A Friday ritual.
A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
Category Archives: bees
Wrens, Bees and a Little Perspective
I spent some time watching the wrens feed their babies.
And I spent some time watching the bees come and go from the hives. 
The bees, with their thousands of young waiting to be fed inside, still looked lazy compared to that Mamma wren.
And I? It suddenly seemed that I had a life of leisure, feeding my children only occasionally throughout the day. 
Now I’m hoping my girls get a good look at just what those babies get fed for dinner.
Perspective, it’s an interesting thing.
The Littlest Beekeeper
It was one of those long circular discussions but in the end Clara agreed, no pet bees would be living in the house.
Had Jane been paying attention to our conversation, rather than cowering and screaming each time an escapee honey bee from the two packages in the back of the truck whizzed near her, she would have been relieved.
Clara inspects the two packages of bees.
Even I, the one who brought the idea of beekeeping and then the bees into our life, draw the line at house bees.
But neither of us could stop Clara from dreaming and wondering… What if she could hold still enough that one would land on her… and maybe stay on her hand during dinner… and she could feed it some honey… and if it was there at breakfast she could give it a little more…
“What if… Mom… What if…”
Clara holding up the queen bee in her cage for inspection.
Needless to say Clara was a willing and enthusiastic helper when it came time to hive the bees that evening. (Jane stayed in the house with Ivy.)
Clara listened to what needed to be done. She watched as John and I installed the first hive and then grabbing her own little hive tool, did it herself on the second.
Clara dumping the bees into the hive.
As the final bees got shook out of their box and into the hive, she caught some on her glove, “What if just one of them stayed on my hand Mom…”
“What if…”
Dead Bees On Snow!
I was out walking the dogs on a bright sunny afternoon, enjoying the relative warmth after our recent cold snap, when I checked on the beehives. Even from a distance, I could tell that the ground around the hives was littered with dead bees and I smiled as I went to take a closer look.
I smiled, not because I’m the world’s meanest beekeeper, but because I know that dead bees on snow are a sign that the hives are still alive and well.
The bees, unable to fly out at all when it gets very cold, wait for warm winter days when they can take short flights outside as they clean out their hive. When the snow around the hive is littered with droppings and dead bees it may look like a massacre but it’s actually a very good sign.
Sure enough, when I looked a little closer, someone was looking back at me!
There is still a lot of winter left but I’m crossing my fingers and hoping to keep seeing dead bees on snow through the rest of it!
This Moment – Morning Flight
A Friday ritual.
A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.
Inspired by SouleMama.
Now that those nasty early morning hours have gone by I am again linking up with Northwest Frame of Mind and her 1 Day 1 World project. I was outside taking care of chores and watching the bees this morning between 8am -9am when I took this picture. Find out what others around the world were doing by clicking over!
Behind the Willows 