Bees in the Barn!

A swarm of honey bees blew in on a cool wind late this afternoon. The scout bees arrived earlier in the day and swifty identified an openning on the north face of our barn, the spot where the electric fence charger cord snakes through the wall and into the supply room, as the entrance to their dandy new home.

For those of you who have never witnessed bees swarming, it's a miraculous sight -- one that scares you more than a bit if you've got a lick of sense.

My neighbor, Donna, is a bee keeper so I turned to her for help. Donna enlisted the expertise of one of our local bee experts, a nice fellow named Jeff. In short order, those two helped quell my concerns and I was well on my way to understanding that honey bees are becoming endangered. Between nasty bee mites and the cummulative effects of pesticides, honey bees have actually disappeared in some locales.

Thankfully, that's not the case here in Oregon. It seems we have the opposite problem, with hives swarming more than normal.

Jeff asked us some questions and once he understood our desires and beliefs, he gently set about educating us. Tomorrow, I'll drive to Ruhl Bee Supply in Gladstone, where I'll purchase a product called Bee Quick. Apparently, Bee Quick is very odiferous stuff, nasty enough to make the bees want to find a new home.

Before applying Bee Quick, I'll coordinate with Donna and Jeff. They're going to try to identify a bee keeper who would like to cultivate the swarm living in my barn.

Life is a grand adventure and you never know what's going to blow in on a cold wind!