I’ve Been Robbed!!!

2018

It was a lovely late summer/early fall day. I look out the window and there seems to be a lot of activity at the two hives. I went out to look more closely and there were bees everywhere flying around the two hives. I finally realized it looked like World War 1 out there and my bees were being robbed. I quickly wet sheets and draped them over the hives. It was too late. By the next day, there were dead bees all around the hives, and upon closer inspection all the honey was gone! No bees left and no honey. I called a neighbor who keeps bees and she had the same thing happen to her. It was very discouraging. I actually took the next two years off and read everything I could on beekeeping.

That same summer I was battling a local blue heron who had managed to eat my favorite koi-cream cycle. I had to net the pond and chase the bird off multiple times. Really smart bird! I found that it would wait in the street a couple of doors down for me to leave. As soon as the bird saw me drive away it would fly out back to my pond. I would rush around the block and run to the back to chase it away again! This bird stood its ground - I had to actually approach it banging pots to get it to fly away. Finally, the heron must have left for the winter and I thought I was safe but left the pond netted. Well - at some point over the winter something slithered into the pond and killed all my koi! I lost 30 fish - all individually named and loved. Never figured out what came but all they left was the bones of the larger fish. (some of the koi were over a foot long - purchased at 2 inches)

When I moved from an urban environment where I only battled street cleaning and towing, and moved to a suburban locale, I never figured I would be constantly matching wits with a bird and a groundhog. (but that’s another story) (We won’t even mention the wasps’ nest in the ground.)