I am left, also, with more chores. I have no minions on whom to pawn my work. This week was a little different in that the bees needed tending. We have a strained relationship since I often approach the hive without gifts. Bees like gifts. They like smoke, sugar water or maybe a gallon of delicious syrup. Today, I approached with a sugar water spray bottle. As the bees started to become anxious and the buzzing became more intense, I merely sprayed a few spritzes of sugar water on them. I enjoy watching them calm down and begin licking each other and anything containing sugar water. It is very much like bringing children in to an edible room. Yes, I know, someone may have licked it before!! Imagine your children walking in to an edible room created only for them. The walls made of fruit roll ups with windows of melted hard candy spread thing like the stained glass windows of a church. The door knob made of giant jaw breakers and the door frame lined with red licorice rope. You and your kids would likely be having a lickfest!!
I was creating an edible room for them while also checking on their honey making and the general health and well being of the hive. Everything seemed to be working very well. The combs were sturdy. The brood was being tended by the nurse bees. The drones were occasionally flying at my head to keep me from bothering the queen. The guard bees were standing guard at the entrance checking every landing bee to make sure they were native to our hive. Everyone was working. I spent thirty minutes watching them and checking each frame for honey, pollen and brood. I enjoyed the hypnotic hum of their buzzing as I carefully inspected the hive. I sprayed them with sugar water often, making the hum sweeter and less hurried. I missed my walking encyclopedia, Chloe, who gives me a bee health and wellness lecture each time we visit the hive. I felt a little unprepared since she wasn't there to point out all of the landmarks, but I managed to talk myself through the process and know more than I thought.
Chloe likes to read me those books of useless facts and they often fill my head in slots I was hoping to fill with useful information. Luckily, her beekeeping facts have managed to adhere to some of those empty spots. So have many of those useless facts like the headless chicken who lived eighteen months after the farmer originally cut its head off. ( See, now you will have that unnecessary trivia in your brain for further use.)
It is rare for us to take time to truly value the beautiful natural world. (Day 196).Take a moment this evening to observe something natural in its element. Even if it is just your child playing outside or laughing with friends. Be thankful for the simple and simply lovely things around you. Maybe listen for the sound of the last bird this evening or the first one in the morning. Can you identify the bird and its voice? Today I am thankful for the thirty minutes I spent listening and watching the bees be, well, bees. Goodnight Friends. Do not forget to catch tomorrow's blog. It will be the last blog until further notice. The blog will remain open, but without new postings.
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