I've noticed this summer that I've been spending a lot more time in my backyard. It's because of the bees. Well, and the new fence that hides me from the creepy neighbor (who ironically, just pulled into his driveway). I enjoy watching the bees launch from and land on the bottom board. It's relaxing. I've been more meticulous with the gardening (ignore the weeds in the pics): thinking about ways to make the yard more bird- and bee-friendly.
So here I am. Typing this blog from my patio (wireless) and eating honeybee-friendly Haagen-Dazs ice cream (vanilla swiss almond). In the time that I've been sitting here, a bumblebee has landed on the zinnia in the planter on the table. Two hummingbirds have visited the feeder behind me. Several birds have checked their feeders and are singing. My bees are zooming in and out. And I've gotten stung by mosquitos. One of my cats is meowing from the open window. Many of my perennials are in bloom: clematis, yucca, cat mint, corieopsis, marigold, lilies.
The bees have made me more aware of the activities in my backyard and more appreciative of my own very small, but beautiful, sanctuary in the city.
The winds which passed over my dwelling were such as sweep over the ridges of mountains, bearing the broken strains, or celestial parts only, of terrestrial music. The morning wind forever blows, the poem of creation is uninterrupted; but few are the ears that hear it. --Henry David Thoreau
My mother recently sent me an article from her local newspaper on urban beekeeping. I located the AP story on the web: "Urban beekeeping is the latest buzz". It includes the standard advice for city beeks, including providing a water source, communicating with neighbors, and checking flight paths and local ordinances.
