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The Bees

Feeding Bees
From my back window, I saw small shapes around the front of the box. I walked out to watch them.
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Joe Willey
Like Robbery
As I lifted the frame free of the box, a geyser of bees rushed at me with buzzing anger.
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Joe Willey
The Split
I saw queen cells, frames of worker bees, and an empty hive box yawning like a grave.
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Joe Willey
The Queen Is Dead, Long Live the Queen
I went to the silent hive box and rapped on the top. It sounded as hollow as death.
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Joe Willey
1
Sugar Syrup
From my back window, I saw small shapes around the front of the box. I walked out to watch them.
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Joe Willey
Flowing With Honey
There was a sticky resistance. I wiggled the frame slightly, bending over the super for a closer look.
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Joe Willey
Brood
As my eyes curiously wandered over rows of brood, I saw it. One cell crumbled at its center. Antenna and eyes poked out. I held the frame near my face…
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Joe Willey
2
Queen, Drone, Worker
The bees no longer all look the same to me. The beekeeper who sold me my two nucleus colonies marked the queen with a pink paint marker dot. Still, the…
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Joe Willey
1
The Swat
It had been one week since I brought two new colonies to the corner of our yard under a drooping hackberry tree, and I glowed with self-satisfaction. I…
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Joe Willey
1
The First Inspection
That afternoon, the bees were restless, flying aimlessly in looping circles under the arching limbs of the hackberry and above the waiting hive boxes…
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Joe Willey
Nucs
The nucs were ready and in the sealed nuc boxes when I arrived. The bees were quiet. I heard no humming like when I inspected the colony in the hands-on…
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Joe Willey
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