It’s #BookQW and Cor ‘finds’ creative magic for beekeeping. From Chapter 15: Their bee yard was in a clearing between two terrace walls, four hives made up of two hive bodies each and a fifth with three. Additional hive stands stood empty. “This isn’t enough hives for the size of your orchard,” he remarked. “We […]
Yes, pollinator week is a thing, and more popular than ever! Pollinator Partnership has more on activities and the critical need to promote the health of our pollinators. I’m in Colorado and have been seeing these really cool bumblebees with orange bands on our flowers. I finally got photos! I searched online and discovered the […]
I love nature and can’t imagine living apart from it. I know people do and the idea saddens me. I’d rather not face what’s happening to our earth, but we all need to, and make any and every change we are capable of making. Before kids, I worked as a naturalist doing environmental education programs […]
Just a quick post to introduce you to another great plant for bees! Sorry it’s not a tree, but I couldn’t resist when I found honeybees on my neighbor’s Leatherleaf Mahonia, Mahonia japonica, in early March. This tough shrub for partial shade blooms in early spring and the blossoms will not freeze if temperatures reach […]
This is one of my favorite trees (or a large shrub) because it is native and blooms at whacky times of the year. Oh, and its flowers look like spiders! Depending on the species, witch hazel blooms either before winter or after. The native species, Hamamelis virginiana, is a late fall bloomer for bees to […]
I’m starting this set of brief posts between now and the release of my newest YA, Guardian of the Pines. Why? Because my hero, Cor, loves trees and also is a beekeeper. Red Maple trees have begun to bloom in my area, the suburbs of Washington, D.C. They aren’t a tree that folks go out […]
Sadly, we lost one of our beehives last week. We were feeding them sugar blocks through the winter, but it was not enough given the size of the hive and they starved. A more experienced beekeeper from our club came to help with a postmortem. Not to get into too many details, but we […]
It’s been a busy spring, some of it my doing, some of it I was drafted into. I’m not protesting too much. My dear husband Bill decided to take a beekeeping class to assist with the bee hive at our church. The first hive died last fall and he didn’t know why. The class met […]