I have been fascinated by bees since I was in grammar school when I read about Karl von Frische’s studies on the language of bees. Their communication, social order and importance to nature are all amazing. I thought it would be nice to have a beehive. I could have purchased a hive and a swarm, but that’s not the way I did things. These are two stories regarding my quest for a hive.
I.
We moved into a home in Aptos, which we remodeled. The work was to be done in two stages, the second being our master bath. The work in progress left an opening high on the exterior wall. One day, while in the bathroom, I heard a buzzing in the wall. A beehive, I thought. I ran outside and watched the opening- sure enough, insects were flying in and out. Bees. So now, each day, while in the bathroom, I listened to the buzzing and fantasized placing a clear plastic window in the wall so I could observe the hive. I had to do it when the bees were quiescent, of course. Perhaps early morning. Maybe I should use smoke. One day, I heard another sound as well as the buzzing- a gnawing sound. What could be going on? Bees don’t chew or dig. I went back outside to observe the opening. Yes, insects were flying in and out, but these were yellow jackets! And there was a nest in my wall, and they were chewing into the sheet rock! Now the fantasy changed from one of natural fascination to one of horror: a swarm of angry yellow jackets breaking into our bedroom. I immediately called an exterminator. He came out, listened to my story, looked at the opening, and told me that yellow jackets would not take up residence in the wall like that, since the wall from which the buzzing came was at least 15 feet from the opening. Nevertheless, I, prevailed on him to treat the hive. Early the next morning, he came out and blew a powdered insecticide down the opening. The buzzing and gnawing stopped. I carefully cut into the wall, and there i found a football sized yellow jacket nest! In many places, all that was between the nest and me was the paint! I removed the nest, which was full of dead yellow jackets, and living larva, patched the wall and thanked my lucky star that I had not accidentally hit the wall, or worse, tried to place a window.
II.
Many years ago, I read an article in Scientific American regarding bees and beehives. It reported a study done about what bees like in a hive. It described the exact dimensions of the ideal beehive. When bees swarm, scouts go out to find a new location for the hive. They then “report” back to the colony, scouts return to the likely candidate, and one is chosen. I immediately built a hive from plywood to the precise specifications and hung it at the ideal height from a tree with the opening facing the correct direction. Now all I had to do is wait for a colony from the woods behind my house to swarm, and voila, a natural beehive in my backyard! Over twenty years went by; no bees. My family was quietly amused and I had to explain repeatedly to visitors what that plywood box was doing hanging from the leaning oak tree. Then one day, the tree fell over, breaking the box, which was home only to a few spiders. The tree was cut into firewood, and I procrastinated rebuilding the hive; after all, I didn’t recall the exact dimensions and so I would have to look in Scientific American archives or do web search and I just didn’t get around to doing it. Then one summer day, about 2 weeks after the tree fell and smashed the potential hive, I was sitting at the table and looked out into our yard. There was a swarm of bees flying from the woods into my yard!! I ran outside and watched in wonder and gloom as the swirling, buzzing cloud moved slowly out of the woods, past the site of the fallen tree, through my yard, over my house, across the street and into a stand of trees. My hive!, I called out, my hive.
