Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Recycling Bees

How many of you recycle? Where we live in California it actually pays to recycle, if not for the environment it also gains us back a bit of the cash we have to pay for a CRV (California Redemption Value) fee when we purchase drinks, yes there is an extra fee added to anything it seems in glass or plastic bottles, or aluminum cans and this fee is recovered when you recycle.

When we lived in New Mexico we tried saving aluminum cans for a while and got all excited when the price went up to twenty five cents a pound and cashed in what seemed like a truckload, yes we had a whole storage building full of aluminum cans and I stomped, crunched, smashed, gave up and threw all I could get into plastic garbage bags and hauled them down to cash in on the millions we were going to make on this truckload of cans, about thirteen dollars later we decided that it was hardly worth it to save cans anymore, now since we moved to California the prices are way different, heck today I had a bag of crunched aluminum cans, a bag of plastic bottles, and a partial bag of glass bottles, fifty six dollars later we stand by our decision that it is well worth it to recycle each one here and not just the aluminum.

The environmental factor that attempted to get in our way the last couple days has been something so small but yet so scary, especially in large groups, the large swarm of bees that appeared since the weather warmed up following our couple weeks worth of cool weather and rain has been anything but amazing. Day before yesterday there were a couple bees on the apples we were storing on the patio table for the horses, we didn’t think much about it until later on in the day the apples appeared to be moving, finding a rotten apple in the bunch I decided this was the reason, yesterday morning Cindy left a coke can on the porch when she left for work and her Dad coming out onto the porch said it was completely covered with bees, he took the can and said when he dumped it more bees flew out than coke.

I went around the house to our recycle cans to find a swarm of bees all over the area, they were landing on the lid of the aluminum can storage container and crawling underneath the handle, OK now I am hoping this swarm was not taking up residence in our can like the swarm I told you about in Bring On The Bees. In my professional beekeeping experience I pulled out all the stops and got into bee moving mode, I hooked up the jet nozzle on the water hose and sprung into action, this really got the swarm stirred up and you will be glad to know I didn’t get myself stung nor did I get the bees to move along, so I hung up my Bee moving hat and conceded myself into waiting until way after dark to go out and relocate the cans and bottles into clean trash bags, after dumping all the water that had somehow gotten inside them, we tied up all the bags and placed them inside the garage, took the cans around back and washed them out really good leaving the bees with no place to swarm onto in the morning.

This morning the bees were swarming around looking for their sugar fix so to say, when the garage was opened they soon found the sealed bag and actually helped me transport it to the van, not that they were much help but they did add a spring into my step, Cindy seemed to be skipping herself as she helped to carry the bags to the van, we got everything loaded and made it out of the driveway with no stings and no extra passengers in the van, when we got to the recycle center guess what we saw, yes there were bees swarming all around and I was thinking to myself that they had followed us, I really felt sorry for the young man working there because of the large swollen lip he had to which he explained the cause as being a bee sting, the man in the office said all of his workers had suffered bee stings and he had people out looking for the hive.

We made it back home with our earnings to which we will use to take Cindy’s parents out for lunch, right now there are no bees swarming around our house and yes the recycle cans are still turned upside down around back of my shop, I’m really not in that big of a hurry to bring back the bees right now, although recycling is definitely worth it no matter the cost and we will continue to do so, in your area it would be worth it for you to check into doing the same, just for the next few days I am taking a break and storing the cans inside the house until our swarm of bees recycle themselves to another location.

20 comments:

  1. We recycle almost everything.....even our 4L milk jugs (on which we pay a 25cent tax for every one purchased).
    Love the bee involvement....and hope your dinner out was well worth the effort:)

    Hope your week is going well!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are right Jimmy! It does pay to recycle here in the golden state. We not only recycle our own, but our house is a collection point for cans and bottles for the pet rescue my wife works for. At a nickle a or bottle, the money adds up quickly.

    As to the bees, we had a huge swarm take residence in our yard a short time ago. I was told by "vector control" that bees seem to be making a bit of a comeback lately. Bees have been dying off like crazy and it has the agriculture industry in a very worried state. simply put, if the bees disappear, it famine time! I'm not usually as lucky as you with the stings. I've been stung so many times that I can't remember. Not too long ago I got stung 8 times in the face when I accidently got too close to a wasp nest. those suckers, just keep coming...

    Our county (orange) is big time into recycling home trash. Each house now has 3 large trashcans for various items.
    great post Jimmy! spread the word...

    ReplyDelete
  3. "recycling is definitely worth it no matter the cost and we will continue to do so, in your area it would be worth it for you to check into doing the same."

    Yes, I'll say...for fifty six dollars. WOW! That's amazing, Jimmy!

    I'm wondering if they do that here in my city?

    I try to recycle, by placing things in the recycle bins we have in my apartment building basement.

