So we're keeping bees in the city. On our second floor sleeping porch. Yes, I think we may be crazy.
Karl's dad, Bill, has been a beekeeper for as long as Karl can remember and this was something that Karl and I had been thinking about doing for a couple of years. Karl took a class through the Maryland Beekeepers Association earlier this year to get a feel for what he needed to do. Bill then generously gave us one of his hives and spent a week with us rebuilding our porch so that it would be structurally stable for this whole endeavor.
We've had our bees for ten days and so far so good, I guess. When the weather is decent, there are a couple dozen bees flying around the opening to the hive at any given time. I can live with that. I did get a bit freaked out yesterday when I went outside and there was a LOUD buzzing sound. I looked up to see a couple hundred (at least) bees swarming around the hive opening and then landing on the wall of the house. A patch of wall at least 18 inches square was thickly covered with bees.
Fearing our poor bees were beginning to swarm, I had Karl come home and survey the situation. He called the guy we got our bees from, a very experienced Maryland beekeeper, and he talked us off the ledge. It seems that a bunch of baby bees may have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather and decided to test their wings all at the same time. Within a few minutes, we were back into the normal routine of our few bees buzzing quietly above our heads. Phew.
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