Today we watched the World Cup match between USA and England that ended in a 1-1 draw – Go USA!. Following the match, we headed to the Annual Summer Market held by the Art Students League of Denver. Many artists exhibit their work for sale at this event. Our daughter, Nicola, also attends classes here regularly. She publishes her exploits on her blog Plum2Paint. During the night and this morning we had several inches of rain, so we did not know what to expect at the market.
Along the way, we met Marygael. Angela thought she may be in a hazmat suit! But no, there were bees “swarming” in the neighborhood, according to one of the residents. She had arrived to remove the bees.
Marygael
Here is the tree that was wrapped in bees.
Wrapped By The Bees
Marygael proceeded to give us interesting information about bees. She is a member of the Bee Keeping Society. You can find more information at DenverBee.org. The bees had wrapped around the tree due to the cold weather — they were most probably looking for a suitable place to setup a hive. Here is the vacuum cleaner with hoses that is used to recover the bees.
Vacuum Cleaner And Hoses
Marygael attached the hood and donned a pair of gloves.
Marygael Suiting Up
Earlier this week, she had cleared out the bees from speakers at the Sting concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater, where she needed to use the small hose. Here, she removed the small hose and proceeded to vacuum the bees with the larger diameter hose.
Vacuuming The Bees
After completing the operation, Marygael recovered two of the bees; a worker and a drone. The drone is the larger of the two bees and is a male that fertilizes females — they do not have a stinger. The workers are female bees and do have stings.
Drone And Worker
The bees were vacuumed into the vacuum cleaner. Marygael opened the box to reveal the bees, safely sucked into their temporary home.
Bees Safely Stowed
There are an estimated 14,000 bees here that Marygael will relocate near Fort Collins. We said goodbye to Marygael and proceeded to view the artwork and meet the artists at the market.