Cherish is my favorite word, and I cherish the ability of turning the routine into a beautiful moment.
Nature creates in me, a spiritual and meditative time to bring peace, harmony and balance, into an otherwise ordinary day~
Mary Howell Cromer







Sunday, September 2, 2012

Natural Colony of Italian Honey Bees on Tingsgrove~

 
 
 
I just love when things happen that you never ever would have anticipated, and it turns out to be something really wonderful...
Who does not adore honey?
I love, love, love this miracle food. I can eat spoons full, or dollops on biscuits, scones and tea cakes. I enjoy my cold weather hot Lavender tea, with a nice heaping spoonful of this golden sweetness.
Never in a million years, and after living on this 2 acres, would I have even dreamed that I would have my very own Tingsgrove natural Italian Honey Bee colony, but, alas...I do;')
Last week, my husby had taken our pup-cub Meaka for a walk over on our second acre. She had tugged him in the direction of a tree that I knew well.
A few years ago, an Opossum, must have been hit by an automobile and then died in the hole near the base of the tree trunk.
Bill said that she went straight to that tree and stuck her face into the hole and that there were a bunch of bees inside, but that fortunately Meaka, nor he had been stung.
We have had our share of many stings from Yellow Jackets in the past, and I was puzzled, about the fact that they had not stung her especially.
I went to take a look-see, sure enough, there were a lot of bees of some kind. I took a couple of images and brought them back to the house and googled, both Honey Bees and Yellow Jackets. I could see a bit of hairy parts and that gave me hope and yet I was still not certain.
Facebook to the rescue.
I wrote a message on my status, that I was looking for someone local who may know a beekeeper. Only a few minutes later, I was put in contact with a friend's wife, who had her own hive. They would come by and take a look.
It only took Melanie and Kevin seconds to determine that what I did not have were Yellow Jackets...a great sigh of relief and what I did have was a nice size colony of Italian Honey Bees, the most docile of the Honey Bees around here.
We were elated that they had chosen Tingsgrove to make this hive.
Now I knew where all of the bees that had been visiting my Hummingbird feeders and birdbath had been coming from all summer. Melanie and Kevin shared some great information with me. The bees travel 3 miles to bring back nectar and water to the hive. They maintain a temperature within the hive of 92' all year round.
Today, we had a very hard rain, which we needed, but due to the position of the hive, many bees perished. The survivors are working hard to fix up the mess that was made. I really want to try to preserve this hive, if at all possible and will make every possible effort to do so. More to come later then.
 
*Special thanks to Kevin, Melanie and their son Doug for their friendship and thier expert help...
I really appreciate it~
 
Also in this post are many of the flowers on and around the grove, that produce sweet nectar for the bees and more. 
I have also added in a series of Bearded Robber Flies, which happen to eat Honey Bees, as you can see in some of the images, and I have also tucked in a couple of juvie
Ruby-throated Hummingbird images, just because it was so darn cute!
For those in the USA...Happy Labor Day.
For all... Happy Monday, Happy week, may it be a blessing for all~

I am linking up with Mary for:
"Mosaic Monday"

at:
http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/  




















20 comments:

  1. What a great find on your property. Hopefully they survive. Love those close up shots of them.

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  2. i hope your bee hive survives and thrives! :)

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  3. Your flowers are always beautiful but I am really enjoying the honey bees tonight. They are amazing! I kept bees...years ago and it's very interesting and rewarding! Is that a new profile pic? I like it!

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  4. Wow! Look at those bees!!! Lovely flowers and birds, too!

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  5. I always love coming to take a peak at your world. Lovely images. I hope the hive survives. I have just noticed you had a book on blurb so have just been over to take a look. Lovely. I made one of my mother's memoirs. I lovely way to keep her memory alive.
    Have a wonderful week.

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  6. The bees are amazing! Beautiful photos all. But those bees! Wow!

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  7. Wonderful pleasant surprise about the bees! :) Love your photos as always...

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  8. Wonderful bees, I do hope they do well and survive. Your flowers are gorgeous and I love the hummer. Great photos and mosaics. Have a great week ahead, Mary!

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  9. Although the bee photos were amazing...and I so understand the need to keep them from becoming very endangered....the thought of all of those together like that gave me the willies. Enjoyed all of your photos. Love your header!

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  10. Your hive is quite a find and the photos of it are remarkable. I also love the ones of the birds, especially.
    -Karen

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  11. Magnificent!!! Absolutely captivating! Wonderful post! Cathy

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  12. A lovely story Mary and how you make friends so easily because of your love for wildlife. The swarm of bees make a super picture and I'm so glad for your sake they are a docile species of bee and lovely to have around. Have a great week.

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  13. Beautiful shots, did you use a macro?

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  14. So many fabulous photos. You captured everything so clearly. Hope all goes well.

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  15. A treasure trove of beautiful photos! Hope your bee hive makes it and thrives.

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  16. Wow, what a wonderful thing to find - I hope they survive - your photos of them are amazing. And I love your exquisite flower photos, as always!
    Thanks so much for visiting my blog - apologies for not replying sooner, but I've been on holiday.
    Happy bee-keeping!

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  17. So interesting about the bees, Mary. My nephew "rents" bees every year to pollinate his blueberry bushes (he's a farmer). Your mosaics are beautiful --my favorite is the pink flowers!

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  18. Beautiful flowers and birds, but those bees! How wonderful to be able to watch them constantly. I hope they survive there. Will you be able to harvest the honey at some point?

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  19. That's awesome! I've never been that close to a bee hive. With bee populations on the decline, it's nice to see that! Your photos are beautiful!

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