To Bee, Continued

☆ May 2, 2017

This is my hive.

I have it in a beautiful sheltered nook at my neighbors’, inside an abandoned stock rack (that big metal thing, which is designed to go in the bed of a pickup so you can carry your horse around in your truck). The stock rack keeps the large four-legged beasts (cows, horses, sheep, donkey, etc) from rubbing on the hive, and it’s at my neighbors’ because look at this place! It’s an ideal location for bees, better than anywhere I had at home – secluded, protected from wind, next to meadows and flowering trees.

Not a bad place to bee.

The weather has been nuts here – chilly and rainy since March – but Sunday was gorgeous and warm so I checked on my bees. They have three large combs built already! Some of the cells hold the liquid beginnings of what will be honey, and some of the cells hold eggs!

I even saw my queen, which was incredibly thrilling and occurred five seconds after I asked myself “how does anyone ever see their queen amongst all these bees??!” The queen has a much longer body than the worker bees, and she is the only one who has a shiny black back – worker bees have fuzzy backs. My queen is very dark; her body looks like polished mahogany. I was so happy to see her!

Bee photography has a learning curve.

{ Bees ☆ 23 Comments }

To Bee!

☆ April 25, 2017

The Farmily grew by ten thousand members this weekend. I became a bee guardian, initiate bee priestess.

Mike and I built a top bar hive, and I introduced the bees to their new home on Sunday. It was intense. It was a totally psychedelic experience. I laughed out loud, I cried, I felt the truth of the universe. I watched a bee dance, I watched a bee die. I got sick of wearing gloves so I took them off, and a bee landed on my hand, and bathed herself. Bees wash their faces like cats, with their front feet and tongue, did you know that? I did not know that, until I watched it happen on my forefinger, inches from my face.

They say not to open the hive for three days, to give the bees time to settle in without disruption. It has been so hard not to open the top and peek in! I resist, and I sit by the entrance and watch the bees fly in and out. They are carrying pollen in, which apparently means the queen is alive and all is well. I listen to the walls of the hive with my stethoscope and it is BUZZING in there. Another good sign. Tomorrow afternoon, I shall peek in.

{ Bees, Farmily, Life, Love! ☆ 34 Comments }

Snippets: So Much Bird Action

☆ April 14, 2017

This morning’s pond activity: two geese and two sandhill cranes. The cranes (which have moved in!! I am ecstatic!!), were not down with the geese. They seemed to be yelling, in unison, directly at the geese, urging them to get going and find another pond. The geese were like, relax, we’re just taking a little break and floating here not bothering anything. So the cranes waded out into the water and started herding the geese out of the pond! The geese got agitated and honked some obscenities, then started paddling in earnest and flew off. The cranes relaxed and pranced back to the bank and were like, yes, this pond is ours. And I, from my perch up the hillside with my binoculars, was like, yes, it’s all yours, just please stay! (Here’s a recording I made of them the other morning)

I am so incredibly thrilled and touched by the response to the new book. I’ve received a zillion emails this week and am powering through them as fast as possible. And enjoying it! EMDR worked!

On the afternoon of my birthday, I was in the kitchen and saw a bald eagle out the window, fairly close to the house. I went out on the back deck and she flew over to me (I don’t know if the eagle was female, but I hate writing “its” over and over). So close I could see her pupils, individual feathers, and the nails on her talons. She sailed past me, turned, glided right by me again, turned, drifted past me AGAIN… FIVE TIMES. Ten yards away at the most. She was so close for so long that I got a little fearful that my hair maybe looked like prey and that I was the target. The coolest thing was watching her move her head side to side, back and forth, back and forth as she flew. It reminded me of a fish. The whole thing was incredible.

The next afternoon, I was lying on my bed, feeling the effects of a week filled with adrenaline and coffee and very little sleep, and I saw a bald eagle out my window. Just happened to catch it fly by with the corner of my eye. So I went outside. It was very windy. The legendary Wyoming wind that, thankfully, we don’t get too often in my county. The eagle flew in an arc across the driveway and flew towards me until she was about 20 feet away, diagonally above me so we were looking at each other. She had her head facing right into the wind, and she hovered there, motionless (but of course not motionless at all). I don’t know how long. I just know that for that time, the wind didn’t bother me.

Forever – is composed of Nows –
‘Tis not a different time –
Except for Infiniteness –
And Latitude of Home –

From this – experienced Here –
Remove the Dates – to These –
Let Months dissolve in further Months –
And Years – exhale in Years –

Without Debate – or Pause –
Or Celebrated Days –
No different Our Years would be
From Anno Dominies –

~ Emily Dickinson