To Bee or not to Bee (by Kat)

Okay, people keep asking me why I started up the beekeeping escapade. The trouble is, they usually have this look on their face and a tone in their voice that would better accompany the query of why I decided to become an elephant whisperer or a tightrope walker. People seem to think I'm nuts, and not in the usual "oh she's just nuts but in a kinda cute way." No, the typical reaction I'm seeing is a quick eye dart to the left, then to the right, a glance over my shoulder, and then, escape route decided upon, they'll look back at me.

Except for my dentist. She thinks it's cool, and she'll get the first jar of honey I harvest to give away. I like her.

So, bees. And why?

I definitely wasn't raised to do this. My mom actually asked me a few years ago "did we raise you to be this way or did you get this way yourself?" She was quite serious. She was upset that I was handling something (I don't recall what) in a manner decidedly different than she thought the situation (whatever it was) called for. So, we'll just let her and my dad off the hook right now. No, I was not raised in any type of manner that would seemingly lead to me keeping bees.

Uhm, I don't know anyone who keeps bees, either.

Uh, Little House in the Suburbs did it, so I can too?

No? Okay, ummmmm, I like bees?

Actually, we have about one buhzillion types of bees in our yard. Long ones short ones, fat ones skinny ones...

But with the population of honey bees at such risk worldwide, I wanted to do something to bee a part of the solution. I'm a put up or shut up kind of person, and don't feel you have a right to complain about a problem unless you're actively working to rectify it. So, I see all the bees and think that maybe they'd like a home, and I could give them that, and maybe that would entirely solve the world bee decline. Or at least help out a bit here.

So, a top bar hive, I figured, would house one local colony, and I'd get some honey in return, maybe.

Also, I never had an ant farm growing up. Somehow I convinced myself that a hive would be just the ticket to make up for that neglect....

But here's the thing. I ended up buying a hive of bees from another community and brought them here. This doesn't help out the little guys who were already here. The Lansgstroth hives are harder to get into, and not at all like an ant farm. So what am I doing, and why?

I. Don't. Know.

But I like it......

PS Hope my folks never find out I have a blog.... I most definitely wasn't raised to do this sort of thing.
PPS I know really need to stop making the bad bee puns, but I just can't help myself.