Awe, The Sweet Taste Of Nectar

I have so... enjoyed having the hives in the yard and learning what flowers the bees are attracted to and what ones they avoid. No, not all blossoms are equal and most on the prarie I find they don't bother with. They must be poor sources of pollen and nectar.

The bees fascinate me so much that it is not uncommon to find me sitting within a couple feet from the entrance just watching or flitting around the yard  calling, "Wait for me." as with camera in hand I listen for their hum so I can zero in on the activity and contort this way and that trying to take a quick shot before they are dashing off once more to a different flower or back to the hive with their load of pollen or nectar.

But alas, it is nearing time to take them to the country for a different cuisine. They've nearly finished pollinating the plum trees, the apples trees, and even well, I must admit my abundance crop of dandelions. Sh... don't tell my neighbor. He's the dandelion police of sorts, always spraying his lawn weed by weed to keep them at bay. And here I've got a big patch I'm letting populate for the bees. I've got to admit after doing a fair share of research on dandelions, I've come to realize why the pioneers brought them to this country. They are probably the most nutritious plant in your garden. But I will soon have to get them under control or we'll be the bain of the neighborhood.

 There are only a few in the front yard and so my neighbors haven't been seeing what I'm up to. So I'm counting on you to keep a secret. Sh... don't tell them about the big patch hidden by the vetetable garden fence where they profusely bloom and they brighten my day. You do know that what separates a plant from a weed is that a weed is under appreciate and not wanted. Case in point, certain dandelions are grown for culunary cuisine. No, really they are but now I'm off the track. We were talking about bees. And my main reason for allowing the population explosion of dandelions by my vegetable garden is they of course bloom all summer and have kept the bees happy the past two years before their trips to the country, which is very very important. Ask anyone like myself who's been stung fifty times at once when she's made them VERY angry. Besides, those dandelions have been the source for the photographing I've been doing for an article I want to write. Oh how I'd love to start writing again on beyond this blog.

But there I go again, off track. You can see my mind flits about as bad as a bee after nectar. To give you an idea how profuse they have been growing, look at this new wax. This is from dandelion honey. The bees after they're born learned to clean the hive and then graduate to making wax from honey. At the time this wax was made, what was available was dandelion honey and so we have dandelion wax. It is so... beautiful and sunny yellow. I LOVE it for wax is usually a dull yellow.