bees in the bathtub

I didn't start out Saturday morning knowing I would end the day with 10,000 bees in my bathtub.  True story.  But that's the way it turned out.  And that's the reason I love open-ended weekends; Anything can happen.

Actually, the thousands of bees may have to fight it out (but who would want to face them?) for the top spot of weekend awesomeness.  Giving them a run for their honey money is the Rendezvous that Neil and I found ourselves at Saturday afternoon.   Also known as Rhondies or Mountain Man Events, these events are created to mimic the gathering of the pioneering men (often fur-trappers) who roamed the Rocky Mountains in the early 1800s.  Participants camp in canvas tents, dress in period clothing (buckskins, furs, moccasins), compete in various weapon-wielding events (archery, knife and tomahawk throwing, black-powder muzzle-loaded rifle shooting), and gather with the dozens of others (women and children included) who share this obscure interest.  One of those people is Joe, Neil's co-worker at SFEG.  Joe makes his own moccasins, dyes his own clothing, even built his own rifle - incredible.  Neil has been talking for a while about Joe and these rendezvous he goes to.  And this weekend seemed like the perfect opportunity to check one out.  

Sights and sounds: 

Thanks Joe for being a great host and a patient teacher (and convincing me that I probably wouldn't have many opportunities to shoot a black-powder muzzle-loaded rifle ... I think you're right).

So back to these bees ...  Their arrival in our bathtub wasn't completely random.  Neil took a Master Beekeeping course last fall through the WSU Extension, ordered his bees early this winter (springtime is when you want to start a hive), and built his own top-bar hive.  Saturday morning he got a call saying that the bees needed to be picked up by 3 that afternoon (a small window to work with, but luckily the bee place was just a few miles from the Rendezvous).  The bees spent the night in the bathtub, "on deck" for their release into the hive the next evening.

The hiving was epic - particularly for someone who used to be deathly allergic to all stinging insects.  And as a vicarious beekeeper, I'm already learning tons about these incredible creatures. A post with amazing bee facts is in the works.

 

The homestead grows!