The Wood Bees

Oh, I forgot. I didn't mention the wood bees.

Every year at the farm we get wood bees congregating out back of the house. They get to be a real pest right about the first week of Turkey Season.

Wood bees are like bumble bees, but they like to dig 1/2 inch diameter holes in old wood and make nests in the walls of barns and old houses. They are not really aggressive, except in mating season. During their mating season, they get very territorial and will head butt just about anything that comes into their territory. Butterflies, birds, housepets -- you name it. I'll be sitting out back at sundown, nursing a scotch and THWAK! A bee goes and thumps me on the face.

So one late afternoon, I hadn't started drinking my scotch and I got a triple-header in the space of about a minute. I put the scotch down and went in the house and retrieved my H&R Topper in 12 GA and a case of really old #8's that I'd been saving for a special occasion.

Yes, that's right, I went bee hunting. Most of the time, I could get a bee every 2nd shot, but by the end I was getting some good strings. The trick was to wait until they hovered and then attempt to hit them with the wad. Most of the shots were a couple of feet off the ground and about 10 yards out. Some, however, were overhead shots taken at bees milling about the chimney and just off the edge of the house. The Topper has a full choke; I don't know if that helped or hindered the performance. Most bees simply evaporated, but I was able to retrieve 6 carcasses. I kept them on a window sill all Spring as a warning to the others.

The next weekend, my wife showed up and was surprised to see 12GA craters and spent shells all over the back yard. However, the absence of wood bees quickly changed her tune.

It's been two years now, and the wood bees have come back, but not in the profusion they were. They are also of much milder tempermant. I guess they know what's coming to them if they get out of line.