The Wind

July 1, 2013. One year plus one day after the derechio, a devastating storm system which knocked out power for days to millions of people from Indiana to Maryland. It was a warm humid evening. There were a few green dots on weather radar but nothing to warrant concern - no watches or warnings. Yet the sky darkened, a breeze kicked up, and soon there was a heavy rain shower. The rain intensified; water soon overflowed the downspout. Thunder rolled, putting the dogs on edge.

I looked at the phone app radar and saw the culprit: the ugly red signature of a strong but very localized thunderstorm. The TV radar showed only a small green speck. Soon the wind was gusting wildly, whipping leafy tree tops back and forth. This usually means trouble. I saw the rain blow sideways, literally - first one way, then the other. The house shook. I briefly thought of moving all of us to the basement. Then the winds abated, and the storm moved on.

I walked outside with the dogs to look for obvious signs of damage. I saw only one large branch protruding from a hemlock tree. But the "branch" was the end of a one foot diameter cherry tree that fell from the woods into the hemlock. There was more bad news as we surveyed the nearby woods the next day - three areas where large trees fell. One clearing with planting area was an impenetrable jumble of twisted tree trunks and leaves. Three large trees had toppled into one another.

Our chainsaws would be busy for the next week. As we cautiously walked the dogs around this tree mess, a brown mass caught my attention. A closer look revealed a sizable hive of honeybees in a ruptured tree trunk. We called Todd, an MD who keeps bees, and Mike, the county bee inspector, to check the hive and attempt to remove them. Mike arrives first and animatedly educates us bee novices as he dons the white suit and gathers gear to inspect the hive. Bees are critical to our national food supply as they pollinate fruit-bearing plants and trees. He approaches the hive in his white bee suit and exclaims "Hello, girls!" Most bees are female, we learn. He is definitely in his element.

Soon Todd arrives. Together they examine the remains of the hive like crime scene investigators. Most of the honey is gone, "robbed out" by other bees in the area in two days since the tree fell. They look for the queen but do not find it. With the queen, they could easily move the bees into boxes for a win/win/win outcome. The bees survive, the bee guys add to their working bee population, and we are relieved of the swirling mass of anxious bees. Todd finally manages to move most of the survivor bees with a queen bee from his own bees. Mike collects the empty honey comb for wax. We are pleased to be rid of the bees, so we can start cleaning up the fallen trees.

It was another encounter with mother nature in Bittersweet Woods.