Saturday, January 15, 2011

The Birds, Bees and Honey


Tufted Titmouse and Junco January 11, 2011

Snow has covered the ground for the past three weeks. But we have been lucky that the severe storms have missed us, going east, south and west. I guess that makes up for the past winter when our area was targeted with heavy snows.

The birds have flocked to the feeders so we have already bought 100 lbs. of black oil sunflower seeds this month. But, the sight of hundreds of birds at the feeders makes it worth it.


Bee Hive January 14, 2011
(yes it's sloping, I keep propping it up until spring when I can try to reset the concrete blocks)

So far so good with my bees this year. On Dec. 31, we had a warm 50 degree day. I noticed hundreds of bees swarming around the hive at 1:00. At first, I thought other bees were robbing the hive since I thought I saw bees kill other bees. Later, I went outside and only a few bees were outside. I noticed that each one was dealing with a dead bee. I watched one push a dead bee to the edge of the bottom board, then fly a little ways and drop to the ground with it. The bee then returned to the hive. There was a big pile of dead bees right where the bee dropped that dead one. The bees were cleaning out the hive of dead bees! The next morning, I noticed all the dead bees were gone, probably a yummy treat for the birds. That might have been the first warm day since the bees went into their winter cluster.

I also noticed a few bees out when the temperature reached 40 degrees yesterday. They didn't go far and appeared to be eating the melting snow. I hope they made their way back to the hive in the chilly weather.


Costa Rican Honey

I bought some honey at a roadside fruit stand while we were in Costa Rica. It was a good thing it had bees on the label because the vendors could not speak English and my Spanish is poor. By the time we got back to the hotel, the bottle was leaking. So, I bought packing tape and sealed the bottle cap up good and put it in several ziplock bags. I hoped that the TSA wouldn't find it because it looked very suspicious (and I read an article once about a man getting detained for trying to bring back jars of honey on a plane flight).

The bottle made it back in my checked luggage . I was delighted that the honey was quite good. It reminded me a little of orange blossom honey but a little richer with tropical flavors. I am becoming knowledgeable of the different flavors of honey. Right now, I have several varieties of honey on my shelf--locust (my very own), sourwood (from my mentor), orange blossom (from the farmer's market), and now my Costa Rican honey.

I put my bottle of honey next to my little bonzai. It reminded me that last summer, the bees would sit under the bonzai, sipping the water from the damp soil. I know I took a photo but lost it when my desktop computer crashed last year.

I am already thinking about spring!

25 comments:

  1. Enjoyed reading your post. I didn't know bees come outside in the winter, but I guess you are in different climate.

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  2. I love the idea that the bees were cleaning out their "nest". Now, I would not particularly like living with dead bodies, either, but somehow we just don't think of animals - much less insects - doing housework like that! Thanks for that great image.

    And, stop sending the bad weather east!!

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  3. Hilke Breder--the bees come out only if it is warm enough. 40 degrees I thought was too cold but evidently not.

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  4. webb--bees do like to keep their place clean. And, hopefully the worst weather is behind us.

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  5. Your photos are lovely! I find it quite interesting about the bees, how they drop the dead ones in an organized manner.

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  6. Great title, interesting post, and the honey and bonsai picture would make a great still life.
    Now if only I could paint...

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  7. Glad you got your bottle of honey back safely. I have never really noticed the floral or fruity tastes in Honey..I think I need to do a honey tasting. I would like to appreciate the different flavors..Do you have a favorite?
    Nice Bonsai..My dad has over 100..he loves them.

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  8. Love the photo of the titmouse and the junco in the tree together...so pretty! Reading about your bees and honey is fascinating. I've never known anyone who has kept bees and made honey before, so it's all new to me.

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  9. Several times after a few warm winter days in a row, I've seen honey bees feeding on citrus peels in our compost. Considering there are no blooms of any kind anywhere, I wouldn't think it will be worth the bee's energy to venture from the hive, but they do.

    Between our place and Little Rock, there is a self-service honey stand. You just choose the jar of honey you want and drop the appropriate amount of money in a locked mailbox with a slot cut in the top.

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  10. Excellent post! How neat that the bees clean out the hive. I too am looking forward to Spring!

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  11. bettyl--I think the bees ended up in a pile because the bee can hardly fly with the dead fee. Once airborne, the bee quickly fell down at the same location--slightly downhill of the hive. That's the direction most of them fly when they leave the hive.

    Mimi-thanks for the note. I can paint a little but don't seem to try too much anymore.

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  12. dAwN--My favorite is my own, locust. It is light colored, can't describe the taste really and very sweet. It doesn't crystallize either (have a jar from 2 years ago which hasn't turned to sugar). The grocery mostly has clover honey. To get different flavors of honey, you can try the farmer's markets.

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  13. Marvin--that's interesting that the bees are on the citrus peels. I just put a bunch of orange peels in our compost pile but it has been too cool.

    I too bought honey from a stand like you describe. In fact, he became my first mentor.

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  14. Kerri-I too am so looking forward to spring. I ordered seed already and plan to put in an asparagus bed for the first time.

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  15. Good Morning,
    I saw your blog title on Valarie's blog and had to sneak over for a glimpse...I live in NC and just feel like the mountains are part of my world.
    I like what I see and look forward to reading more; the bee hives fascinate me!

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  16. Tracy--you are welcome to visit anytime!

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  17. I am so glad to read about your honeybees~I try to provide for the native bees and the honeybees that visit are always welcome! I haven't seen any bees out and about yet, but, it's been too cold. I did notice some tiny little flying creatures in the compost pile...A warm place with food! gail ps I love the Tufted Titmouse

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  18. Gail--flying creatures in the compost pile is a very good sign it's a good one. I admit I don't get out to mine to observe too much in the winter. But it still works magically.

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  19. Glad you were able to get your honey home - bet is is great.

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  20. I love the shot of the titmouse - they are so cute! And how very interesting about the bees.

    We had a hive in a dying Catalpa tree a few years ago. The only problem was it was only 10 feet from our front door - and 10 feet from where the boys play basketball.

    We had to take the tree down - because the inside (we thought it was the bee's) was hollowed out so much the GIANT tree was unstable in even the slightest wind - and of course it leaned toward the house. The tree had also been severely damaged by the October 2006 storm. Almost every branch had been damaged.

    When they came to take the tree they left a 5' stump - because of the bee hive. Turned out the tree was hollowed out by carpenter ants (big trouble here in Bflo NY area. But the bee's continued to thrive. I called a bee keeper to see if he would come and get them - and he told us to watch for signs of swarming. We never saw it and within the next year they were gone.
    I think they may have just moved on. I am kind of sad - we could smell the honey up on the porch - but glad too - they really were too close to where the kids played.

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  21. Interesting story about the bees. Keep them coming! I would have liked to have seen that!
    lg

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  22. Mmm, the Montgomery Co. MD beekeepers association just had a honey tasting at our last meeting -- Costa Rican honey would have been quite an addition! Glad to hear your hive seems to be maintaining itself well.

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  23. Lourvegirl--yes, it was quite a sight to see all the bees bringing out the dead bees.

    Elizabeth--we have honey tasting in the fall and somehow I always miss it. I will try to check it out this fall and maybe bring a little of the Costa Rican honey if I hadn't eaten it all!

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  25. I love your blog and I really enjoyed reading this post and learning about the bees! I just moved with my family to western NC and am really looking forward to exploring the mountains and seeing all the wildlife there. I will continue to read and enjoy learning from your posts :)

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