Due to our change of plans about dinner we departed the restaurant much earlier than expected and learned that an event in nature was occurring just across the street. This was a bit of exciting news. With our impending snow storm that was due to arrive that night, a beehive had formed in a matter of hours. The bees, in their unrelenting quest to protect the queen, had arrived and built their hive of bees around her on some branches in a tree. It is truly amazing how the animal kingdom senses and prepares for changing weather.

The restaurant had called a beekeeper to transport the bees to a safer location. We met the keeper, a calm young man, who informed us this was his first assignment. He slowly put on his gear and gathered his equipment and headed to the hive. Since the bees were almost dormant due to the weather we could see up close just how amazing this was. There was bee on top of bee providing warmth and protection to the queen. We watched the keeper take his time and study the possibilities. In about 20 minutes he had removed the hive from the branches and slowly placed it in his box for transport. There were about three dozen that swarmed, but he waited for them too to join the rest in the box because he wanted to save as many bees as he could.

This was an exciting event for us to witness. Although Bobby had watched a hive removed from his backyard as a child, this was my first experience. We were impressed with the keeper’s calmness and attention to detail. We were grateful these bees were safe from the hazards of the night’s storm. And extremely thankful to be a witness and not inside eating after all.

"One can no more approach people without love than one can approach bees without care. Such is the quality of bees...” Leo Tolstoy
Peace.