Our Colony of Bees

We had a colony of honeybees that lived in a column on our side porch.  We've discussed them many times here.  My wife loves bees, but not located right by the side entrance to our home where most visitors enter.  It's just not very hospitable, she says, to have a swarm of bees greeting you.  Of course she's right, but while the bees were there, we never had a problem with door-to-door solicitation. 

The bees packed up their bags and moved out two years ago.  I used a jack to support the roof while I pulled the column out and carefully scrubbed out the remaining hive and honey.  It smelled like mead (fermented honey), so we fed it all to the chickens.  Believe it or not they loved it.  They laid a record amount of eggs in the next few days.  I put the column back in place and (at my wife's suggestion), I put caulk at the top of the column to block their entry.  The problem was that I didn't finish the job.  I was waiting for the line of caulk to dry before applying more on top and...  The bees moved back in.  This summer our road-tripping bees moved out again.

I've missed them, but they are still around...  somewhere.  This Saturday we walked through the garden and the bee activity was CRAZY!  The luffa gourds were blooming in massive fashion and the bees were busy as... well, bees.  Check out the two bees in the flower in the foreground and the two bees in the flower in the background.

But the luffa gourds weren't the only things blooming.  The merliton squash were flowering and the huge yellow flowers were powerfully attracting the bees.  There are 3 in the flower below:

It was an astonishingly gorgeous day.  I'm no beekeeper, but I think the bees are using this last opportunity of good weather to gather nectar to make honey to eat on during the winter season that will soon be here.  Of course we don't have harsh winters here in the coastal gulf south, but at some point, there's not much blooming, so the bees have to make their food now.

As I was trying to get as close as I could to the flowers without being stung, a fourth bee landed on the flower.  They were buzzing loudly in my ears and all around the luffas and merlitons, so I decided I would back slowly away so the bees could go to work.

Despite the bees leaving our column, I'm happy that they haven't left the neighborhood.  They've probably moved their colony into a hollow tree somewhere.  That's fine with me.  It is a win-win situation.  Tricia is happy with them out of close proximity of our door and the bees are still nearby so that they can pollinate our garden.  Everyone's happy!