Tonight is THE NIGHT! The night hubby and I do our final move of the bees to their permanent location. We have been spending what feels like forever moving them from their original location eight feet high on a trellis, to ten feet away at a lower, more manageable location. When you move bees such a short distance, the theory is that you can only move them two feet, every other day. This seems to be the method most used by beekeepers. There are other, much faster methods, but this is the one that most agree on. As much as I hate having to be patient, with my sweet bees, I wasn’t taking any chances. Having lost my first three colonies to reasons unknown, I am being as careful as possible. It has been a very stressful journey. Every morning after we moved them the night before, there were dead bees by the entrance. I talked with a few bee experts and they said that was perfectly normal. The bees only live 6 weeks in the summer months, so you will always have a few dead bees. I wish they weren’t so fuzzy and cute. That might make it a lot easier. I don’t recall ever mourning over a beetle. I was kinda sad about not seeing a preying mantis anymore that lived in my garden a few years back, but other than that, nope. Tonight is the final move, and tomorrow is the final morning to see dead bees and think I am responsible for their deaths. It will be quite a weight off my shoulders.

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