Pee, trees, and bees

Thank you Jo for pointing me to peeonastick.com. Not only did I find that I was using an unreliable test, but I learned that it's sensitivity is only 25. With my usually low beta numbers and bad doubling times, it is unlikely that I would see a positive result until my actual beta day. So, back to the drawing board.

In other news...I've got bees! As in honeybees, a whole buzzing nest of honeybees. We have a very large 200 year old black walnut in our backyard that has three trunks branching out of a single base. Or I should say, had three trunks. Now it has only two. The third is lying on the ground right now. The poor tree is sickly :( Since the base has three trunks, it has left an opening in the center, allowing moisture and insects to wreck havoc on two of the three trunks. My husband and I were in the process of trying to figure out what to do about it, cut it down? call a tree service? put it up for auction on ebay? when one of the trunks came crashing to the ground three days ago.

While playing in the backyard with the kids, I noticed a low hum, like an ac unit running in the background. Flying around a hole in the tree that would have normally been at least 20 feet in the air, was a squadron of bees...or wasps....I wasn't sure. In any case, I knew that no one was going to be going near that tree with a chainsaw anytime soon.

My husband asked questions of some guys at work, and it turns out somebody knew a guy who knew a guy who deals with honey bees. So...last night D went out and took some pictures and emailed them to the bee dude, who is now coming here on Saturday to do a bee nest-ectomy. I'm hoping that I can at least get a chunk of honey comb out of the deal. At least the bees will be safe in a new home. Honeybees have been falling prey to some kind of mite or fungus that is killing them off in droves, and from the pictures we took it appears that this hive is miraculously healthy! (when they are sick a white fuzz appears on their faces, and none of the bees in the picture appear to be afflicted according to bee dude). Yeah! The bees will have a new home and we'll be safe to saw to our hearts' content.