The Bee Man arrived this afternoon to extricate a colony of honey bees that had set up a residence in our wooden bar in the backyard, and to safely relocate them. I had never seen a Bee Man before, or a nest of that size up close, so I had to point my camera at the proceedings and hope the little stingers would cooperate.
The Bee Man's suit looked a little low rent, like a bad Halloween costume: dirty white painter's jumpsuit, cheap spaceman looking head gear pieced together with screen, and yellow rubber dish gloves. But, it worked, and I thought he looked cool. He was a really nice guy and he knew his bees.
First, he smoked them out a bit, which is supposed to subdue them, as all good smoke will, and stop them from doing what any self-respecting bee colony would do if a guy in a jumpsuit, a space helmet and rubber dish gloves showed up at their front door with the intention of herding them into a cardboard box. Namely, stinging first and asking questions later. But it must have been some killer smoke, because they went along without a fight. Now, if he had given them booze instead of smoke, I'm sure there would have been a fight. But I digress...
He estimated 3,000 bees in this hive, which isn't really that many, but given the stories I've heard lately about bees disappearing and the consequences that that would have on life as we know it, I was happy to do my part to help, which in this case was staying out of his way, making a few dumb comments, and using a long lens.