    And now...about all those BEES! Holy cow, I guess cause I'm in the northeast and experiencing cooler weather at the moment, I'll be safe, do you think?

    Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

    Fun and informative post, my friend!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello Dawn, Dinner will be nice, looking at going to a place of Mom’s choosing on Thursday to add to the wonderful week we are having so far.

    A Wonderful week to you also.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey Pat, I am impressed with you and your wife’s efforts as a collection point for the shelter, I am proud of you my Friend. I have been lucky in avoiding a sting and hope your luck changes in regards to them also.

    We have the three cans for sorting our trash here also, adding the three for our cans and bottles that’s six at our house, it’s all worth it whether or not we make a dime but the extra money does make it nice.

    Thank You Pat, I appreciate you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ron, I am sure they have recycling centers somewhere in your area, we actually have places set up in the grocery store parking lots that take in the cans and bottles.

    Placing the items in the bins for recycling is a big step my Friend and making that effort rather than throwing them into the trash shows that you care and this will help a lot more than you realize.

    Now for the bees you should be safe in your area unless the bees have broken out their little winter coats and are just waiting for an unsuspecting coke can.

    Thank You Buddy!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have gotten much better about recycling. When I think about my kid's future I know it is necessary. But the bees...ooohh...I am scared of bees. I run for the hills when I see bees. At least they were not "killer" bees!! I suppose the fear came from when i was young and was stung. The pain mentally lasts a lot longer than the actual sting. Your recycling efforts inspire. I am going to try to better about that.

    ReplyDelete
  8. HI Jimmy-- recycling is an awesome idea. Here in Florida they are prety slack in either providing us with recycling bins or places to recycle.. You can bet your bottom dollar, if there were more places available, Lynnie would defintely be in line.

    Great [post to spread the word.. and hey, watch out for those darn bees..ouch!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Jimmy, It's funny because as I'm reading this I can hear the "beep, beep, beep" backwards alert, of the recycling truck outside our door. It comes every wednesday, making recycling easy. We also have machines at the grocery store that you can bring your cans to and collect 5 cents a can. I applaud you for haling your cans away ESPECIALLY with the bees! Bees scare me.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jimmy--Enough bees in there will weigh down the cans a little more and bring you even more cash! Think about it!

    We proudly recycle here!

    ReplyDelete
  11. We are not required to recycle here, but most people do since we are lucky to have curbside pick up along with the regular trash. We are also lucky that Goodwill, Purple Hearts and Salvation Army all do pick ups in our neighborhood. Makes donating just as easy as throwing things out!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hey Susie, You make a very good point about recycling for our kids future because we do have to save resources now and recycle so they will have these things in the future.

    The bees do scare me I just don’t want them to know this Ha Ha and “The pain mentally lasts a lot longer than the actual sting.” Is so true, I was actually stung on top of my ear the day before pictures were taken in the 10th grade, yes that picture brings back the pain.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yes Lynne, It seems certain areas are more apt to make facilities and pickup points more available than others, where we lived in New Mexico they seemed to make easier to throw things away than recycle so very few people there recycled, hopefully where you live will soon change and get in line with the recycling program, heck you could be the first to donate :^)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hey Shannon, It sounds like they make it easy for you to recycle where you live, that is so great and if more communities were set up like this think how much more would miss going into the landfill.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Betty, at the rate we were going it seems that about five pounds could have been taken off for “Bee Weight” They most likely didn’t notice them due to swatting at the ones buzzing around our heads.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hello Cocotte, I think most organizations will do a pickup if you call them, but I suppose it depends on where you live. Having a regular pickup schedule like you mentioned would most likely bring in a lot more donations for these folks if they would take time to do it, and the curbside pickup for the recyclables is a great idea, I’d like to see more communities do this.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I always recycle...dang, I wish I got paid to do it!!!!!!! I'm not a fan of bees.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hey SuziCate, We have one polycart that is set aside for recyclable items only in addition to the bottles and can containers, this one is picked up the same day the trash is weekly and it is amazing how many items go into this container rather than the trash, pretty impressive in my opinion.

    I'm proud that you make the extra effort to recycle and I bet there is a place where you can at least turn in your aluminum cans for a bit of cash if you choose.

    ReplyDelete
  19. We have three recycling bins, one for glass, one for cans and one for paper and cardboard. Other refuse goes on the "heap" for spreading on the garden during the Spring (including leaves that are swept up).
    As for bees, well, we get our fair share of them too. Smoke makes them drowsy so it is easier to kill them off when they get out of hand, but we still have hives so we have our share of honey.
    We don't get paid for recycling refuse though.
    Hugs to you both.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hello Heather, It looks like you actually recycle the majority of the things you use, it makes you feel pretty good and I am proud of each and eveyone of you who have given me your opinion on this and I can see we have a good bunch here.

    Thanks to you all and Hugs back at you Heather

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by, jump in and tell me what you think, or just say Hi, I really appreciate your comments.