Self-Sufficient Bees, Foxglove Coming In

I’ve not done one single thing for my bees since my neighbor and I installed a swarm he nearly forgot about last year.

Well, I’ve enjoyed them, exchanged greetings with them, and watched them swarm a few times this spring, but that’s all. That’s actually the good stuff, of course.

I suppose I could get in there and clean up the combs, which are currently attached to an inner hive cover. It would be a huge mess, and I’d probably loose a fair number bees doing it (hopefully not the queen), which is why I’ve put that off. I might put it off indefinitely.

Meanwhile, the bees are a pure joy to watch, zooming in and out above the green wild. They absolutely don’t need me, which I find rather refreshing.

Also, on a warm day that hive smells absolutely marvelous!

If you look in the lower left corner of the photo above, you’ll see that the foxglove is coming in nicely, too. Each fall I try to be sure to help scatter the dried seedheads, but once again, I probably don’t need to do that. The foxglove does just fine on its own.