Adventures in organic gardening.
Saturday: The bees are coming today! To get ready for their arrival, I'm preparing their sugar syrup and making a homemade version of Honey B Healthy, a nourishing supplement that is added to the syrup. I'll be teaching my co-workers how to be beekeepers and they'll be installing the bees on Sunday with my guidance. Ray built us... Continue Reading →
Or we might have titled this post "Why Bees Are So Important." In January the press reported that scientists had noticed a significant decline in bumblebee populations in the U.S. — first it was the honeybees that were disappearing and now it's bumblebees too. Scientists are not sure why just yet, but one thing they... Continue Reading →
We've written a lot about Colony Collapse Disorder and the nearly overwhelming problems that affect honey bees, but things are at least as dire for our native bees, most notably the lovely bumble bee. Bumbles are the stuff of our childhood memories. Who, when remembering walks through wildflower fields, doesn't see in their mind's eye... Continue Reading →
Mary Beth: I've been dreaming about planting a meadow in my yard for a long time and the new gas line we had installed a couple of months ago provided me with the last push I needed to get this project underway. After searching for the right mixture for my zone (intermountain climate, Sunset Zone 2B),... Continue Reading →
Colorado
Got behind on my dates. National Honey Bee Awareness Day was yesterday , but just because I missed that boat it doesn't mean we shouldn't be celebrating our honey bees every other day of the year. So let's start today by being grateful for all that these insects do for us — pollinating more than... Continue Reading →
Mary Beth and I have been trying to push ourselves to blog more often so in the past few months we've created several regular features. One is Sunday Zen, a photographic time-out where we go into the garden, usually ours, but sometimes other public and private gardens, and take photographs that reflect our mood. Tuesday's... Continue Reading →
This week marks the fourth annual National Pollinator Week. Bees are probably the first thing that come to mind when we think about pollinators, but there are many others that deserve our gratitude and care — hummingbirds, bats, butterflies, and beetles to name a few. I love honeybees best so that's what I'm going to... Continue Reading →
I couldn't order my bees back in the beginning of the year because the date of our arrival in Colorado was constantly changing. I really needed to do it in January or February before the apiaries sold out, but up until a week before our departure I still wasn't sure when we'd be in Durango.... Continue Reading →
