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A Swarm of Bees

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Good morning everyone. Well this post does not have a whole lot to do with windjammers or getting Mary Day ready to sail. We do like the fact that we can make a little bit of the honey and bees products we have on the schooner so it is kinda relative. Really it is just a cool event in our day to day existence... never a boring moment around this place. We took Colby pup for a walk very early yesterday morning and all was quiet. When we returned I was heading down the driveway to go for a run and encountered this. About face I did. There went my run but catching this swarm from our nearby hives was going to be fun.
I wish I could have taken pictures but it was only Jen and I and the box we swept the bees into weighed quite a bit. This was definitely a two person job. You will notice the smoke hazing over some parts of the photos. We were told that the bees are very docile when they are swarming and away from the hive because they have nothing to defend... except the new queen. The moment we swept the bees into the box the air was filled with bees. And I mean thousands of bees. We had prepared a new hive setup in advance and could only hope we captured the new queen as we poured the bees into their new home. They were still there last night so we will keep our fingers crossed. Jen, with the benefit of a full bee keepers outfit, did not get stung even once. I wish I could report the same results but one did mange to get up under my screened hood and stung me on to of the head. Didn't that smart?
I offer up yet another piece of the current puzzle under wraps. Now it should be obvious what we are making.
Have a great day. Be well. Do good.
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Comments

Chuck Rasmussen said…
Cool that you take Colby pup out with you. As a runner, I'm glad to read that you saw this while on a run too. I just saw your Bee post. What a great thing to read upon my return from my Saturday a.m. run.
See ya in July.
Chuck Rasmussen/Colorado
May 15, 2010 at 9:44 AM
Unknown said…
If the block plane and draw knife are clues then I'm sticking with my last guess that you are fabricating a spar. The cross-section must be from where it was cut to square off the end. Main(e) topmast?
May 15, 2010 at 2:12 PM
MaineCelt said…
Bee-synchronicity! Today we brought bees home to be installed in a new hive at Tir na nOg Farm-- the place Mary Barney used to stay during her "off-season" many years ago. Driving home with the package of bees, we thought to ourselves, "This is something Mary would have approved of." The thought of all those bees--yours and ours--dancing together to some invisible tune is as sweet as honey.
May 15, 2010 at 5:03 PM
Bob Kellogg said…
I guess that I must change my guess from a 28 person kayak to a spar. The question now is which one? I seems to be about 8" square, maybe a little more. When rounded it could be a jib-boom or a boom for the fore-sail, or even a topmast. Please keep us informed.
May 15, 2010 at 6:24 PM
Michele B said…
I'm looking forward to buying some of your delicious honey on my next trip.
May 19, 2010 at 3:08 PM
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