I could picture what taking place without seeing it. I hurry through and put some some frames of queen cells into the nuc box and hurry home.
I get home and the wife makes me take some Benadryl. I can't take anything but asprin without it knocking me. The last time they found me face down on a fourwheeler headlight still holding the handle bars, thinking I was dead. But I agreed, because I hate going in front of 125 students looking like the elephant man. Actually its the razzing of the jerks I work with I always dread.
The body does some strange things during the night hours. My lip swells out, double chin crease is missing and the heroin disguised as a OTC drug causes my eyes to keep rolling back in my head. I decide to push through and suck it up. As I was putting on the last ironed shirt for the week, T-shirt day on Friday, I take a sup of coffee. When the same amount came out that I put in and covered my shirt that was the final straw. I didn't want to go today anyway.
Well it looks like its room temperature now. I may try to make the best of this day and get some stuff ready for the on coming swarms. Let the wack-a-mole game continue.
