In a message dated 8/11/00 7:19:10 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

> The good part about hiving bees at night is testing out your equipment.  You
>  never really know how good your bee suit REALLY is until you've stirred up
>  several thousand bees in the dark.  Think your suit is bee-proof?

   I don't wear a bee suit.  I occasionally have to load individual hives by
hand, after dark.  If one is smooth in motion and careful not to jar the
bees, when setting the hive in place on the truck, one can usually load
without the bees having time to wake up. But for me it tests how well I (or
my assistants) stapled the bottom board.  Once in awhile as you pick up the
hive, the bottom board drops onto your feet. Boy, I HATE IT WHEN THAT
HAPPENS!   There you are, 75 miles from home, and anxious to get back there,
and here you've got this ONE hive all apart and thousands of crawlers.
Believe me, it WILL get on that truck.

    I tripped once, carrying a hive, then fell right on top of it. The cover
and super came entirely off, and the frames fell out of the super.  That's a
fun job with no gloves!  Remind me to carry a pair, even if I hate to use
them.

    I helped another beekeeper load a truck of nucs this past spring, and he
moved the truck ahead a bit, with the last, partially finished tier not
strapped (yeah, when you are tired you sometimes take chances to "save"
time), and the whole tier toppled, some going clear to the ground.  Boy did
we have fun!  You could hear some of the most unearthy shrieks, and words
that have not yet been invented...

   When you HAVE to work at night, after the load is strapped, and the truck
is moved away from the loading area, turn on the headlights and each one take
a full turn with arms up, so others can pick off the crawlers.  If you don't
get them all, you can have an interesting ride. Bees can find some strange
locations to surprise you (100 miles down the road, eh?).

Dave Green
The Pollination Home Page:  http://pollinator.com