Free Bees . Bee Story--The Story of My Honey Bees: Some Pets You Don't Ask for and Don't Buy

The Story of My Honey Bees: Some Pets You Don't Ask for and Don't Buy Lex Loeb Contributor Network . I now have pet honey bees. I did not ask for them and did not buy them. One day I noticed a swarm of what looked like moths down on the deck of my house. I went down stairs to see what was going on. I was apprehensive when I realized it was bees. My first though was to get out the Raid and spray them but then I remembered that there is a bit of a bee crisis going on where bees colonies seem to be dying off from a mysterious cause. I did not want to get too close to the hive not know what kind of bees they were so I decided I might ask for help. I went to my computer and typed in www.craigslist.org for my city and looked under "wanted." There were people there with ads that said "Wanted Bee colonies." So I put an ad on craigslist explaining my situation that I had a swarm of bees next to or in the wall of the house and wanted them out. The advertisement read: "Free Bees." Soon after I posted the ad I had more than 12 emails of people either trying to help or who would come and get the bees. I was surprised how many local bee keepers there are that are looking for bees to collect or to offer removal services. I would never have known if it were not for craigslist. Bee keepers live far from the center of town so I did not get anyone the next day. I did finally get a bee keeper to come look at the bees the next week. He came and looked and told me they would be hard to get out and maybe not worth if for him. Other bee keepers wanted to be paid to collect them. I was happy having anyone come. The Bee keeper stood by the hive and waved his hands around proving to me that the bees would not attack and were safe to walk under. The bees won't bother me If I don't bother them. He also told me the hive would have trouble surviving the winter if they were to be moved after a long wet spring. We decided it was best to leave the bees as residents in the wall of my house. Once they get out in 1 or 2 years I can plug the hole where they get in the wall with sealing foam. The bee colony was lucky to have found that remote spot on the outer wall of the house and not to have located the hive near the front door. I did not need to use pesticide and can live with them where they are at. I have had my bees 3 weeks now without being stung once and not one single bee has been killed by me, nor has any gotten into the house. I could consider removing some of the wall boards for the installation of a bee viewing window. I will have to call a bee keeper to do that because I am sure that would be a dangerous mission for me. Maybe it is possible to install a window and a door to get to the honey. The bee keeper told me that it would take 2 years for the new colony to be able to part with excess honey and survive the winter. Thanks to www.craigslist.org the bees got lucky and so did I. That is the story of how I got my pet bees. .