It's been bee-utiful weather.

In addition to checking on the vegetable patch, the rest of the garden is absolutely glowing. And that includes the gardeners best friend - our bees!

I snapped this photo sometime in the last week, forgot to date it, and with so many photos taken this month, it's a mystery! The front of the hive faces into the corner of the fence - which is great for the bees in & out, but not so great for observation - and I was wondering if there were guard bees present. After seeing this - yep!

I've also noticed the bees seem to be settling in for the night around 6pm. The sun isn't setting until closer to 8, but hey, everyone has their own bed time. ;) If I go to the hive after they are in for the night, one or two bees will quickly be out and doing lazy loops around my head. I haven't felt threatened, it's more of a "hey, whatcha doing?" feeling.




I did see a bee drinking from the water dish near the hive. She was standing on one of the corks floating in there drinking away. I went to get my camera, but she flew off just as I was walking back. Too shy to model!

I stood by the hive for awhile and just clicked away at the camera. Bees are not the easiest things to photograph in flight! This was one of the better shots - it's this constant flow in and out of the hive. I'm delighted to see how full the pollen baskets are on their legs.

I'm so curious to open the hive to look inside, but really want the bees to have the peace and quiet to do their thing. I dreamed last week that we opened the hive, and took out frame after frame of beautiful clear-white waxen comb, sealed brood and honey in each cell. The smell of the honey and the warmth of the hive were intoxicating in the dream. This only makes me more anxious and hopeful. I keep telling myself the busy activity, the purposeful flights, and the guard bees are all signs of a content hive and a productive Queen.

Around the garden, the Borage is in bloom. LOVE the bright blue star flowers on this plant. It's self-seeded in the flower garden.















Buds on the apple tree. Oh, honeybees! Please take good care of these flowers!

The Lemon Geranium is a topic of conversation lately. I love the smell of the plant (very very lemon!), and it attracts plenty of butterflies and hummingbirds. It's also crushing the lavender and roses to death. We've talked about starting some cuttings and planting them in pots around the yard and removing the big beastie, but that solution breaks my heart a bit. When the Beeman brought home this teeny cute seedling that smelled so good, neither of us thought it would quickly grow into the plant that ate the peninsula. I'd love to see if we could transplant it to someone else's yard - perhaps I should advertise a free plant on craigslist or freecycle.
Think there would be anyone interested?