Category Bees
The Bee Tree
I knew 2017 would be a good apple year–the trees had only spit out a few lonely blossoms in 2016–but I hadn’t realized HOW good it would be. The tree closest to the house was especially spectacular. It wasn’t just laden with blossoms: It was humming with bees as well. My hives are sadly empty; […]
Good Neighbors and Cozy Bees
As I took advantage of a rare sunny day to haul a bag full of sawdust from my Amish neighbor Jacob’s sawmill–a prize destined to become chicken bedding and then ultimately reincarnated as compost–I reflected on how fortunate I am to have such good neighbors. When my husband and I moved into our house almost […]
More Adventures In and Out of the Hive
After my older colony sent out its second swarm this summer, I decided it was time to take some action. I hoped that rearranging the comb and giving the bees more building space would curb their intense swarminess. (There was an empty space at the end of the hive, but for some reason, the bees […]
The Swarm
I wasn’t surprised when I looked out our basement window a few days ago and saw little dark objects swirling around our apple tree. At first, it was just a few, but soon the air was teeming with madly circling flecks. My eyesight wasn’t keen enough identify them visually, but I knew what they were. […]
Chicken Wisdom
I trudged through the snow in the chicken pen, hoping to hear sounds of life from the beehive in the left hand corner despite the temperatures that were still coquettishly flirting with the freezing mark. No matter; the hive was nestled in its makeshift straw bale hut, complete with an old door for a roof, […]
Returning to my Moments
Almost five days of time away from work have finally reduced, although not eliminated, my screen fatigue. (As much as I love my job, I leave it at the end of each day feeling like I never want to turn on a computer again.) At last, though, I’m ready to return to my long-neglected blog. […]
Bees revisited
As upset as I’d been about the loss of my first two bee colonies, I’d come to accept the empty hives as a trade-off for the arrival of my new dog Court in my life. I put a few drops of lemongrass oil in them on the off-chance a passing swarm would consider it a […]
Grieving the bees, welcoming the dog
The circle of life keeps turning, and I’m turning with it. It had plunged me downward with breathtaking speed a couple of weeks ago when Paul and I opened my second hive, the one whose bees had been so industriously building comb and sending out foragers, and realized that the plucky rogue queen that I […]
Moments of Unexpected Beauty 