Beekeeping has taken my connection to the land to a much deeper level. At this, the end of my second full season as a backyard beekeeper, I pause to appreciate the gift the bees have brought me: the gift of connection to the great wheel of life.

Over the course of the spring and summer, I am in tune with the flowers. Willow, black raspberry, apple, dandelion, black locust. Catmint, chives, wild geranium, black cohosh, echinacea. Native plants abound: sumac, white clover, alfalfa, the sweet clovers. Each day, I note what plants the bees are visiting. I read, observe, and try to find out where they are getting the bulk of their nectar and pollen. I watch excitedly as the flowers gently fold and the pollinated plants begin to set fruit.

Fruit season begins: black raspberries behind the kitchen, which a month ago the bees were pollinating, are fat and juicy on the canes. Then come blackberries. The early sun and rain combined with excellent pollination have made a bumper crop. I think of how the pollinators worked the flowers which have turned into the plump, flavorful delights I now pop into my mouth. I spend hours in the patch and return with brimming baskets, my arms scratched and clothes stained purple. Two quarts make a blackberry cobbler to die for. Ten quarts go into the freezer.

Late summer has arrived. The goldenrod is beginning to bloom. Now all is dependent on weather. I check weekly to see if another honey super is needed. If it’s cloudy, I’m making my plans for taking off and extracting the honey. Goldenrod is in full bloom, a great yellow swath of color dotted with spots of mauve Joe-Pye Weed and white boneset.

The end of August comes and it’s time to take the honey off. I have few enough supers that I can afford the time to use an old fashioned, unheated knife to gently slice off the cappings in an unhurried manner. As I work, I meditate on the great wheel of the seasons that turns every day imperceptibly, gradually leading us toward the end of the summer and the long winter after that.

Aster flowers open. The warm sunny days are fewer now, and farther between. Aside from the sedum and borage still adorning my garden, this is the last major food for the bees, the last chance to store up summer’s bounty in the form of honey, to feed the colony through a long cold period without fresh food. I feel a sadness come over me, knowing that as each day comes and goes, there are fewer times when it will be warm enough for the bees to fly free in the fresh air and gather fresh nectar. They are driving the drones, now-useless consumers of precious food, out of the hive, cutting their losses, battening down the hatches. Now I can only trust that my vigilance all summer and the bounty of the land, have made the bees strong and numerous enough to keep each other warm on the coldest days and to move to their honey stores as they need to. I am grateful for the millions of flowers they have visited and their strength in fanning their wings to evaporate the water out of the honey; for their ability to make wax to cap their stores; and for the trust that once more, enough bees will survive the winter to keep their species going another season. Most of all, I am grateful for the deeper connection to the land which the bees have brought me.

To speak about the elderberries, this Saturday July 16 @ 10 AM we are honored to welcome Lewis Hill, Greensboro, Vermont and Denis Charlebois, St-Jean-sur-Richleau, Quebec, Agriculture Canada to our honey house on Route 7 in Ferrisburgh.

Lewis and Nancy Hill are authors of many books on gardening and plants. As friends of Honey Gardens over the years, they have encouraged us in our work with bees and plants, introduced us to elderberry and provided the cultivars for our organic elderberry nursery. These cultivars, Coomer and Berry Hill, have been selected for growing larger berries and good overwintering.

Elderberry is a “turning point” word in my work with bees over the last 40 years. Without the elderberry, Honey Gardens would not be here for it was the elderberry, as it was mixed with our bees’ raw honey and propolis, that allowed us to make an effective formula and diversity into plant medicine. Elderberry has the anti-viral agents that chemical medicines do not have and thus many people find relief support for colds, flu, and building up their immunity system within hours.

Lewis will share stories from a lifetime of growing plants in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. The Coomer and Berry elderberry cultivars will be available one of each is necessary for good pollination and fruit set.

Denis coordinates the research on elderberry farms across Quebec. One of the original purposes of the project was to study the use of elderberry as natural color for the European market, and now the berries are being used in jam, wine, and medicine. We visited an organic field on one of these farms recently it is exciting to see more acreage being devoted to medicinal plants and crops that provide income for small farms as they diversity.

Sam and I were in the High Laurentian Mountains of Northern Quebec recently visiting Anicet Desrochers and family. Anicet has provided the Russian bees over the years that are crucial to our organic beekeeping, strengthening the bees and helping them overcome the mites. As most of the Honey Gardens bees died over last winter and fall, we have had an opportunity to introduce more Russian queens and re-build our colonies. One of the exciting moments during this visit was when Anicet said that his bees were moving into the era beyond mites, and that they are no longer an issue with his bees.

We have been harvesting and extracting the new crop for several weeks, and it is beautiful. The rain and heat have brought many luscious flowers to the land, and we are grateful.

Thank you for your interest in and support of the work of our bees and plant medicine.

In the early days of Spring, we visited the bees as the last patches of snow lingered throughout the land. Choruses of frogs sang for weeks, as waves of red maples were lighting up the hills, signaling the end of maple sugaring and also the beginning of the flight of honey bees as they gather nectar and pollen from the same trees that syrup was made from. The colonies of bees that have mite resistant queens and where organic practices are followed continue to come out of the winter stronger.

In the season of abundant dandelion flowers for the bees, we have been splitting the surviving colonies, which makes up for the winter loss. We are encouraging them to raise their own queens this year and support their health with organic mite procedures. Last week, the colonies of honey bees were moved out of the apple orchards.

Another sign of Spring is the lone queen bumble bee flying from flower to flower, gathering nectar and pollen to feed and start their new families. The bumble bees often have more muscles and are larger than honey bees, and can thus fly in the cooler temperatures of Spring. They are native pollinators and social like honey bees; the bumble bees are also a critical piece of our ecosystem and like honey bees, they are at risk. You can find out more, including how to help them, at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust
http://bumblebeeconservation.org/

Wainsworth Brown, David Buchanan, Noel Henry, and Neville Buchanan, Zolfo Spring, Florida, April 2008. The boxes of orange blossom honey have been brought to the honey house for extracting. The bees were just starting to work on the palmetto palm flowers. These men work with the bees in South Florida, and maintain strong ties to their community in Jamaica.

Nearby in Zolfo Spring, the honey bees were working the flowers in a 180 acre field of watermelon. When these watermelon are pollinated by honey bees, the yield of the fruit is between 80,000 – 90,000 pounds/acres. Without the bees, the farmer only gets 10,000 – 15,000 pounds of melons/acre.