WOW! I didn't see that one coming!

Saturday, April 7, 2012

I started the smoker at around 11am and put the meat on at 12pm. There is an art to maintaining the correct temperature but with a little practice I should be able to get it down. I spent most of my afternoon monitoring the cooking temperature and tending the firebox. We received an inch of moisture from a slow steady morning rain and that meant that the range was closed due to mud. So I made a plan to move one of the knife targets from the range up into the pecan orchard. I would just need a little help carrying it. Our guests arrived at around 3:30pm and my wife and son showed up soon afterwards. The meat was already smoked, wrapped, and on the smoker for the final cooking. The kids had fun throwing blades while the adults visited.  I wanted to but didn't get a chance to throw knives.

Ready, Set, Go!

The Queen

At around 4:30pm it was time to release the bees. Early this morning I picked up the two packages of bees that I ordered in January and they spent most of the day under the porch at the house. We carried everything we would need for the release to the apiary and got started. Using the standard introduction method (remove and place the queen and then dump the rest) you always end up with a lot of confused bees flying around. This time one of them got stuck beneath my glasses at my temple and she stung me. Not long after that another one got caught in my collar and stung me on my neck. I've been stung before and, other than some local swelling and pain, I was never really bothered by the stings. This time however, I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable as time passed. By the time we got the second set of bees released (largely due to the help of my friend and brother-in-law) I was in no shape to continue without some medical intervention. I got a ride into town to purchase some Benadryl. By the time we got to the grocery store, my hands and feet were swollen and extremely itchy, I had broken out under my arms (which also itched), my ear canals were constricted, and my tongue and face were swollen. I took my first dose of Benadryl as soon as we left the store and in about 30 minutes I could feel improvement. Wow, I never saw that one coming. What a disappointing discovery and a horrible experience! Oh well.

The Big Dump!

One Down, One to Go

The rest of the evening was very pleasant (meal and visit around the bonfire). I am looking forward to going back out there today to release the queens and check on the newcomers (or for lack of a better term "new bees").  This time I will be armed with an EpiPen and I will wear my veil. 

P.S. Thank you, Theresa, for the very nice photos.

A Beautiful End to the Day!