Battling Bees

That's right! I have been fighting with honey bees like crazy this last week. It has been a total pain to deal with since I have been in such a rush to get all of the unpacking done or at least as much as I can before my parents arrive. What basically happened is on the Weds. a few bees got into the house (at the time I thought that they were hornets because they looked just like them). I was able to kill them but it was still really weired. The next day however I killed 15 bees in just a half an hour! I didn't know what to do because I was killing bees every 5 minutes or shorter and sometimes I would have to take out more then one at a time. Michael was at work when all of this was happening. I was so stressed out from trying to unpack and getting interrupted by bees did not help. I wanted to cry so bad but I wouldn't let myself for: one, I wanted to be able to see the bees; two, I didn't want Hope to freaked out as well; and three, I just didn't have time to do that. To be honest, Hope was actually a really big help in finding out where the bees were coming from. The bees were getting into the house by way of the fireplace. They would come down it and then try to get back outside through the windows but I would have them killed off before that. Some of the bees actually decided that they liked the apartment (or the smell of all the cleaners that I was using) and would stay in the dinning area. I had just cleaned off the kitchen table and I didn't want to spray it with the bug killer so I would use the bug killer container to hit the bees and stun them long enough for me to be able to get them. One bee landed on the table so I caught him in a cup and put him outside. Mind you I did not set him free to come down the fireplace again but put rocks on the cup and around it so that he couldn't get out. At that point I had, had enough and completely broke down and called Michael at work. I thought that he would be able to give me some kind of advice on what to do. Talking with him did help me feel better but he was unable to tell me what to do. I even told him that I had soaked the fireplace with the bug repellent spray and that wasn't even helping. Unfortunately a bee decided to fly down the fireplace again and I had to hang up on him to go and get it. Lucky for me I have such a sweet husband that called the apartment manager who hurried over to come and see what he could do to help. I was embarrassed about the mess but it really couldn't be helped with trying to unpack and all. The manager was at least able to tell me that it was not hornets but honey bees coming down the fireplace so that did make me feel a little better. He then said it would help if he knew where they were coming from which I was happy to answer that question for him. We then went outside, we saw a bee get in threw the top so he agreed with me on that point (I was not looking forward to finding that bee inside). Then he told me that the apartment right next to us had this same problem two years ago. The bees would come for only a couple of days and then no more. All they were trying to do is find a new home. Knowing that did not make me feel any better because this was my new home and I didn't want to share it with any bugs! The manager said to take a plastic bag, one that you can see threw, and cover our fireplace with it and that he would get someone to come on Friday to take a better look. As soon as he left, which was very soon after that, I ran inside found the bee and killed it and then got right to work covering the fireplace.I think that I did a pretty good job of covering it by myself. Since I have done that no more bees have come into the house but we have had them in the fireplace. Somehow we were able to kill two of them in there, don't ask. So then Friday comes and no one came over to look at the fireplace or the bees! I waited all day! Then if that wasn't enough my vacuum belt brakes! I was going crazy because that was the day that my family was coming and all I knew was that it was going to be at night. I had no idea what time they would be getting here so I called and no one picked up. Eventually they did call me back and it was late enough that I thought that the bee man would have come by and taken care of it but since he didn't show up I was glad that I at least had some protection for my family. I also was lucky enough to have such a nice neighbor as to let me borrow their vacuum so that I could have a clean house for my family. I did tell them about the bees and to watch their own fireplace to make sure none came down it. They were very thankful for me informing them because two members of their family are allergic to bees. But somehow the day did end pretty good. I got the house clean and unpacked enough for my family to stay they night comfortably. Michael and I took them to the mall and everyone seemed to have a great time there. That was really all we were able to show them since they needed to get to bed because they had to be on the road early the next day. I wish they could have stayed longer because I had so much more that I wanted them to see and more I wanted to do with them but you get what you can. They all said that we had a very nice place and gave me some advice about what to do with the yard too. I sure can't wait for more of my family to visit us one day (*hint, hint*). Friends are always welcomed too (*smile*).