Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Missing Cat and Honey Bees

If you follow us on Facebook, you may already know that Honey Delite has been missing for approximately a week now. She was last seen Monday of last week. She was meowing and ready for her breakfast as usual. Since she's a "working cat", she always follows my father around the nursery while he's working. He says that she follows him "like a little dog".

Can't you see I'm hard at work with these flowers? 

I know it's dangerous being an outdoor kitty, so I am very worried about her. There are so many things that can happen and I just hate thinking through all the scenarios...

In other news, we did have a little mischief here last week with some honey bees. You see, we have had this beehive on our property for a very long time. At least 5+ years. Their hive is underneath a building behind some rose bushes. The bees have always been fine and never caused any trouble. That is until this summer.


They started to sting people for no reason, which is a sign that they were hybridizing into the Africanized honey bees, also known as "killer bees". It's possible for normal and friendly honey bees to breed with the Africanized bees and start to change over time. This is what I suspect happened to them.

My dad was mowing the field one day on the tractor and the bees got pretty angry about it. Thousands of bees swarmed and were very angry. He eventually locked himself in the barn and wasn't hurt. Since people stop to buy plants at the nursery, the bees attacked those people who got out of their cars too.

This is our tractor. That's baby Violet and her Grandpa. 

A beekeeper came the next day to take the hive. The beekeeper is returning tomorrow because there's rumor that maybe he didn't take the queen with him. I like bees, but I worry too much about that hive with my kids and dog.

Hopefully the bees didn't have anything to do with Honey's disappearance, but I am thinking that scenario is unlikely. So please keep her in your thoughts, and I'll try to keep you posted. I am very worried!

If anyone else has any good bee stories, please share!

41 comments:

  1. Oh no we hope Honey turns up. Funny we did that story about the bees being drunk on rotting apples and getting angry. Maybe???? Have a terrific Tuesday.
    Best wishes Molly

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    1. Oh yea, I almost forgot about the drunk bees. I doubt that's the case here. They've slowly been turning mean over the summer. I guess it was only a matter of time before they really started getting bad.

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  2. We are sorry to hear that Honey is missing :( The mom assumes you've done this, but be sure to call your local shelters and animal control regularly to see if she's turned up. Also, you might want to put out flyers in the neighborhood and offer a little reward for her return if you can.

    I've been through this. Milita disappeared out the window some years ago. I was extremely upset. She was my first (and only) cat at the time. I put flyers up and went around calling for her, but she didn't turn up. Thankfully, she came back in the evening and cried and cried because she couldn't get back in the window!!

    She was missing for all of eight hours or so, but it was terrifying!!

    I will send good vibes to Honey so she will hopefully find her way back to you very soon. <3

    Hugs and purrs,
    Carmine, Milita, Jewel, and Mom Sierra

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    1. Thanks friends. I did check the shelter website and craigslist last night, but no luck there. I'd put out fliers, but I don't really live in a neighborhood exactly... Glad that Milita returned to you :)

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  3. Oh no. I'm so sorry about Honey and sure hope she turns up very soon. Fur Everywhere has some good advice.

    That's really interesting about bees but also scarey. I didn't know they could hybridize. African bees are scary!

    Again, I sure hope Honey is ok.

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  4. Oh no, we sure hope she turns up, perhaps she's on the scent of a big rat. Paws crossed. We didn''t know as we are soooo behind xxooxxx

    Mollie and Alfie

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    1. Well, maybe guys. She didn't strike me as quite the huntress though ;) I only posted something about it on Facebook late last week so no worries.

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  5. We hope Honey turns up soon. I am with you on liking bees, but that sounds like a scary situation! Lee and Phod

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  6. Oh No, i hope Honey comes home soon. And bummer about the bees, they are so good to have around.

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  7. Oh no, I hope she comes back soon! The lady of the house had a cat many years ago, who one time followed her a bit too far from home, and probably passed a bigger road when doing that. The cat was missing for some weeks even, but then a relative of the lady saw her cat in that neighborhood, maybe ~400-500 meters away from their home. They guessed the cat had gone over that road, maybe lost the smell/track since the traffic on the road was busier, and had stayed there. The cat had also been fed well by some nice people around there, so he was brought home in a sturdier state as he was before :-)

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    1. Oh my gosh what a story Carlos! It would be wonderful is HD returned...

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  8. Geeze, sorry to hear about Honey Delight. I hope she finds her way soon! Sucks about those bees. I'd be a hot mess working about my dog and kids (if I had any) with those bees for sure! Hope the beekeeper does it right next time he visits.

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    1. He's supposed to be here this afternoon. We'll see how it goes, but I'll be staying indoors!

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  9. Oh no, we are very sorry to hear that Honey Delite is missing. We hope that she turns up very soon unharmed!

    And that sounds like it was a very scary situation with the bees. Glad your dad was ok!

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  10. I can't believe Honey is still missing, Miss Ann. Can cats get lost or can they find their way home like us dogs? I sure hope she can find her way back to you and soon.
    *Cairn cuddles*
    Oz

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    1. If this were Kitty Kitty Meow Meow, I wouldn't be as worried because it was a normal thing for her. But I'm not so sure about how well Miss HD can survive on her own...

