We have a honeybee hive in our chimney! I have been praying for bees, but this is ridiculous! They set up housekeeping the other day. I came home to about 20 honeybees being molested by the kittens. Thankfully, the young ones didn’t get stung. I managed to get most of the bees outside, had to kill a few though and felt pretty guilty about destroying them. They are so crucial to the ecosystem.
When I got back inside the house, there were about eight more buzzing around! I’m thinking WTH? So I start searching, and sure enough in the old wood stove chimney there is activity. I capped off the bottom that comes into the living room, then took out my old stethoscope and listened at the entrance of the flue. I heard the buzzing.
I started calling some beekeepers in the area to see if they want them. After all, the buzz is, the honeybees are dying. Not true, I found out. No one wanted them, they have enough. Said the honeybee shortage is media hyperbole.
Ok, so I call a pest control guy and he says he will come and kill them. I don’t want them killed. They are a necessary part of our ecosystem. So, I call OSU the Bee Lab and talked to that expert. When I explain the situation, he tells me that based on where they are establishing a colony, he would just leave them alone. They are docile creatures, he tells me, they won’t sting unless you really provoke them. They will die off in 3 years, but, and this is the interesting part- the hive will remain a scent beacon for 100 years! Meaning all their pheremones they secrete along with the honey and the wax to build the colony will attract other bees.
So, we are going to leave them alone. I did find a few stragglers in the house today, actually the cats alerted me to their presence. I don’t mind them being in the chimney structure, but I do mind them in the house. Riley got stung, but he was really tormenting this one bee. I pulled the stinger out of his paw pad. He should be fine.
My tarsel tunnel is acting up again. Walking the dogs in the woods has made my ankle flare up again. I am off my feet for awhile until the swelling goes down.