After more than 40 years of keeping bees, you might think I would know better than to leave a patio door open when there are honey-covered frames in the house—especially in late summer, when the scouts outnumber the foragers and any hint of nectar or honey becomes a target.

Apparently not.

Just two weeks ago, I inadvertently left the patio door open for a couple of hours while I was upstairs working out and putzing around. At one point I noticed some unusual bee activity outside my bedroom window, which overlooks the backyard, but I didn't think much of it.

That was my first mistake.

Eventually, Lucky and I headed downstairs for his afternoon feeding—and walked into a kitchen full of bees.

Not a few bees. Thousands of bees.

They were flying in and out of the open patio door and covering the frames of honey waiting for extraction in the breakfast nook, along with the sticky, wet frames that had recently been extracted.

Lucky stopped in his tracks. His hackles went up and he actually hissed at them.

Lucky knows about bees. And he knew perfectly well that they did not belong in his domain.

Go away, bees!

I was pretty much in agreement with Lucky.

In something approaching controlled panic, I grabbed the tubs containing the bee-covered frames, hauled them outside, and covered them with towels. I then used a bee repellant on the indoor surfaces that were still attracting bees.

And thus began the Great Bee Eviction.

For the next two and a half hours, I worked on getting several thousand uninvited guests back outside. Fortunately, the setting sun eventually came to my rescue. As evening arrived, the bees headed home to their colony.

I brushed the last few hanger-oners from the frames and brought everything safely back inside.

The house was once again mine.

Well, Lucky's.

In fairness, I can't really blame the bees. They were simply stealing back what I had stolen from them in the first place.

Touché, bees.

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