Bees ... Moving Day (Night)

Well, time to move the bees. Yesterday I took three men to the Santa Rita land and we cleared (I directed and planned – they slashed and dug – excellent division of labour from my standpoint) ten spots and set up the hives for coming bees. There is a stretch of land that is returning to forest and this is ideal for a few hives.

Tonight Edel and Santiago came to work and we began getting the bees ready for transport. The big barrel hive was easily sealed and loaded on the truck. The four hives in the tree are proving to be more interesting. Edel climbed up and let each one down with a rope. The jostling was enough to get the bees excited and we have them sitting around the yard waiting until they move back inside their quarters. Both of us had equipment on but still managed to get a few love bites. Working in the dark is definitely a plus.

Santiago was our tape man but as things progressed, we sent him inside the school. A few bees found their way inside and are buzzing around one of the lights. That was enough to send Santiago into the bathroom for safety. Each time we come in he peeks out and gives us a brief hand before heading for cover. Don’t blame him a bit.

Our goal will be to get the bees into some sort of closed container and into the truck. We will give them an hour to cool off and then get on with the program.

This morning I took the truck into the garage for a “half hour” repair. Sigh. Five and a half hours later I returned to the school. However, it is working again and much safer. I reminded myself of all the things I might be doing which would have been much more onerous than sitting under a tree waiting for a truck repair. I had money, I knew where I was, I was only a half hour away from my house, only thirty seconds from snacks and drinks and it was warm but not hot. How bad is that?

Mechanics keep me awestruck at the best of times. How they can take something apart, see what is wrong, fix it and put things back together is beyond me. Seeing them work here or in Africa is even more incredible. There are no fifteen drawer tool chests on castors. There are no lifts or carts on wheels. Today’s tool chest was a Phillips screwdriver, a pair of Grade 1 scissors, a pair of blunt nosed pliers and a clunky, homemade hammer. That was all that was needed to change the brake seals and brake pads on the rear tire. I got to use my Leatherman for one task at the end so felt useful for a brief, glorious moment.

Manuel and I spent an hour at the housing project in Tepiquilares yesterday. Only four of the eleven couples are married. Weddings are too expensive for most people to afford so it never happens. Manuel is lobbying to have them all get married before they move in. I suggested that we could have a guy come out and have a ceremony for everyone, have a barbecue and call it a party. (Not thinking of Sung Yung Moon by the way!) Fascinating though was the reaction of a couple of the men who didn’t want to carry through with the idea. Not sure how that went over for bliss on the home front last night. Quite puzzling in a way and indicative of the place which women have in much of society here.

Well ... time to buzz off.

BB