Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Hummingbirds and Honeybees


I LOVE SPRING!

Yesterday afternoon I sat out in the back yard to nurse Caleb (don't fret about my privacy; as of right now there are still no neighbors up behind me, but if you are interested in being my backyard neighbor, there are lots available and the builders are offering some great incentives and discounts due to the downturn in market conditions....)

ANYWAY....

Yesterday while I was in the back yard feeding Caleb - I had two fun spring moments. The first was that when a HUMMINGBIRD came zipping through the yard and around my head. He checked out both spots where I had the hummingbird feeders hung last year. (I don't have them up yet, but I'm sure you can guess what's pretty high on my list of things to do today:)

The second spring moment was that I was sitting under my Eastern Redbud tree, which is in full bloom, and the honeybees were just having a heyday collecting nectar. I love the sound of happily buzzing bees. I feel bad for them - they get a bad rap! Kids (and many adults) always freak out and scream and run. HONEYBEES ARE OUR FRIENDS! My mom has a beehive and one afternoon she found my niece out there watching the bees. My niece was 3 or 4 at the time, and mom found her standing right next to the hive - standing there, with her hand resting on the box, just watching in fascination at the bees flying in and out. Did she get stung? NO.
Now yellow jackets, wasps, hornets, etc. They are another story altogether. I have my traps out already and I rejoice to see them fill up. They are mean nasty fellows who sting for little or no reason, sting multiple times, and they seem to multiply like mice! I wish THEY were suffering for colony collapse, but no such luck.

I have a simple request for any of you who spray your trees, flowers, gardens, etc with pesticides. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE spray in non windy conditions, after 7pm in the evening. Generally speaking, the bees have returned to their hives by then, and it gives the spray all night to dry, thus making it safe for the bees again. Bees are such a vital part of pollinating. My mom easily doubles her strawberry production when she has beehives. (and other fruits and veggies, but strawberries had the most drastic increase.) Let's try to help our friends the bees! (By the way, my mom lost one of her hives last year, so if you live in UT county and happen to see a swarm in your neighborhood, let me know and I'll have her come pick it up.)


WELL - I didn't mean for this to be a BEE SAFETY blog, I meant for it to be a "glory in spring" blog, but I guess you just never know what's going to come out once you start typing EH??? I gotta get going - I have loads of stuff I HAVE to get done today!

GO ME!!!

6 comments:

Cheri said...

We love spring! I love to see the flowers blooming and the grass getting green etc. We took a walk last night with the kiddies and it was so much fun. It was warm not cold. It was great. Alas there is a storm coming. We are supposed to go camping at Granite Flats over Memorial Day weekend. Cross your fingers for warm no snow weather. Hope that the canyon is de-snowed by now. Yikes!!!!!!

Harmony said...

Thanks for the bee and pesticide tips. I have a lot to learn when it comes to yard and garden stuff....

Stop and smell the Daisies said...

You make me laugh. Thanks for the info on bees. I, too, love to see the signs of spring. We need to get a hummingbird feeder to attract more hummingbirds to our window. We have our wasp traps up and working. We just put raw hamburger in them and the wasps swarm in!

Unknown said...

Anything to protect bees I'm all for. Happy Mothers Day, Jeri.

hi, it's me! melissa c said...

Wonderful post! I feel the same way about bees. We have hives out in our back pasture. They aren't our, but our friends but the new is that bees are dying at a rapid pace.

It's kind of scary if you think about it. I don't know if anyone knows why but it is becoming a problem.

Anyway, I love bees. Thanks for the post!

Kristi said...

I watched a show on 60 minutes about the bee problem. That is such a scary thing that bees are just disappearing. One guy lost 1/2of his bees, and he does the big contracts with Dole, etc. He mortgaged everything, and bought more bees, and now 6 months later, 1/2 of them have disappeared again. Wow...not a good thing. Thanks for the info. It is time to spray again.