Following various building projects, it would be no surprise to know there remained behind scattered heaps of unsorted, yet still very usable lumber, lying around house and yard. Piled with several otherwise clean and sturdy boards were useless scrap pieces, heaped together in completely disorganized stacks, that required some reasonable plan be hatched.
The premise was to use leftovers from building our raised bed garden, bookcases, desks, Andy’s treehouse, repurposed again into a covered ‘annex’ on the east side of our backyard storage shed. The first task was to clear a space where construction could begin, starting with removal of a weathered stack of lumber that rested next to the shed in a decaying heap. Sorting through the long planks at the bottom of the pile, I discovered bees had taken up residence underneath the last few boards! Retreating rather quickly, work paused while I considered the situation.
Upon closer examination, it was found these were your garden variety, non-swarming Bumble Bee, and ranked among our important pollinators. Mentioned to Heather a thriving hive stood in the way of my next construction project, to which she was absolutely emphatic that under no circumstances could those precious bees be harmed! (no mention here for my personal safety…) Inquiries were made to bring in a professional apiarists, but at the cost of $150 to remove the entire hive intact, that half full can of insect spray in the garage started looking mighty tempting! What the hell was I going to do about these friendly little Bumble Bees? As these things turn out, I didn’t have to do anything about them at all.
So a couple days passed, and I just watched the bees coming and going, becoming more relaxed around them, as they too seemed more or less comfortable with me. Gently placing four concrete footers around the hive, I began work by digging and leveling them in, while surveying the overall layout for the foundation. Decided that so long as I just watched my step, didn’t drop anything on, or otherwise anger them, basically it seemed safe enough working right above the hive.
Also figured it would be wiser to do any construction possible in the comparative safety beneath the sundeck, and well away from the bees. All necessary tools and raw materials gathered together, began cutting lengths of board for the upright frame. Screwed these to both foundation cross beams, drilled bolt holes at each end, then carried front and back sections over again to the shed. Andy’s assistance was enlisted to hold those heavy 2×10 foundation boards steadily, while I tightened four half inch bolts into the brackets on those concrete footers.
With Andy holding the whole framework upright, I proceeded to tightened washers and nuts onto each bolt, quickly securing everything into place. While ratcheting down the final bolt, we heard the unmistakable sound of agitated bees buzzing in sudden unison. Unwittingly, vibrations from my too rapid ratcheting in close proximity to the hive had clearly succeeded in angering the bees, and several flew out to investigate the cause. Hearing the commotion inside the hive, we were already a few paces back, waiting out any potential fury from a respectful distance.
Yet it didn’t take but more than a few minutes before the bees had gone back about their own business, oblivious to inconsequential human endeavors. Still cautious, I continued with a far more sedate “click… click… click…” on the ratchet wrench. Once the nut was fully tightened down, the basic supporting framework was up and ready.
After these front and rear sections were in place, the back side of the annex was screwed securely to joists in the shed. Next there were four more 2×4′s screwed in place to frame in the roof line. Then three-quarter inch plywood scraps were laid across 2×2 lengths of recycled cedar, and the first level was tightened together with still more screws. With the hive protected and out of the sight, everything began to move along much more smoothly, allowing for more rapid progress. Selected a couple of long 2×6 boards to cross brace the second tier, placed on top of them four clean 2×4′s cut to jut out 8″ from the side, making the perfect place to hang my long extension ladder.
Felt there might be a little something looking over me, sort of like Daniel when an angel shut the mouths of that den of lions, leaving him unharmed. Figured so long as I didn’t cause the bees any trouble, they wouldn’t bother to attack either, thus leaving me safely unscathed.
“If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bee, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”
– Albert Einstein
