Nature...It's in My Yard!

I love nature.

Reeallly, really love it.  Love being outside, walking barefoot, squishing mud through my toes, spotting wildlife, taking pix of all of it.  Love it.

Mr.C loves nature, too.  If he sees something outside move, then he's got to be out the door investigating it in a millisecond.  He'll take pictures, catch it, touch it, try to smuggle it into the house.

Catz loves animals and some nature.  You got a baby squirrel who needs to be hand-raised?  She's your girl. {Her mama taught her that, thankyouverymuch!}  But show her a bug, even a cute one, and you'll see her high-tail it to the nearest place she can hide. And yes, there are cute bugs.

Hubby likes nature...from afar.  I think that comes from his growing up just outside Chicago.  Not a lot of nature there.  Probably why, when he first moved to Florida, he commented that "a good snake is a dead snake."  {shaking my head} Ironic since we've had at least two snake-encounters per year since then. 

But sometimes I get just a bit verklempt over this thing I love called nature.  Like what we discovered just the other day. 

Check out the photo below.  It's a squirrel nesting box that Hubby built and secured about 10 feet up in our elm tree last November.  It's a pretty good size at 18" tall and 10" square.  Worked perfectly last winter when we released our three rehabbed squirrels.

Now, check out the next shot.  It's an Epipen used to treat folks for anaphalaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction.  {Psst! It's mine and I'm right here typing this, so everything is a-okay.}.  Do you know what these two pix have in common?

You guessed it -- bees!  Little did we know that our cute squirrel box, which the squirrels vacated last spring, had now become home to a hive of honeybees.  When I saw it I was so excited!  Honey-making was going on in our front yard!  How cool is that?!

Until my son {my 5' protector} thrust my epipen into my pocket.  And I was reminded to be careful!

Instead of exterminating the flying critters, we chose to relocate them since honeybees are in short supply in the U.S.A.  For various reasons, their numbers are dwindling more and more every year.  And we all know how important honeybees are to our food supply.

Thankfully, I was able to reach the wonderful folks from Fredrickson Apiary here in Florida. {Psst! An apiary is where they raise bees for honey, honeycomb, and all that good stuff.} Bill and his lovely wife, Marion, drove all the way to my house early this morning {7:00 am} and removed the beehive.  It was the neatest thing to watch!

Okay, actually Hubby wouldn't let me near the tree {cuz he thinks I'm cute and wants to keep me around}, but he videotaped the Fredrickson's do their thing.  This couple, while remaining happy and laid back, used a 'smoker' to corral the bees who were hanging around outside the entrance.  Those bees marched right inside with the rest and just stayed put.  Amazing!

Bill put a piece of metal screening over the entrance to keep them inside until he could get them back to his farm.  Here's a shot of the hive before the wire was fastened.  Look at all the honeycomb!  Bill and Marion said the hive was probably begun about 2-3 months ago.  Wow. 

When I mentioned that I mow the grass under that tree every week, and wow wasn't I blessed to have never been stung, their response surprised me.  They said that these European honeybees - which nest in trees, chimneys, and just about any old hole up high - just go about their business collecting for the hive and are not aggressive.  {On the other hand, African bees - which nest in old tire swings, culverts, or other places down low - are very aggressive.}

So now we have a new field trip location to visit.  The apiary just added a bakery {where the only sweetener Marion uses is honey}and another building.  Hubby and the kids will be the ones donning the protective, white suits to visit the bee yard.  But I plan to be inside - checking out the bakery, of course.