Reminiscing about growing up.... A very long, long time ago, we would spend a lot of time at my grandparents. Summers and after school, the cousins and I would embark on many adventures. Not only do I remember picking our lunch out of the extensive garden my grandparents worked daily in, but there was always nature abound. I do remember a time when I wore a bandanna that had yellow flowers all around it and it attracted butterflies. How cool was that? I remember catching lightning bugs in the evenings of our family cookouts and putting them in a mason jars. Oh, and the year of the 7-year locust! Holy cow, that was fun catching those too! HAHA!
I also remember beehives. My grandmother had this BEAUTIFUL hydrangea tree- the kind that was so enormous, it was in a class by itself. Along with a sitting white arbor, the white beehives decorated the area. If I remember correctly, I believe that there were some old-fashioned lilacs around as well. The smells in the spring!!! I didn’t go in or tend to the bees, I remember it being an unspoken off-limits area. But nonetheless, they were around. Maybe that’s why that piece of nature was so beautiful and bountiful.
On Sunday, I installed our first hives at the farm. Nervous for sure, but man, it was a neat process. Getting them into the hive from the wooden box, was literally like pouring out a liquid. By this morning, the wood box, or package, was completely empty and they all made their way into the hive. Hopefully in a few days, I’ll be able to check on them and make sure that the queen has made her way into the hive. She’s protected in her own little box until the other bees accept her, then she’ll be off and running with filling that hive with more bees. I’m not anticipating any harvested honey this year, but I do hope that we will see good results in our vegetable fields and fruit. Working with nature is an awesome thing!
Getting back to digging in the dirt…..
Christy
