Part Panic, Two Hour Commute

I woke up in a part panic- about bees- not a full panic, that's for other stuff. Because I have 4 packages coming in, and 2 queens, so I am making two splits- so 6 new hives to house, and while I thought (at the time of ordering these) that I was flush with equipment- I've almost been sucked dry- a short stack of 4 or 5 supers left in my shop- having placed all the other 40 on hives (and it isn't even June). Plus- bottom boards, inner covers, tops....and I know its a lot of work- it takes all my spare time- so I ordered my equipment, and, well, it didn't show up. Its all backordered. Somewhere in California there are alot of people right now at at table saws, trying to keep up. I was told 2 to 3 weeks.

So- I thought, I'll make my supers and tops (sigh- I am sort of sick of doing that), and buy my foundation from Jim, in Snohomish. (When I talk to Jim, and see him, I always make a point to say my name, so at some point, he'll actually use it. After  many years of "Hi Jim, this is Matt Waddington..." it hasn't happened yet. )

Apparently, I am the primary buyer of his black foundation. Which I like. I ordered 400 from Mann Lake- but as noted, they shipped 0. At Mann Lake, it was 80 cents a piece. Jim charges $1.35, and I don't blame him. Still- it adds up- and to double the pain, I shoot there from a long afternoon drawing wealthy people's furniture (one of my jobs) - and it takes me two hours in traffic to get to him. Fortunately my mood doesn't degenerate until 1.5 hours into it.

At Jim's- a new beekeeper is picking up her bees, and asks him- how did everyone do last year? And Jim says"'well, its different for everyone every year. I had the worst winter ever- and lost a lot of hives, but Joe here did great".  (Joe is saying- yes I did and smiling!).

Which makes it like a random thing.

Like one might try hard, and do the right thing, but the outcome is still going to be random. Jim- the super knowledgeable expert loses most of his hives- and the young, bearded fresh faced newcomer does great.

I did pretty good. And pretty good, using the same tactics, the year before. But I don't really know how good. Good for me. Good is hives not dying. But Jim is saying its sort of a random act of God. Which I know he doesn't mean entirely- but there's something there.

Bees and dealing with bees is like the movie Starship Troopers- the book I guess (not as good as the movie!)- two totally different, intelligent, well adapted creatures, dealing with each other. And its complicated- and I don't mean in the USDA way, the science way, I mean just in the way an amateur beekeeper like me deals with this other species.

Which, in an odd full circle, comes back to a 2 hour drive through a mass of traffic.

Because what is bad traffic but the swarming of the human species? Maybe not the swarming- but the sign that we should be swarming- that we have spread out in density- and there just isn't that much room left. And driving to this very small rural town- to pick up a some bee equipment- and being stuck in this endless, dense, swarm of traffic- and pretty much just being one little lost bee in the whole migration- well, it made me aware that I have no idea about the bigger picture- or what its all about- or how it is that we get to get through this. Bees sort of do- with our help- but who's helping us?

There are enough doomsayers- and that's not really what I am saying. I am saying a personal thing. About being very small in a very big world, that is pretty much opaque to understanding- except in the most brutal way.

I have at least 8 more thoughts about this- but need to think more on it.

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