{"id":5550,"date":"2020-08-26T11:48:17","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T15:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=5550"},"modified":"2020-08-26T12:04:16","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T16:04:16","slug":"episode-101-the-bee-yard-two-men-in-space-suits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=5550","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 101 THE BEE YARD…TWO MEN IN SPACE SUITS"},"content":{"rendered":"
EPISODE 101   THE  BEE  YARD\u2026TWO MEN IN SPACE SUITS\u2026A DRONE WITH A CAMERA<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
august 2020<\/div>\n

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Our son Andrew decided to raise  bees.  I do not know where  he got the<\/div>\n
idea since  my experience with bee  keeping was an utter and complete <\/div>\n
failure for manY reasons.<\/div>\n

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My failure as a beekeeper:  About 30 years ago, maybe 40, I decided to become  a  beekeeper after buying a van load of old<\/div>\n
bee hives, etc. at the Parker  Petit auction sale north of Toronto\u2026maybe  near Beeton come to think of it.  All I needed<\/div>\n
was instruction and a load of bees from an American supplier.  Getting the bees was easy.  Understanding  the bees  was<\/div>\n
another matter. First mistake… I put good bees in old hives.  They got diseased and had to be burned.  Awful.  The worst part came<\/div>\n
next.  Ed (deleted last name) was my bee instructor.  Seemed like a  nice fellow until he turned up at our house when<\/div>\n
I was away.  His intentions were sexual and Marjorie was appalled.  She phoned me at PCI and I in turn phoned<\/div>\n
Ed.  The call was  not nice.  I did not care if  his wife was listing.   So ended my beekeeping career.<\/div>\n

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Andrew, our son, will not make the same mistake.  His instructor is one of my lifelong friends.  He has been<\/div>\n
beekeeper for 50 years.  Loves his bees.  And  loves helping youngsters willing to take up beekeeping.  It cannot<\/div>\n
be a casual  thing.  Bees are one of the most organized living things on this planet.  They do not take well<\/div>\n
to amateurs.<\/div>\n

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MARAUDERS ARE OUT THERE<\/div>\n

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Russ: \u201cSkunks and bears have killed many<\/div>\n
of my bees.  They  find them tasty.  The Skunks just scratch on he hive..like knocking at your door.  When  the<\/div>\n
bees come out the  skunk eats each bee as you would a nice  sweet chocolate.  A skunk can eat a  lot of  bees.<\/div>\n
The worst raid was  by a bear.   My bee  yard is near Orillia which can be bear country on rare occasions.<\/div>\n
The bear just lifted the supers of the hive one by one.  Ate until his  gut was full then ambled away  leaving<\/div>\n
my bee yard devastated.  I spent a couple of evenings parked near the hives  intending to get that bear.<\/div>\n
The bear outsmarted me\u2026never came back.”<\/div>\n

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SEE THE white\/yellow pack of pollen attached  to this bumblebees back legs?<\/div>\n

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Sunflowers are immense.  But no bees.  No nectar.<\/div>\n

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The secret trial  to the bee yard.  I walked.   Russ and Andy drove.<\/div>\n

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Our fields of  goldenrod could be  saviours of Andrew\u2019s bees.   Currently bee yard is located between<\/div>\n
two fields of commercial soybeans.  Long past the flower stage.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cHow far will a bee go for nectar,  Russ?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMaybe 2 miles although they do not like the long trips.\u201d<\/div>\n

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“So what do you think, Russ\u2026good bee yard?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThe problem is getting these bees  ready for winter.  One hive is OK, the<\/div>\n
other is weak.  We may  have to combine  them if Andrew  is to have bees <\/div>\n
next spring.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cCan Andy  get any honey  this fall?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMaybe, but the bees have to eat as well\u2026I would wait until<\/div>\n
next year when the hive(s) might be stronger”<\/div>\n

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Russ, the beekeeper in Andy\u2019s bee yard.  \u201cWill the bees live or die?”<\/div>\n
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How  can you tell that Russ has been a beekeeper for a long time?  Look  at his  bee outfit.<\/div>\n

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The weirdest thing about this bee visit was that Andy and Russ dressed up like spacemen while all  I wore<\/div>\n
was short pants and a polo shirt.  I  should  have been scared, I guess.  Neither Andy nor<\/div>\n
Russ paid  any attention to my vulnerability  They talked bees\u2026as  if I was  not there.<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhat if  I get stung, Russ?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cBee stings could do you the world of good\u2026my dad  said<\/div>\n
they were good for arthritis pain\u2026reduced the pain\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cI do  not have arthritis, Russ?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWell, enjoy the bee stings as if you do.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cAlan, would  you pipe down.  Andy and I have serious  work<\/div>\n
to do here.  Go out and take pictures of thistles.”<\/div>\n

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Thistle honey\u2026a rare sweetness<\/div>\n

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\u201cAndy, the success of any bee  colony rests with the female bees.   They do  all the work.<\/div>\n
The male bees do one thing and then they are useless.  Most die.  The females keep a<\/div>\n
few around but must get irritated  for the drones just flop here and there.  They do  nothing<\/div>\n
except do a bit of breeding.\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cSounds about right.\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cMeaning?\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cWomen are multi tankers.  They do  most of the work around  home.  Men just hang around<\/div>\n
and drink a beer or two\u2026now and then.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cWhere did you get that idea,Andy?\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cFrom my dad.  Look at him right now.  He is doing nothing but taking pictures.  We <\/div>\n
are working.\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cBut we are males too\u2026drones. \u201c<\/div>\n

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\u201cRight, maybe we should  consider a  sex change.\u201d<\/div>\n

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Marjorie and  the bee keeper\u2019s wife, Anne\u2026plus a friend.<\/div>\n

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\u201cRuss, could that mask… above Marjorie and Anne\u2026could the mask scare skunks away from<\/div>\n
the bee hives?\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cScares  me.”<\/div>\n
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We are awaiting the honey.   Humans  are such insensitive creatures.  Here we are prepared to<\/div>\n
steal honey from bees  who have collected  nectar from millions of tiny flowers.   We are worse <\/div>\n
than insensitive.  We are greedy.   We give them back sugared water after stealing their honey.<\/div>\n
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How did that fox get in the house ?  Marjorie come and  get the fox our of here..<\/div>\n

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Russ and  I  have been good  friends ever since high school.  We spent our high school years<\/div>\n
going on camping trips using our thumbs to get rides, then playing football for years in the mistaken<\/div>\n
belief that girls liked the game and would therefore marvel at our skills of knocking  people down.<\/div>\n
We were mistaken.  We did, however, marry roommates at Victoria College, University of Toronto.<\/div>\n
That was one of our great achievements.<\/div>\n

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This is our son Andy and his wife Julie.<\/div>\n

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Marjorie and  her pet cow named Elsie.<\/div>\n

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Two beekeepers.   Andy has kept bees for 1 month.  Russ and his dad have  kept bees for more than 50 years.  \u201cI still do not fully understand my bees even<\/div>\n
after 50 years.  I do my best to keep them healthy.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
August 2020<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE 101   THE  BEE  YARD\u2026TWO MEN IN SPACE SUITS\u2026A DRONE WITH A CAMERA alan skeoch august 2020 Our son Andrew decided to raise  bees.  I do not know where  he got the idea since  my experience with bee  keeping was an utter and complete  failure for manY reasons. My failure as a beekeeper:  About […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5550\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}