Honey harvesting

I am always amazed at the difference between summer and fall honey. This is all we have left of our summer honey on the right and the darker, bolder fall honey is on the left. It was a slim harvest for us. The bees in one hive just didn't produce much at all this year while the other was nicely productive.

My husband loves to help with harvest even when that means he's on cleaning duty. Here he is cleaning out a box that will go into storage this winter. 

Our productive hive really liked making wax. Normally we keep enough frames in the hives for the bees to fill with honey, but apparently I left an open spot. It wasn't empty for that long. The bees made a frame to fill the space. These bees are quite dark and that is generally true of all the bees in this hive. Some of the daughter workers have virtually no yellow on them anywhere. This is in contrast with our other hive where this fall's new bees are very golden in color.

Typically beekeepers assume that darker bees are more temperamental. In this case my experience belies that notion. These bees are lovely to work yet they also produce good amounts of honey.

99 Bulbs in the ground

It has been a busy weekend here. I planted 99 bulbs in one afternoon. Why 99 and not 100?  I planted three packages of bulbs - 50 crocuses, 25 late tulips and 24 early tulips. The folks who work on the packaging really make me crazy with their inconsistent numbers of bulbs but I am sure I won't care in the spring when there is a riot of pastel colors in the front yard. Some of the bulbs were planted in beds next to the door. This is the first time we ever planted bulbs there. Let's hope the chipmunk doesn't notice!

Crocuses provide a fair amount of pollen for being such a small flower. Tulips always give me pause in the spring. Their pollen is often black or dark gray. So my first instinct is to think the bees have moldy honey before I remember that tulips are in bloom.

We also harvested the last of the tomatoes. The tomatoes cracked me up this year. My daughter brought home two tomato plants labeled yellow pear. These beauties are Early Girl - no yellow or pear about them.

The final fall preparations are underway. The bees are still bringing in pollen although the cooler days have brought fewer and fewer bees out every day.

Animal Garden

At the beginning of fall we have our last flower of the year blooming in our animal garden. 

Turtle head grows about three feet tall and we have it growing and thriving in what seems to be entirely the wrong place in the garden!  Everything on the web says put this in shade and damp soil so we have it growing in a sunny dry location. Go figure. 

Bumble bees enjoy this flower and their bums seem to vibrate with joy as they climb into the mouths of the "turtles" and suck up the nectar. 

We have a few themed gardens. In the Animal Garden every plant in the little spot has an animal name. Summer brings the Tiger Lilies to bloom and late summer we have lambs ear. Their flowers are purple-ish with a fuzz all over just like the soft leaves. 

My friend Kathleen gave  me Hen and Chicks when we moved in 15 years ago. We have dozens of hens and chicks now all from the four tiny plans she shared from her garden. 

These are my favorite plants in the garden. They were what inspired the garden theme and were the first thing I brought into the gardens here. 

Got Honey?

Why yes we do!  We have some summer honey available from Cerulean and Astrid. If you are interested, you can contact us by leaving a comment below or PM me on FaceBook.

The honey this summer is really lovely. The goldenrod was out a bit early this year and you can taste it in the honey - it is richer than our summer honey usually is. Never fear, you fall honey lovers, there is more on the way...

Honey Tasting

Interested in learning more about honey? I am offering a honey tasting at the Millbury Public Library on Thursday, April 24 at 6:30. We will learn how honey is made, how it is harvested, and taste a variety of honeys from around the world.

Call the library to register: 508 861 1181,

Girl Scouts in the bee yard

I am so lucky to be involved with an amazing group of girls. My girl scout troop came over to learn about bees and finish the beekeeping badge. This is a photo taken by my GS partner, Kristin Graffeo. She took all the pictures shown here today. These girls, most who had never been near the bees, showed courage and strength in getting this close and letting the bees land on them. Not one, not one girl, had an issue with the bees coming to land and say hi.

We had a great time watching the girls and looking at larvae, eggs, and worker bees. 

We found one capped drone cell. He still has a week or so to go before emerging, but now there are 11 young midwives, waiting for his impending arrival. 

Thanks to all the beekeepers in Millbury who loaned us veils and jackets so we could all have one. That was 11 loans from a lot of beekeepers - love this community!

But truly it is the girls' parents who I need to thank most. All the parents just dropped off their daughters at my house. No one was worried (or at least not worried that much!) about leaving their daughter with me as we explored venomous stinging insects. Thank you for your trust. 

I love this picture Kristin took of me, showing off the capped cells. Thanks for making me look so good!!

What you can do to help bees....

This article came across my desk today from Grit Magazine. Six ways to help the honeybees.

The list is quite similar to my list here on this blog but she suggests letting your lawn go to clover. That is a great suggestion. Bees love clover and it is a rich source of nectar for them. Best yet, it is green even during a dry summer and feels nice on your feet if you are inclined to walk barefoot.

The author also says that if you are going to use pesticides, do it when the bees are in their hives. This is good advice for chemicals that will break down quickly. However, many chemicals won't break down that quickly. Just DON'T use them. Find an organic alternative.

I wish this picture were from my yard, but alas it is not. I took this picture while in Disney Land. Somewhere nearby there are bees and they planted the mostly lovely gardens for pollinators.