Bees. The Final Chapter

I wrote three blogs back in July and August of 2008 about the invasion of bees in our storeroom. Yes it was over two years ago that I killed the bees. I intended to clean the bee mess out of the storeroom at that time but things got in the way. Evidently a LOT of things.

A few weeks ago Babs set the date. Last Saturday was it. We wanted it to coincide with the "Brush and Bulky" trash pick up for our neighborhood. The pick up isn't until next Monday but Babs and the other female folk are going to Phoenix Friday night and Saturday for "Time Out for Women" and she wanted to be here for the project. I'm all for women being in time-out so I agreed.

Aaron had come down from Apache Junction the night before with his kids so he could help before the football game. Jen is great with child and unable to travel or she would have been here to help too. Benjamin got here bum-early to begin the attack so the rest of us joined in the fray.

A quick description of the storeroom, It is built along the end of the house enclosing the space between the house and the alley wall. Roughly seven feet wide and thirty feet long with a small window at one end and a door at the other. At least I was pretty sure there was a window at the other end. I hadn't seen it for ten years or so since there is so much stuff crammed in there we only had access to the first six feet of space.

Some time ago Scott went on a search for the pieces of a triple bunk bed that I had made and got in far enough to bring out a board with roughly twenty pounds of honey comb attached to it. I was sure that all the contents at the front would be completely ruined by all the soapy water and poison crud I had pumped in there to kill the bees.

I was especially concerned about the doll house that Babs' dad had made for Amy. It is huge and a marvel of craftsmanship. Imagine my surprise when we found it relatively intact. It will need some repair and the honey cleaned out of it but, all in all, not bad. It and the rest of our "treasures" were saved by the fact that the floor is made of paving blocks that allowed the water to pass through the gaps between them.

We cleaned so much junk out that it would be too much for the Brush and Bulky guys so Dan and I took a truck load to the landfill on Monday and we still have plenty to put out for them this Saturday. The place is quite spectacular now with a pathway all the way to the other end. We filled the Shop Vac with dead bees and bird poop (I hadn't realized the window at the other end was open and had no screen). It does now. Many thanks to all who helped. It was TONS of work but well worth the effort.

The doll house is in the process of being cleaned and repaired. It now resides on the back patio to supply hours of enjoyment for our grand kids instead of languishing at the far end of the store room inaccessible to all but the termites.