Friday, April 2, 2010

Beehive in my balcony

Balcony may be too sophisticated a term for that grilled apparatus that you find in most Mumbai apartments. You know the place where you hang out your clothes to dry, but can barely stand. Anyway last year my “balcony” had a few visitors of the stinging kind. Just below my kitchen window, couple of feet away from my bedroom window. At first husband darling was excited and decided not to chase them away. He wanted the hive to be populated so that we could take some nice photographs. The maid was definitely not amused. She was still left with the task of drying out the clothes. Husband was stung, his enthusiasm dimmed, but his resolve remained. I protested then but was too lazy to ask the security man to call the bee catchers. Many a neighbour had dealt with the menace and we had some professionals at work here…but the bees prospered, my maid (a sweet docile lady) did not complain…and we did not get any snaps either. Finally four to five months down the line the bees left. On packing day I caught the last few in action.

4 comments:

Journomuse said...

so did you get any honey out of the hive? or were they lazybees?? :)

Anjana Viswanathan said...

No. Probably they took it with them.I was left with a shrivelled empty hive.

Unknown said...

Carbaryl (Sevin) 5 percent Dust is an insecticide registered to exterminate bees from dwellings. If it is not applied properly, persistent efforts may be needed to finally accomplish the job. Sevin dusted into the bee entrance may not reach the nest, which may be some distance from the entrance. Foraging bees passing through the dusted area will be killed, but the queen and house bees that stay home to take care of brood and tend to the nest may continue to live for some time. When house bees (young bees that remain in the hive) mature to take on field work chores, the colony may recover, unless the insecticide treatment is reapplied. Quicker and surer results will be received if the nest itself is treated.

Anjana Viswanathan said...

wow vishal..that's a lot of information..thankyou. But to tell you the truth, I did not have the heart to dislodge the bees anyway.