I am worried about Rachael. You know how they say not to feed a stray cat or she will never leave? Well, apparently if you feed a bee, she will tell her friends and it will be a raging bee party that the cops get called to. Last Wednesday Rachael tells me she went out to feed some sugar water to the new colony we just got. She pushed back the lid just enough to give her space to pour the treat in, but not enough to disturb the ladies. As she is pouring, one sweet little bee pokes her head out from the lid and proceeds to drink straight from the stream. Such a sweet little bee enjoying the treat, her little tongue lapping (or sucking, I think sucking… I will Google it later) up the sweet water. That sounds cute right? Sure, it’s cute. Moving on. So the next day (yes they are emptying the feeder completely each day) Rachael went back out to the hive once again, pitcher filled with sugar water in hand, ready to feed our sweet little bees. She pushes back the lid, just enough to pour the sweet water in, and lo and behold! FIVE thirsty little bees greet her. OH HOW ADORABLE! The little group all drink directly from the steam. Rachael is one with nature. She is giddy and proud. What an awesome nature loving, giving back to Mother Earth, human she is. She is glowing with pride.
But you see, bees talk to each other. Didn’t we learned that when Rachael got a little too handsy with them and got stung 8 times. Actually it was four times, but each time I tell the story I add one. It’s how I roll. Anywho… on the third day Rachael goes out to feed the little piggy bees, there is quite a crowd waiting for her when she pushes back the lid. We no longer have a quaint little gathering, but rather a hoard of hooligans waiting to mug her for sugar water. Hundreds of bees come pouring out, grabbing, buzzing, pushing. It’s like a Black Friday Sale at Walmart! Now it’s gotten out of hand. She had to stop pouring the sugar water because now they are getting impatient. One landed on her arm and was doing a wiggily dance that was looking a little too close to the “I’m gonna sting you if you don’t pour faster human,” dance. Not a good dance. In fact, another one landed on her arm and was joining in the jig. Not cool. Then a little bee whispered something in her ear that I am sure was not sweet nothings. More like. “Hey lady, pour faster or me and my buddies will give you those plump lips that are all the rage, and maybe your ears, arms, legs…..” Ya not good.
So on the third day Rachael decided that this has gotten out of control and decided not to bring sugar water with her when she went out to check on the bees. Sounds logical to me, but a colony of bees might disagree. This time they didn’t even wait for her to pull back the lid. They went right out the front of their hive and met her halfway. They then shouted at her “BETTER HAVE MY SUGAR WATER LADY!!! Actually they said buzz buzz, but you know what they really meant. Let’s not play games here. We are all adults. This time she did a quick check and went back inside.
Not sure what her plans are today. The ritual she has grown to love of sitting back on the lounge chair with a glass of red wine, watching the sunset, and gazing lovingly at the bees as they settle in for the night, is looking more like a glass of wine on the couch watching the Hallmark Channel. We shall see.
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