Ben Brewcat
04-13-2009, 11:29 AM
I get updates from our local law enforcement by email. I have a few colonies at a property owned by a guy that responded to a Craigslist ad I posted. He's always been very nice, enthusiastic about bees, comes out to chat when I'm there, etc. The colonies aren't doing great; it's a pretty dry area and they don't seem to get much good forage.
Anyway, on Saturday (the sheriff's report goes) he was having an installment of a long-standing drainage ditch dispute with a neighbor; one of the parties was angry about the "removal of a tree" in the drainage right-of-way. My host apparently said he was going to get his gun, went to his garage and returned brandishing a shotgun (it would be about 200 yards each way for him). The other party left, calling 911 and my host was arrested for felony menacing.
Now I've been so mad at my neighbors I could spit. But I've never drawn down on them (or anyone). I've known this guy one season. I have to make this decision for myself, but it helps me to bounce thoughts off of people. I'm of two minds... he's always been a good host to me, and I like talking to him well enough. However, two thoughts compete with my like of him so far: on one hand, I don't really want to support (through my continued relationship with him) someone resorting to implied threats of killing someone else over a tree in a ditch. That kind of loss of control makes me uncomfortable, and in my work I see a lot of that kind of behavior. It rarely manifests in people without some underlying control issues, which I end up having to manage for them.
Additionally, I do wonder what happens if he ever is unhappy with me or one of my colonies? I really doubt he'd shoot me but again, not a totally under control person. I get enough conflict at work that I don't need to worry about it in a beeyard where I go to NOT have conflict.
Granted he's only been charged, and I'm sure there's his side to the story. Maybe they're impossible jerks. My current neighbors make me long for the tranquility and respectful neighbors in my college dorm (not kidding) and sometimes I dream about a 30-foot high concrete wall between us. But I sure don't grab the shotgun. My belief about firearms is that you don't pull it unless you have to kill someone: threatening someone with a firearm is NOT going to make a situation safer. Brandishing is done, in my experience and in the vast (unfortunate) majority of cases, by weak people needing to feel powerful for some reason.
I just thought of another concern: what if the neighbor vandalizes my colonies in retribution? They're right on his property line.
Move the colonies, or never bring it up (and watch over my shoulder)?
Anyway, on Saturday (the sheriff's report goes) he was having an installment of a long-standing drainage ditch dispute with a neighbor; one of the parties was angry about the "removal of a tree" in the drainage right-of-way. My host apparently said he was going to get his gun, went to his garage and returned brandishing a shotgun (it would be about 200 yards each way for him). The other party left, calling 911 and my host was arrested for felony menacing.
Now I've been so mad at my neighbors I could spit. But I've never drawn down on them (or anyone). I've known this guy one season. I have to make this decision for myself, but it helps me to bounce thoughts off of people. I'm of two minds... he's always been a good host to me, and I like talking to him well enough. However, two thoughts compete with my like of him so far: on one hand, I don't really want to support (through my continued relationship with him) someone resorting to implied threats of killing someone else over a tree in a ditch. That kind of loss of control makes me uncomfortable, and in my work I see a lot of that kind of behavior. It rarely manifests in people without some underlying control issues, which I end up having to manage for them.
Additionally, I do wonder what happens if he ever is unhappy with me or one of my colonies? I really doubt he'd shoot me but again, not a totally under control person. I get enough conflict at work that I don't need to worry about it in a beeyard where I go to NOT have conflict.
Granted he's only been charged, and I'm sure there's his side to the story. Maybe they're impossible jerks. My current neighbors make me long for the tranquility and respectful neighbors in my college dorm (not kidding) and sometimes I dream about a 30-foot high concrete wall between us. But I sure don't grab the shotgun. My belief about firearms is that you don't pull it unless you have to kill someone: threatening someone with a firearm is NOT going to make a situation safer. Brandishing is done, in my experience and in the vast (unfortunate) majority of cases, by weak people needing to feel powerful for some reason.
I just thought of another concern: what if the neighbor vandalizes my colonies in retribution? They're right on his property line.
Move the colonies, or never bring it up (and watch over my shoulder)?