Butterflies chased one another as I knelt down to weed. As my knees started to lock in place I decided I’d been crawling around long enough and with all my weight on my hands I slowly got into a standing position. I pulled out the hose from the side of the house and turned on the sprinklers. I then headed inside. Before I closed the door on the garden I took one last look at the sprinkler. A bulbul was sitting on the edge of the garden chair shaking his fluffed up feathers enjoying the shower.
I ran to get my camera and quickly set it up. The black bird with the red butt was still quivering, and vibrating when I looked into the camera screen. And just as quickly he was gone, up into the tree where I once again focused and just as quickly he flew behind the branch where now I cold only see his beak and tail feathers.
Leaning against the door frame, I waited. Sitting on the tile behind me hoping I would put the camera down and take him for a walk, Max waited too. We both waited. The bird alluded me just as the walk alluded Max. I thought why not photograph the butterflies.
Once again I set up the lens, only this time I walked out to the purple tree where a butterfly was skimming the branches. Again I was dealing with a camera shy creature. Each time I found my focus the butterfly flew off. Each time I found the butterfly it was off to another branch. I did manage to get a few shots but not a good one.
Shy Butterfly
Meanwhile as I’m fussing over the butterfly, carpenter bees keep blocking my lens as they too, wanted to get to the flowers. Damn pesky bees, I thought. Then I remembered what I had done to the disenfranchised workers.
It had just been a few weeks back when I had started to clean up the euphorbias on the side of the house.As I cleared away the weeds I noticed that one of the trees was in sore need of a clipping. Put a clipper in my hands and I’m like that dreaded beautician that you’ve requested to trim your long locks and when she’s finished you look like a Mohican. I started with a few clips here and there, then my eyes glazed over and before I knew it I was cutting the bigger branches off the trunk.
What My Euphorbia usually look like
Before I could take notice of the hole in the tree, I had cut into the house of the carpenter bees. Previously they had killed one of my trees as they set up house in it. As soon as I cut it down the bees took up residence in the healthy tree right next to it. As I looked at the row of trees I thought I might as well sacrifice the tree so that they would not keep moving down the line. A newspaper article I had read said to try not to disturb these bees as they were just about the only ones left to do any kind of pollinating due to the disease that was killing off Hawaii’s honeybees.
Where the bees took up residence
What the euphorbia looks like after they move in
But I guess the rues had not worked as the bees had moved down to the tree that I had just cut into. A black carpenter bee crawled out looking around trying to figure out why there was so much light inside her house. I then realized why the tree’s trunk looked so dried out. Then it happened.
Max who was sniffing for lizards right next to me saw me jump. He quickly ran over and started for the tree. I tried to grab him as the dreaded queen came out full of piss. I stopped dead. Should I reach for Max and take the chance of getting stung (and she was a huge one) or should I let Max get stung. I looked at him bravely trying to fight off the bees and made up my mind. I screamed for Max to get away but that only made him more curious about the tree. He started for her as she flew by. I didn’t want to hurt her but I wanted to get Max away. The article kept running through my head. “Don’t kill them. We need them. Stay away from the Queen she stings.”
Finely she landed on the ground and I tried putting a large rock over her carefully in hopes that I could trap her long enough to get all the debris out of there and let her go. I quickly started picking up branches and shoving them into bags as the black bees kept flying around. I was almost finished when I looked behind and there was the queen headed for me. I picked up a branch and kept swatting while shaking my leg at Max trying to keep him away from her. Once again she landed on the dirt. This time I picked up the rock and slammed it on her. I had to it was her or Max.
I felt so guilty. Slowly I lifted the rock and looked under to see if maybe she had escaped. No. I had killed her. Her workers were flying around the now cut down house and looked so lost. I wondered how they would take it once they realized their leader was dead. They flew from one branch to the other totally forlorn, I watched them zig zagging in and out trying to figure out where their house had gone. I was sick.
I went into the house and tried to forget about what I had just done. I didn’t even want to tell anyone. How could I have been so cruel? All week I checked the purple tree. There were no bees. I was so depressed. Not only had I killed their leader I had killed my tree. I imagined all of Monsanto’s Frankenstein seeds flying over from across the road and pollinating their dreaded canola plant in my garden then suing me for growing their patented plants without their permission. And all the time the bees would be across the street laughing at me as they pollinated the neighbors garden.
Now, here I was today, trying to get them out of my way so that I could take the photo of the beautiful butterfly, when I realized that this pesky little bee that was blocking my view was the most beautiful of them all. As I took its photo (after all there would be no tree if not for her,) I thanked her for coming back Maybe that’s all it wanted. Recognition for work well done and maybe next time keep my clippers in check.
It's good to Bee forgiven
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