There is a special kind of breeze you feel when you are in a bee suit that is a relief to feel. It hits your face in a gentle way and it somehow inspires you to carry on. I’m walking across a paddock. There is mud under my feet as I walk. The soil is boggy. A sheep trail skirts around it. It’s a hot day and then I feel that breeze, it is a delight to my over heated body and dear I say mind. I’m in the paddock marching down the fence line under I come to a small shrub. I think it is a verbena of some sort. It is trimmed neatly and as I look across the garden which is the neighbours to the farmers we have bees on I see more neatness. It is super tidy, edges and all. My garden doesn’t look like this. I find my swarm nplace the box, which I hope the bees will find an attractive new home, under the hedge and then ponder my next move. I know the bees are fairly passive but the thought of shaking a mass of bees into a box in unnerving. I have a go. Some fall in, some retreat further into the shrub. I stand back and just watch the movement of the bees. They follow the queen, if she is in the box they will stream in. They head back to the shrub. I have not been as successful as I thought. I try again and then realise the sun is directly on them and all I am doing is encouraging them further into the shrub. I decide the best I can do is hope some scout bees view the box as an attractive new home and advise the Queen to move to this new location. I secure the box and wander back to the car, back through the mud. We will come back later to see if they move to their new home.
How was your Saturday afternoon?
You know when you need to weed and tidy up the garden when you can’t find your dogs in the undergrowth.
We had a long weekend. Two days of warmth hinting at summer and one day of cold, a reminder of winter. On the sunny days we start what I hope will be routines to further embrace in the summer. As the day ends we head outside, drink in hand with a few nibbles. The strains of BB King come from the house. We sit at our table, one each side and become lost in our own worlds. Reading books and checking news. A peaceful end to a day.
“The scent and colour of wisteria seems far from the moon”
-Buson
The daffidols that I so enjoyed photographing this year have faded and are now just a green seed head amongst a see of green grass. The grass hasn’t been mowed for a month of so is exceptionally tall. I, in an inelegant way, pull the outdoor arm chairs from the top of the garden and nestle them under the fruit trees. The fruit trees which had been shading the daffidols now provide shade for us as the sun becomes stronger.
Giveaway time. I have an extra copy of Bloom issue 12 to give away. Leave a comment here to be in to win.