There's Never a Dull Moment Around Here

Rick was home with us today, as he flew in this morning from a business trip. Around lunch, he hollered, "Ami, come look at all these bugs outside!" I met him in the breakfast area and looked out the window to see thousands of these "bugs" flying around our maple tree. I squinted this-a-way and that-a-way before I said, "Rick, those aren't just bugs. They're bees!"

Within a couple of minutes, they settled onto a branch of the maple just ten feet from our back door. What does any good blogger do with a sudden bee infestation? She takes the camera outside!
At first, we thought they were on a beehive or something, but they were actually settled onto each other. Thousands of bees takin' a little break on my tree that formed a huddle about the length and width of my thigh. (And I'll readily admit that my thighs aren't small.)

Apparently, the place to be is my backyard. Come one. Come all.

We made several calls to try to find help with our newest residents. We were a little afraid to do something about them ourselves, since Rick's recent heart attack taught us about the fragility of life.

FYI, the humane society does not help with bees.

Because I'm full of information today, would you like another FYI? It's cheaper to have the bees killed than to have them moved elsewhere.

As we waited for the exterminator to begin his spraying, Garrett watched with great anticipation. (Jack was napping, and Liam, a.k.a. the bug lover, was at school.)
Winston waited at our feet with this silly look.
"Hey, Mom, what'ssss goin' on out there," my furry boy asked.

Winston, the exterminator is here!
He sprayed what looked like a gallon of poison at our tree before he was satisfied that our grass was covered with dead bees.
Except for the Lone Ranger.
Who is now smashed on my porch.

Before you bee lovers write hate mail, please consider the fact that my husband is extremely allergic to all things outdoors. His heart attack three weeks ago was probably caused by an allergic reaction, so we just weren't willing to take a chance of him getting stung once, much less thousands of times. The exterminator also said the bees could easily be disturbed and reposition themselves into eaves of our house, so we really weren't willing to wait and see where they decided to settle next.