Thursday, September 18, 2008

Studio update...on the "Bee Invasion"...

For those who don't know... My paper art studio is located in what was once my hubby's two car heated garage. Behind the wall where my stamping table and cabinet is located, there is a stairway where hubby's large air compresser is located. During the construction of my studio, our contractor ran an additional pipe for the air compressor to the outside for my hubby's access. Unbeknowst to us, honey bees have been gaining access to the outside wall during the summer.



With the remenants of Ike recently passing through the state of Ohio, their "entrance" became blocked. So the bees did what bees do, determine another "route" in and out. Unfortunately, the found their way in by eating through the interior drywall. That's what we believe anyways, after discovering a hole in the drywall in the stairway. The bees gained access to my studio through a small gap under the stairway door, were I discovered over 100 dead, and/or dying bees on Sunday. I'd think the drywall didn't sit too well within their digestive tracts and that began the process of illumination.



Anyways, over the course of the last several days, we've tried, without success, to talk to a few beekeepers so it became clear to us that we definately need to take matters into our own hands before someone gets seriously hurt. We talked with anyone and everyone we could possibly talk to, did internet searches, ect. before finally coming upon several options to remove them. Safety was our first and foremost concern, so we decided upon two options. One was to use Sevens Dust. Hmmm, I really didn't want to spread that around the inside of my studio.... and the other, you'll probably not going to believe...... but we decided to use MOTHBALLS!



My sweet hubby, very bravely I might add, dressed from head to toe, opened the doorway leading to the stairway and threw an entire box of mothballs insides. Granted the smell isn't the greatest, but it worked to kill the bees! After a day, very few bees were flying and those that were, weren't in any condition to be flying around....they were definitely dazed and confused. After another day had passed, all were dead or in the process of dying. Our next task was to get into the wall and remove the hive.... YIKES!



Don decided to cut through the outside north wall from the exterior since we've been in the process of slowly vinyl siding the studio anyways. During the evening, when the bees are less active, he cut in and was able to remove the hive. The hive was in the process of being built from the top rafter and was inbetween two of the 2x4's that form the walls. It's hard to believe I said, "in the process" because that hive was 16" wide by over 5' in length! Could you imagine what it could have been had it not been for the winds and damage of Ike passing through? Thankfully, the bees haven't had the opportunity to begin the "honey making" process, most were dead and continuing to die, and Don escaped with only two bee stings during this entire fiasco. After removing the hive, by knocking it down and using his shop vacaum to sweep it up, he dumped the shop vac into our outdoor wood burner , fired up, and destroyed that hive permanently.



He even used his shop vac to clean up the remains of the bees from my studio. Isn't he sweet? See, I knew he was "a keeper"! I'm so thankful... not to have any of my supplies ruined or worst yet, the need to remove them while bees whirled about my head! Don's been making repairs to the outside walls where he made the cut into the outside studio wall, and hopefully by the time the snow begins flying, the north wall of the studio will also be vinyl sided --- that's the plan anyways....

In the meantime, I'm counting my blessings! My hubby, my studio, my beloved art supplies... Life is Good! I'm actually looking forward to getting back in there to finish my organizing and get on with the creating! I've definately been faced with one of those "Use it or Lose It!" moments...

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