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  11. So sorry to hear about Sunny D, praying that she finds her way home xx

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  12. Such a beautiful girl. We hope she comes home soon.

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  13. Oh Ann, I'm so sorry to hear that Honey Delite is missing! I pray, pray, pray you find her soon!!

    Scary stuff with the bees - bees are AWESOME, but not when Africanized! Yikes! I hope they are taken care of soon - wouldn't want any of your family to be stung/attacked. Glad your dad was able to get away. Didn't know you guys had a nursery in your family - that is so cool.

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    1. Thank you Pam. I'm not so keen on the African bees either... My mom was stung earlier this summer and oh my gosh she must be allergic. Her foot was super swollen afterwards! We have about 5 greenhouses, several tree lots, and a few shaded plant areas on the property.

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  14. HD....pleez wear ever ewe iz, go home coz everee one bee worried bout ewe...even shiner !!! we will ask St Francis ta guide yur way just in case ya getted turned about at 5th and vine and ya reeely wanted 4th and vine....be safe, N come home...oh kay !!XXXXX

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  15. Oh, we hope Honey D shows up soon! We worry so about any missing kitty. We know you must have already done everything you can to find her, but wanted to mention, there is a lot of good info online on finding pet kitties. We'll be purring for her.

    Honey bees are on a terrible decline and its even worse when they Africanize. We need all the honey bees, so we are sorry for the loss of your colony too, but when they get mean, you can't take chances.

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    1. Thank you Oui Oui. I hope she shows up as well. It is sad to hear about the bees declining. We've let them live there for so long because they were nice bees. But after that event, it's just not safe to have them around anymore...

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  16. I hope Honey returns soon! My cat disappeared once for a week and when he came back he was covered in sand. I realized he just needed a beach vacation! But that was a scary week so I can only imagine your worry.

    I'm glad you're getting the bees taken care of. I'm not a fan of bees but I'm so worried about them - diseases, getting drunk, thousands dying. A swarm showed up at my former house when I was living in LA - it was really scary!

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    1. I just read about drunk bees on Molly's blog recently... weird stuff! While researching about them, I read that sometimes when they are moving to a new location, a swarm will appear and just kind of make themselves at home on a tree branch or something.

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  17. Been checking FB all week to see if Honey Delight has come home :-( Really don't like reading about your bees... so dangerous! Hope the beekeeper gets that sorted out pronto!

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    1. He was supposed to come yesterday afternoon, but I didn't go out there yesterday to check and see. Will find out today I suppose.

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  18. I hope your hunny returns soon!

    One time I got home from work and my human honey had told me that when he came home from work he found Jewel outside hiding in the bushes, terrified. He hadn't seen her right away, he was inside on the computer and our other cat was staring at the ground through the window behind the computer. so My honey looked down and there our kitty was! Apparantly she had ripped the screen and fallen out. We have no idea how many hours she was outside but she acted like she was bad when he finally brought her back inside, she kept her tail between her legs. We thought maybe she was hurt but by that night she was back to her old self. We think she might have been trying to chase a bunny, got out, and then didnt know how to get back in!

    Another time when we were in an apartment building our Harley got out into the hall when we were doing laundry and gave himself a panic attack. He made it up a flight of stairs, and had no idea how to get down them because he had never seen stairs before. He just sat their meowing. We walked up and got him, but he still used to try to sneak out into the hallway all the time!

    I hope your bee problem gets solved soon!

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    1. Thanks so much Diane! I am glad that your Jewel hadn't traveled too far :)

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  19. oh no,We shall pray for Honey Delight and her safe return,xx Rachel and Speedy

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  20. Oh, I was so hoping that Honey Delite had come back home by now. I know just how worried you are. Did you search different places she might have gotten trapped or locked in ? I have heard with cats that they often get stuck in places. And sometimes they have you all worried, and they just stroll back in like nothing happened! Hope for good news soon.
    That is awful with the bees...I'm glad you were able to get them out of there, and that no one got hurt.

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    1. Yea, my dad said that he checked the back of the barn because I guess she's been locked in there overnight before. She wasn't in there though =/

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  21. This is horrible news! A week is too long! Poor Honey Delite I hope she finds her way home as soon as possible! :(

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  22. Hope Honey finds her way back soon!

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  23. We were heartbroken to hear of Honey missing as we have enjoyed her pictures so much and since mom loves cats so much she would love to have a cat like her. We try to understand that she is an outdoor cat but they don't have very long life expectancies. Maybe letting her be an outdoor cat is what she was happiest as but if she was my cat I don't think I could have let her outdoors. I had a cat that I let out and I really regret it. He had some close calls and ended up being a city cat, but I still tried to let him out because I knew he loved it so much. I have only had indoor only cats since.

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    1. I think she would have been happier inside Dolly. But, I adopted her from the feral barn cat program on behalf of my father who needed some cats for his barn. She wasn't really a feral, just a super scared owner surrender that was going to be euthanized because she was unadoptable. Once I got her home, I realized that she didn't seem very outdoorsy. She quickly adjusted though. I always did just want to take her into the house to live because she was so sweet. And I would have, but Shiner and cats don't mix. Which is the reason why I don't have an indoor cat right now :(

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  24. Oh noes! I am only reading this now and I hope you found her now!
    I am going to check your FB page. Please keep us posted!
    Lots of purrs

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