The Bee to Be
I have to admit I am a very unlucky, unexperienced bee keeper. During the last couple years my small bee farm (just 2 hives) experienced the entire gamut of possible failures: the queens died with an enviable consistency, the bees mysteriously disappeared or flew away -- or just died. But… the undying image of the famous detective (for those who did not spend a few childhood years reading Conan Doyle - Sherlock Holmes was a famous beekeeper in retirement) inspired me again and again. And of course I gained plenty from my failures: my beekeeper suit is covered with honorable pollen stains, I could make the smoker work from the first attempt, and our basement is filled with an ever growing collection of frames, supers (the wooden boxes that hold the frames) and other numerous and mystical components of the hive.
And the books… oh all the books devoted to my favorite subjects - yes, flowers - that I collect with much enthusiasm and read and make my imagination run wild and colorful. The poppy flowers were introduced to our landscape because of the bees. A couple of linden trees were planted for the same reason. And finally we decided to plant the crop specifically for bees on the remaining portion of the hay field (A story of hay field transformation is yet to be written..). Last year we planted crimson clover in the fall (September). It survived the winter and now, in May, it is the beautiful field of red flowers. I do see bees on the clover flowers. If that will be translated into a surplus of honey - great. Bees or no bees - the red field of clover in the spring is quite a sight and I see it as a permanent spring feature on our farm.
