oh crap... guess what day it is??
via GIPHY
I got the call yesterday at work, and immediately went into panic/excitement mode. a lot of the things that I needed to have ready were NOT ready -- like great, I had plans, and lists, but none of them had actually been implemented.
first, I had to confirm that my friend Laura was letting me use her car to pick them up. she said the car was full of pallets and it wouldn't work, but I think the look of utter shock and disappointment on my face helped, and she said we would work it out. okay, that's one thing down.
the 10ft. 2x4s for weight distribution on the roof... well, I hadn't done anything more about those than go to Lowe's, say to myself "yeah, those are long, they'll be difficult to get home..." money is running out, so I scarfed down my lunch (it took about 8 minutes of my 30 minute lunch break), and decided to do some alley scavenging. thank goodness I'm really good at alley scavenging, and I managed to drag two 15ft. 2x4s our of a trash can behind a house construction to the back room at work (getting them home after work that night was true hilarity, let me tell you).
got the keys for the padlock to the roof from a very suspicious employee of my landlord. borrowed my roommate's padlock until I can get my own.
got my other roommate to open up the alley door after work, and I set the whole thing up in the cold rain. scarfed down more food (thanks, roomie!), smoked a cigarette, ran BACK to work to get the dolly for dragging the hive up the back stairs...
managed to scavenge a few bungee cords, which may have to work in place of ratcheting tie down straps, in order to hold this thing together.
yes, I'm having visions of the hive sliding open, and 150,000+ angry bees being released into the stairwell, ready to kill me. yes, I realize I might die abruptly today. hopefully that won't be quite how it goes.
so now it's sit, sip coffee (with honey, molasses, and milk), smoke cigarettes, and panic quietly. I feel like I've gone into labor, and I'm just now realizing that everything I've done to prepare means NOTHING against actually having to do this. huge weight of responsibility, for myself, my neighbors, and not least of all these bees. understanding the investment I've made, letting that settle it. I've been wanting to do this for decades, and the moment is finally here. I'm about to become a beekeeper.
or, you know, like I said... die in the stairwell because the hive slid open. either way.
thank god it's raining.
update: the bees AREN'T ready!? I called when I was on my way, and was told that actually, no, the bees weren't there, that they were "out". I'm not even sure what that means... but now tomorrow is bee-day.
via GIPHY
I got the call yesterday at work, and immediately went into panic/excitement mode. a lot of the things that I needed to have ready were NOT ready -- like great, I had plans, and lists, but none of them had actually been implemented.
first, I had to confirm that my friend Laura was letting me use her car to pick them up. she said the car was full of pallets and it wouldn't work, but I think the look of utter shock and disappointment on my face helped, and she said we would work it out. okay, that's one thing down.
the 10ft. 2x4s for weight distribution on the roof... well, I hadn't done anything more about those than go to Lowe's, say to myself "yeah, those are long, they'll be difficult to get home..." money is running out, so I scarfed down my lunch (it took about 8 minutes of my 30 minute lunch break), and decided to do some alley scavenging. thank goodness I'm really good at alley scavenging, and I managed to drag two 15ft. 2x4s our of a trash can behind a house construction to the back room at work (getting them home after work that night was true hilarity, let me tell you).
got the keys for the padlock to the roof from a very suspicious employee of my landlord. borrowed my roommate's padlock until I can get my own.
got my other roommate to open up the alley door after work, and I set the whole thing up in the cold rain. scarfed down more food (thanks, roomie!), smoked a cigarette, ran BACK to work to get the dolly for dragging the hive up the back stairs...
managed to scavenge a few bungee cords, which may have to work in place of ratcheting tie down straps, in order to hold this thing together.
yes, I'm having visions of the hive sliding open, and 150,000+ angry bees being released into the stairwell, ready to kill me. yes, I realize I might die abruptly today. hopefully that won't be quite how it goes.
so now it's sit, sip coffee (with honey, molasses, and milk), smoke cigarettes, and panic quietly. I feel like I've gone into labor, and I'm just now realizing that everything I've done to prepare means NOTHING against actually having to do this. huge weight of responsibility, for myself, my neighbors, and not least of all these bees. understanding the investment I've made, letting that settle it. I've been wanting to do this for decades, and the moment is finally here. I'm about to become a beekeeper.
or, you know, like I said... die in the stairwell because the hive slid open. either way.
thank god it's raining.
update: the bees AREN'T ready!? I called when I was on my way, and was told that actually, no, the bees weren't there, that they were "out". I'm not even sure what that means... but now tomorrow is bee-day.
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