When I got back from work this evening, Elva was already home and she'd had time to look around the garden in the light. As we were chatting about the kind of days we'd had, she went on to tell me how she had found some dead bees lying onto top of the hive and that had brought them in for me to look at more closely. Gee, thanks! She was telling me of her microscope etc etc. although if I'm honest I wasn't paying the most attention ever. I had seen the same bees over the weekend and had wondered why the birds don't remove the bee carcasses especially when food sources have been so scarce recently with all the frost and snow.
Anyway, the point of the story ("at last" I hear you cry), was that an hour or so later as she was preparing our evening dinner (we take it turns in case you are wondering!!) I heard this scream from the kitchen - "Cliff!". Fearing the worst that maybe she'd scalded herself or less seriously the oven had exploded, I intrepidly went to her rescue. "Your bees are alive!", she screamed. For those of you lucky enough to know Elva personally, you will know that she is not prone to hysterics and helps me with the hive regularly. I guess it was the sheer surprise of seeing the girls come out of their "coma" that prompted the shouting. Maybe it was the heat from the kitchen that did it, who knows? It is something that I intend to research to see if I can revive some of the "previously lost" bees. The Frankenstein bees...
Either way, besides being an amusing story (well, I thought so) it is certainly encouraging that these cold temperatures may not be so fatal as I had thought!
By the way, tidings to my friends stateside on Martin Luther King day 2010!
4 comments:
That's a delightful story! I have been wondering how your ladies, and those of Barbara and other 'beekers' have been coping with this Arctic freeze.
Good luck to you, Elva and the ladies in the hive.
LOL Cliff!!! That happened to me so many times when I brought 'dead bees' home to study under the microscope. I felt so bad I fed them honey and returned them the next day :) I have posted video of the resurrections on my blog. I too want to know what happens. Is it a coma? How long will they stay like that alive?
Wow. Lovely story. I, too, wonder how long they stay alive like that. You say that you saw the "dead" bees before Elva brought them in - I wonder if they can last for days like that.
How fascinating is that?! I just know that anytime I see any signs that my bees are still alive during this frigid, never-ending winter, my excitement stays with me for several days!
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