So, an update on the our son the beekeeper who moved to Alaska, Delta Junction specifically, about 100 miles south of Fairbanks. He wanted to get Russian bees, since they do okay, sort of, with Varroa mites, and are adapted to colder climates. Not available by mail in Alaska. He made a plan, and took orders from a lot of other beekeepers.
He flew from Alaska to Louisiana, rented a truck, drove to Mississippi, right into flash floods. Picked up some supplies at Harbor Freight, wading through ankle deep water in their parking lot. He bought some OSB and two-by-twos at Home Depot, and built a shell and shelf on the back of the pick-up. It stopped raining long enough for him to load the bees (120 packages). He had 50 hours from his arrival in Louisiana to get the bees to Seattle (40 hour drive) and onto a cargo flight to Anchorage. We met him in Ontario, Oregon, just over the state line from Idaho. We traded breakfast and lunches for hugs and three packages for our other beekeeping son. He was more or less on time getting to Seattle, but the cargo flight reservation, for 12:30 AM, had been made for the wrong day, the day before, after he had asked them to make sure of the date, since things get confusing around midnight. The flight was rescheduled for that day, but was grounded for mechanical problems. Bummer. Or maybe not. The extra day gave him time to dispose of the shell, get the bees loaded, return the truck, and, a little, sleep. If the plane had left on time, itâs not clear the bees would have made it aboard. Meanwhile, he had to deal with his own flight. He had gotten a cheap flight with the help of one of his bee customerâs frequent flyer miles, and it would cost three times as much to reschedule 
. When he went to make the changes, he discovered that he had mistakenly reserved for the wrong day, which with the cargo flight grounding, was now the right day 
.
The bees and beekeeper did fine on the trip to Anchorage, and he loaded them up in his truck for the 8 hour drive home. Itâs tough to give the bees enough ventilation, but not cool them down too much. When he got home, after the drive through 20F, -6C weather, a third of the bees were fine, a third had some losses, and a third were heaped on the bottom of the package cages. We didnât hear from him for about a week.
He felt like the only thing that might help was to feed them sugar syrup, and bring them into the house to try and warm them. He has a new baby, and a very patient wife. He picked up one of the bees of the bottom of one of the cages, put a bit of syrup on itâs âtongue,â and cupped it in his hands for a while. From cold, stiff, with legs folded tight under itâs body, it warmed, started buzzing, and flew off. After some time, nearly all the bees revived, he was able to move some around to balance the packages, and his customers are now happy, and he doesnât need to go to work at the local air base to pay off his customers.
Last year, he bought some packages from a local beekeeper, as many others did. He heard from some of the folks that participated in this latest operation, that this other supplier had told our sonâs customers that they were wasting there money, there was no way he could deliver live bees this way. Our son told us, âYou know, he was right. I couldnât do it. But God could.â
YEHOVAH knows what HEâs doing. Itâs a blessing to watch as your children learn to trust HIM, and see HIS faithfulness and power.
If youâre still reading, thanks for hanging in there!
. When he went to make the changes, he discovered that he had mistakenly reserved for the wrong day, which with the cargo flight grounding, was now the right day 
.
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