playing around with the harmony drawing program....

weekword- hiding

Queen

Click on the image to take a closer look at the nurse bee to the lower left of the queen.

Her proboscis is extended touching the queen.

These attendants groom and feed the queen and collect her pheromone and share it

with the bees around them who also share it, spreading its effects throughout the hive.

Olana- Home of Frederic Church

Olana

Persian style Mansion

Home of Frederic Church

(1826-1900)

student of Thomas Cole

and a major figure of the

Hudson River School of Landscape

The views...

weekword- Mother

mother

still chilly and windy...

driftwood from the riverbank... not sure what I'm doing with it yet

the curly vine is from the back yard

I think this little lady stopped to scout me out while I was getting photos of the hives

hive entrance

buzz buzz

some of the seedlings

My new shirt/Mother's Day present :)

It's sweet :)

good thing our seedlings aren't out yet!

our garden... waiting for a good day to plant

Irises in Rhinebeck on Mother's Day.

We went to the farmer's market. It was windy and cold.

I got a falafel in a pita with mango curry and tahini

and hot cider at the market and a Cel-ray Soda

from Leonardo's Italian Market for later.

Soooooo yummy. A Great day.

Hope all you mom's had a Happy Mother's Day!

cold!

the skies on the way to the farm to see the bees

ominous...

the 2 hives- it's always what's inside that counts

a quick peak on a cold day... they made the trip ok...

more to come when it's sunny and warm

I have gone apiarian

There's no turning back. Today I stood in a bee yard at a local community farm with at least 30 top bar hives, bees everywhere. I came home with a wild hive from Pine Plains, NY, and another full of Russian stock/feral genes bred in NY by Sam Comfort of Anarchy Apiaries. I guess after we get better acquainted, me and the bees, I'll find out just exactly what that means. B.A.N.D. - Beekeepers Association of Northern Dutchess is set to meet at the end of the month, so I am on my own until then. I have to be up and about before the bees tomorrow morning to move them from the back yard to the 'bee yard' a little further into our back woods. I'll post some photos of the hives in the yard soon. Bee photos to follow in a few days after they adjust to their new surroundings...

So, only 1 bee sting today (on the leg) -pretty good considering I was sans bee suit and standing next to a guy wearing way too much cologne (he came to find out bees don't like that sort of thing). I haven't been stung since I was probably about 11 or 12. I'll always remember that day I was fishing with my father. We saved a honeybee that was drowning, that is, until it stung the palm of my hand and died. I put mud on the sting from the shore and the pain went away after a while. I think, maybe subconsciously, that day may have been the catalyst for all of this bee geekery. At least I'd like to think so. Its been a long time coming. (weird, Sam Cooke pops into the picture as I type this- A Change is Gonna Come) The memory is and always has been very vivid. Not the memory of the pain from the sting, but of the moments I watched the bee crawling on my hand knowing that despite the fact that it could sting me, and did, I still felt compassion for it. I was sad it stung me because I knew that meant it was going to die. Unless you are allergic, a honeybee sting really isn't so bad... think of how much worse it is for the bee.

river and farm

the riverbank

neighborhood farmhouse

mugshot of our neighborhood carrot fiend