Behind the Lines: by David Heiller

David Heiller The bees are in the mail. Weaver Apiaries in Navasota, Texas, shipped them out on Monday. Later this week the phone will ring and postmaster Kathy Weulander will say in a voice that is not quite trembling, “Hi, Dave, your bees are here, would you come and get them, PLEASE!” This is how bees are mailed. David always got an  EARLY morning call when they arrived. Sometimes the call came the night before, from the mail sorting center. Everyone seems to get kind of nervous! The bees come in screened containers about the size and shape of a large shoe box. They look like a giant, buzzing ball. Somewhere in the middle is their love and hope and future — their queen. Kathy doesn’t have to worry in the presence of queens like that. Even when some of the bees get out of their container. That’s because they could care less about Kathy Weulander and David Heiller. No, any escapees will cling to the side of that screened box, from Texas and Oklahoma to Missouri and...