chelsea cookSometimes progress isn’t. There is a new way of treating bee hives to kill the horribly dreaded varroa mite. Ok, more on that in a minute or five but I have purchased a device that sends a vapor up through the hive to kill all exposed mite. It is not only possible, but in my case it is desired. The battery charger is used to heat the device which then vaporizes the powder and sends the vapor up throughout the hive. One small problem. I think Herself must have hidden my battery charger as I have looked the garage over several times and cannot find it. There have been other things down through the years where I have noticed things missing but I haven’t said anything specific but in this case I am just left wondering.
So, I went to the small box store that has stuff where men can go in and be “men” without any of that feminine side and other sissy stuff. NO, don’t tell me about women knowing and doing all that stuff as well as men. Just because I have had my lack of knowledge shown up by some smart aleck woman who knew much more than she should have been allowed doesn’t mean...oh, nevermind. My battery charger is gone so I went looking for a new one. First, I found a used one in the used tool store but that one was about the size of my Smart car and was priced at over $200. I did a pass and headed to the new stuff store.
The owner of the used guy stuff store told me the new battery chargers may not work the way I wanted as they had something built in. He was correct. A brand new out-of-the-box charger just sat there humming at me as it couldn’t read the device and said the battery was charged. I told it what level of intelligence it had and forcefully explained its parentage but it made no difference. No juice to the misting device. Eight miles in Tulsa traffic is not fun in the best of circumstances but to return a perfectly good item is less than desirable. Fortunately I had to pass by my favorite wine seller so the trip was not a total wash out. But the point is that the “improvement’ made the charger useless to me. Kinda like having a box full of VHS tapes over by your digital new television set.
Here is where you come in, I need a different battery charger. It took me about two hours to take the battery out of my car (not the Smart car, you do not want to hear what that involves) and as I have re-grown the skin on my knuckles and hands I do not want to do that again. Yes, it would be easier now that everything has been broken loose but so has my spirit. I need an older model battery charger. Even if I found a good used battery it would eventually have to be charged and how many times can one knock on the neighbor’s door and ask if his battery charger “can come out and play.” If you know of a battery charger a reasonable distance from Broken Arrow, OK then I would appreciate knowing about it. You can tell me at this address.
In the meantime it got cold here and my bees decided to take the day off. I did not panic as some would say but I was concerned. It has been a long time since i have seen it when no bees were flying, not even the stupid ones. I lifted the lid on the big hive’s box and found there were several bees. Many more than several and some came out to greet me. Our conversation was brief and to the point. Their point being, “Let us alone!” Of course, their exclamation point was actually quite pointed. Being very polite (my story and I am sticking with it) I quickly closed the lid and bid them to have a good day as I very quickly returned to my warm house.
Probably part of their problem was that I got honey from this hive last spring and, I suppose, I did not thank them properly. Next spring i shall try to do better if they make more than the small amount I got this year. Speaking of honey, did you know it never spoils. Archeologists found honey in an Egyptian pharaoh's tomb and it was still good after a thousand years or more. Some say the tomb was King Tut.