Sunflower Month

We have moved beyond the showy time of the lilies and are now in the season of sunflowers. Hints of gold touch the fields and trees. Pollen hangs in the moisture-laden air. Even though it's been unusually cool and wet this year, now the heat has arrived. Corn and zucchini fill the market stands, but everyone I know is having trouble with tomatoes. It's been too cold and wet for them to be happy. Perhaps now in this August heat they will take off. Already we are gleaning honey from Aphrodite and Beatrice. We look forward to a large honey harvest later on. We can see and feel how heavy the super frames are getting. I was also able to put up some beans. I love the Royal Burgundy bean plants, with their purple flowers, stems, and pods. So pretty, and so practical! We have found these purplish plants to be hardier than their green cousins, more resistant to disease and insect damage. They are tasty, too. When you blanch them, the purple goes into the water and the beans turn green. I grew dwarf sunflowers in the garden and big ones in front of the beehives. Their happy yellow faces attract beneficial insects and bring a smile to all who look at them. I hope that later on in the year, as the seeds ripen, we shall see flocks of goldfinches settling on their strong stalks. It is amazing to see how well the showy males are camoflauged when they are feeding on sunflowers - even their gaudy yellow feathers blend in!

Hive Notes

Started with Deborah this time. No queen was observed, and there was no evidence of fresh brood. We fed her, and hope that her queen is out on a mating flight. Next, we visited Cynthia. Now this is a really clean hive! All of the drawn-out comb is even and very beautiful. She is orderly and healthy. She is also quite compliant, showing us her queen on the second frame we drew from the hive body. We fed sugar water and pollen patties to both Cynthia and Deborah so that they can quickly build up more honeycomb and population. Beatrice was fussy. For a while, we thought she might be queenless because the girls were so grouchy. They weren't patient with us at all. However, we did spot a queen near the end of our session. Beatrice is busy drawing out her super frames. We fed her sugar water, too. Finally, we crossed the field to check on Aphrodite. She is our mother hive, and we have high hopes for a honey harvest soon. Not yet, we must be patient...but there are several super frames with capped honey! We have to wait until all the honey on a frame is capped before we can harvest. "Green" honey is not so good for you. It's amazing that the bees know exactly when stored nectar hits the right density, and that's when they cap the cells. Aphrodite is a messy hive. Crosscomb is all over the place, making it hard to move the frames and check on the bees. I thought I saw a mite on one bee's leg, but it moved before I could really check it out well. The rest of the hive seems quite hale. We observed the queen here, too.

Hive Notes

We didn't see queens in any of the hives, but there were many queen cells in Aphrodite. I am wondering if her former queen has swarmed or was killed. However, there is plenty of brood along with the maturing queen cells, so we are not too worried. We even took a frame with a capped queen cell to start a fourth hive, Deborah. The bees were rather cranky, too. The workers have been bringing in a lot of honey. Aphrodite's supers are filling quickly. We hope to have an extraction in a few weeks, and taste our first honey this year. Beatrice is busy, but still needs to build population and comb before she is productive. We don't expect to harvest from Cynthia or Deborah, because they are still very new. We need to feed them.

Irises and Strawberries

Tonight, the Lord of Dragonwood took us on a walk to see the secret irises in bloom. Although we knew they existed, for three years or so we have never seen their flowers. Delicate they are, and lovely. Pale, pale blue-purple with soft yellow throats, much more subtle than their showy cultivated sisters. They have that pure beauty of an innocent woman, simple in her garments but irresistible in her loveliness.

In the gardens, the strawberry harvest is heavy. We picked as a family in the evening, and after the children are abed, the grownups hull and wash and put them up. The Lord is a master of strawberry jam and other sweet delights. The full Strawberry Moon rose red this evening, perfectly matching the hue of the fat berries in our bowl.

Squirrelboy found out why we don't keep petting spiders (I did warn him). Mamma Wolf Spider did not appreciate the harassment, and bit him on the finger. After a bout of howling, Squirrelboy seems to be absolutely fine. We hope he has learned his lesson. "But I can still pet daddy long-legs," he says, having learned that they do not bite people. And there was the time earlier this spring when he found out why you don't want to pet a bee...

Outside the front door of the Manor, the Lord is building a fine strong deck. And last night, the Lady held a soiree with intimate friends to honor this growing time of year. Soft music under the moon and stars, with good food and good conversation, is a perfect way to spend an evening.

The Nightsingers

O the Nightsingers, they celebrate
the June moon
friendly and warm and full
like a mother's face beaming at her
children.

You were there with me, you know
the harmony
'tween crickets and starlight and we
around the fire with our guitars and
drumming.

Sweet voices, raised in song,
us and they
not so different after all,
our living, dying, believing,
and joy.