Bee-atrice is looking good. Okay, the yard sign on her head isn’t too flattering, but it was all I could come up with in a hurry. We will fix that later.
When Bee-atrice became aware of her beauty she developed a real attitude. Her long golden hair, the color of the setting sun, a beauty mark on her face, and the fact that she was carved out of a hard wood by a professional wood carver made her vain. In conversations, the iPod would always be pulled out to show how she was carved. She would tell people. “I’m special. I was carved out of myrtlewood which only grows on the Oregon Coast and in the Holy Land.” We told her the brochures weren’t exactly true, myrtlewood also grew along the California Coast, and the kind in the Holy Land was a different variety. She would counter with the fact that “Myrtlewood” is the only wood still in use as a base “metal” for legal tender, “besides my mouth was carved ‘open’ so I can sing.” I think she fashioned herself as some kind of diva or something.
We decided to place her near Bee Beard. We just figured they’d hit it off because they had so much in common. One look at Bee Beard and she realized her open mouth was carved to let bees pass in and out. She was shocked and humiliated…stomped off in a huff. I couldn’t figure it out. Bee Beard has never complained about anything, not even once. He’s been through a whole year of wind, rain, and bees. It’s true we’ve never smoked him or bothered him much, I just figured Bee-atrice would be the same. Not so…“I don’t want to be next to him and I don’t like bamboo. It attracts wasps. “ We ended up promising her a one of a kind Easter hat and face her into the sun so it could shine on her beautiful golden hair. She gave in to the flattery, but there was no way she would agree to be near Bee Beard or even to look at him.
The bees first couple of nights were spent here in the corner of log.
I’ve always wanted to note the temperature of the hive.
I’m surprised the temp is only 83 F (28 C) I wish I could see inside better, but I’ll have to wait until the combs are visible in the observation window.
A short video show bees already bringing in pollen on Day 6
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 
Very nice carving job but while Bee-Beard seems kind of happy to be buzzing, she seems distressed to be full of bees.
Actually she’s coming around to the fact that she gets 2-3 more hours more sun than Bee Beard. She’s growing accustomed to the bees. They keep her warm at night, but she hasn’t gotten used to them crawling on her face yet. “They tickle.”
Looks stunning Pat, no wonder she is the most looked at photo on your ipad 🙂
I’ve still got to come up with some kind of cute hat for her…one that will let the hive ‘breathe’ through the top, but keep the rain out. My wife has this concept of a bird nest hat. I wanted to play around with that idea, but with the bees flying around, it’s a little intimidating. 🙂
She knows it too.
I just love these. I keep telling everyone about them. In fact, told a friend today who said she had been put off of beekeeping by intense beekeepers. However, Beatrice does sound a bit temperamental….
Except for the lawn sign hat, she doesn’t have much to complain about. She gets the best sun, dressed up with colorful flowers, and has a huge cavity for bees (to keep her warm in winter.)
I promised a her decent bonnet and will provide that after the rush of garden planting is done.
So beautiful and unique!
I would love to find someone to make me a hive like this!
Brian Vorwaller is a real artist…a cut above ordinary chainsaw carvers. Here are some of his wood carving creations.
http://www.artistextreme.com/portfolio.html