Time To Recognize Our Little Friends The United Nation has designated May 20 as World Bee Day and this year is the first observance of this day. I’m so happy that the importance of these little pollinators is finally and officially recognized globally. Hopefully it will bring a change in the rules and regulations to help make the environment safer for them, protecting them. You … Continue reading World Bee Day
Some Colors In The Garden I see the spring light at the end of the tunnel, a little dim but still a cheerful light of hope. Snow still covers the majority of the garden but in the bare specks there are colors. Crocuses in the front yard bloomed nicely this year. Last year they became deer food. At least deer left the bulbs alone so … Continue reading Spring At Last
In Anticipation Of A Better Year Happy New Year 2017 I would like to present you with the image of a warmer day in our garden, the Zephirine Drouhin rose. A climbing fragrant rose that blooms continuously throughout the season. One of many things I anticipate again in June. About this ‘anticipation’, I got the idea from a free bookmark I received from the American Horticultural Society of which … Continue reading Happy New Year
Bringing Christmas Gifts For The Hive It’s Christmas day but the weather feels more like mid-spring. The temperature has been hovering around 60° F and the bees have been busy feeding on sugar syrup. Some bees prefer fresh Chinese broccoli flowers which are the only flowers left in the garden. I looked at all the hives and to my surprise they were taking in pollen as well. … Continue reading Winter Pollen
Feeding Honey Bees In Mid-December Sunday was a record breaker for high temperatures in New York. With 67º F in Central Park, it breaks a high temperature record set back in 1923. Where we live the temperature was only slightly over 60º F and it was warm enough for the honeybees to come out of their hives, cleaning themselves and looking for food. Daytime temperatures will stay above 50º … Continue reading Very Warm Autumn
Ode to a Honeybee In Late Autumn We are having a warm autumn this year. The daytime temperature is still hovering above 50° F on most days but drops back to slightly above 30° F at night. We had frost for a couple of days early on in the season which killed off most of the garden. So there is not much left for the bees. Honeybees … Continue reading Last Resource
Installing Them In New Hives I couldn’t believe it has been almost a month since my last post. Not that there wasn’t anything to write about but life has been so hectic. Back to normal again at last and with good news as well. Four of the hives didn’t make it through winter and the one that showed signs of life we weren’t sure of. So, … Continue reading New Bees
Never Been So Happy To See Dead Bees We have over a foot of snow on the ground and it is threatening to drop another 8 to 10 inches this weekend. The snow itself is not bad for the honey bees but the frigid cold that follows may wipe out our hives. We have seen a few days and nights of single digit temperatures this winter and … Continue reading Honey Bee In Winter
Taking A Clue From Birds There has been one snow storm after another and the official spring date is still more than a month away. Our garden is covered a foot deep in snow crusted with ice. The cold frame we put up last fall has become an igloo at this point. I have no idea what has happened in there since I can’t have … Continue reading Spring Is Around The Corner
A Warm Day For Stretching And Cleaning I didn’t expect to see our honey bees until sometime in March when the temperature is a little warmer. But to my surprise, the temperature yesterday shot up to almost 70º F. It doesn’t matter whether there is snow on the ground or not if the temperature is above 50º F the honey bees will come out to … Continue reading Honey Bees in Early Winter
Petals and Wings 