Bees

We didn't see just about any bees around here most of the summer. Fred and I were a bit worried. We know from our neighbor Ed that not only are bees pretty important, but they are also getting pretty sick recently and throwing off all sorts of stuff in the environment. Normally bees hang out around the edge of our pool in years past. I am on the hunt for them after Sarah  got stung last year. She seemed to have a slight 'reaction' and it alarmed me. It is not the first sting of course you need to worry about, its the second. Needless to say I have an epi-pen. For months after she was stung I had sleepless nights where I could imagine her being stung and then mentally working on my time for the epi-pen injection just in case. When it finally came time to open the pool this year, it was the first thing I thought of...'bee time again'.  If we go out I wonder if the boys will capable handle the situation. You get the drift of how scary this is for me and how I am on high alert for bees.

So, about 2 week ago Mary was in the sand box and she came in screaming "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!!!" Scooping her up she cried "a bee bit me!" My first thought was (literally) "Thank you God it wasn't Sarah." and then I got the deodorant ( yes, it turns out deodorant rolled on a bee sting takes out the sting instantly). I gave her some benadryl and all was well again. Finally though some signs of bees. Lets hope they are healthy and hearty ones- I thought later.

I think I mentioned my kids are on a scream fest lately. I am not sure why, but WOW do my ears hurt. I finally decided to show no mercy and send them directly to their rooms as soon as I heard them screaming outside, Fred promised to follow suit. Last Saturday there was a lot of howling in the sandbox. We were refereeing fights all day long among the younger half,, trying not to lose patience and failing pretty badly. Finally Sarah started screaming and howling and when she got to the door Fred opened it and sent her straight to her room, bodily escorting her there. 

After about 2 minutes I noticed she wasn't calming down, I walked to the bedroom door and opened it and she held up her hand and said "Mommy a bee bit me!"  I almost came apart inside. One whole year of rehearsing, and when the time came we blew it and sent her to her room. 

So, I scooped her up and carried her to the bathroom  realizing of course after 2 minutes she was still alive and not having any further reaction, so she mustn't in fact be deathly allergic. Phew! I still did deodorant and benadryl but now I was so grateful she wasn't dead. (None of you need to tell me what an awful Mother I am for this incident, I am much harder on myself than any of you could possibly dream of.And before you ask-ah-poor Fred.)

I tell you this story because I thought now, that knowing my daughter was not allergic, bees would be a wonderful sight to behold...until today. The kids told me there were bees at the garbage can, lots of them. I made a mental note, again happy they seem to be repopulating. John Paul came in and also told me there were lots of bees by the garbage can. I made another note to ask Fred to check on them after supper. As luck would have it one of the kids made mention of it while at the table and so I was able to quickly ask Fred to check it out before we went to the gym tonight. I called all the kids into the classroom so we could watch thru the window. Fred opened the lid on the first can and sure enough about 50 bees flew out. He searched around in his truck and found something to spray on them. When he opened the second can, boy was there a surprise. Literally about a thousand bees came swarming out. Fred went tearing across the yard. He quickly headed to the hardware store, where he found the 'bee stuff' packed in the front windows. Apparently there are bees all over town going wild in the last few days. The owner told Fred everyone is asking for it. 

I hope the bees make a come back. I also hope they'll stay out of my garbage and away from my kids-allergic or not.