Summertime.

 Our summer was a late arrival. Wet weather delayed vegetable planting till mid-May.

 At that time there was a heavy pall, weather-wise and emotionally. Two loved ones sadly passed on, both prey to Alzheimer’s. We almost lost our beloved cat, Pushkin, who gradually lost his appetite and finally refused to eat and drink. Vet tests came up with low blood counts but no diagnosis. We all went through the agonies of Z force-feeding him for about a week. We had prepared ourselves for the big goodbye. Then one day, he inexplicably turned the corner: wanting to eat but frailty and poor coordination impeded the process so the syringe was replaced by the teaspoon. On the day he unsteadily walked up to us and rubbed our legs - his morning greeting of old – we both wept. He was on the way back to us!

During our rainy season, Z had clearly been plotting garden improvements. In the first week we decimated the hedge which was a three-day task.

Then a tree-feller dispatched two demised pine trees and pruned down a deciduous tree.

During the process of the latter, I mused over the origins of the term, ‘lop-sided’..

  Then serious pool-cleaning began.

And after a time of sadness, anxiety and hard graft, we enjoyed moments of joy as well.

 Our Sheffield-based niece, Jenny, learned that her current bump will be a little girl. Her two-year-old brother-to-be wants her to be called Fire Dog Bull – the third is the actual surname which seriously delimits feasible name choices!

As the heat returns, so the crickets chirrup and gladden our days, as do the swallows who wheel around before swooping down to drink at the pool. 

  

With the new run-way in operation, the air-corridor overhead has regular flights coming in, so our tourist economy is on the up. If we can, at the same time, maintain the current pattern of falling Covid-19 figures, then all will be well.

 We are the proud owners of certificates attesting to our being fully Pfizer-ed and of ‘green passports’ which allow us to travel within most European countries.  We have no desire to travel abroad for the time being.  

     

The sun is out, our roses are in bloom and our produce is nicely ripening.

It’s time to savour summer!

The Bees' Knees!

 In my first post on Bees, on 11^th May, I mentioned our neighbour had begun to keep bees. In fact, his daughter has taken over that responsibility and now has about 30 hives! So today, we’re going to look at apiculture from a more personal perspective.

  Below we see our neighbor and his wife opening up the hive to check that all is well. You will notice they are wearing protective suits and gloves in white. When I joined them to take pictures, they advised me not to wear anything black. Bees are said to associate dark colours with predators – bears and badgers – and can go on the defensive. Current thinking indicates it may be smells that are more disturbing than colour – but why take chances!? They are also wearing netting on part of their helmets. Bees are attracted to one’s breath and a sting on the face can be very painful.                         

Ioannis has removed the frame from the hanging container and is inspecting it. The close-up below shows the bees still hard at work, despite the intrusion.     

                                                       

                                                                                                                                                                        

 The orange-colored sealed inner cells contain the larvae, while the darker cells on the outside of the frame contain honey. So the frame serves as both nursery and pantry!   

                    

Above we can see the beekeeper tools of the trade. He has a smoker to lull the bees. The smoke can mask the pheromones released by the guard bees once the hive is breached.  It also encourages the bees to eat, a response to the possibility of their having to leave the hive because of fire. Essentially the smoke reduces the likelihood of the bees attacking.

 He will feed the bees to ensure they survive the winter. He has both pollen patties and syrup which you can see him adding in the picture below.                                               

And now for my final section:

Interesting information on bees

• Soldier bees perform security guard duties all their lives.
• Regular worker bees will change duties according to their age and the needs of the colony. Before undertaking a new duty, their brain chemistry changes!
• After a bee stings, it dies. On stinging, it leaves behind some muscle and nerves and part of its digestive tract. It is this abdominal rupture that kills the bee.
• Bees fly at about 20 miles per hour.
• Bees have five eyes: 2 large side compound eyes with lots of tiny lenses as well as three ocelli which are simple insect eyes with light-sensitive cells.
• They communicate via pheromones as well as by ‘dancing’ to convey the location of food sources.
• Bees are experts at geometry: the honeycomb cell is the most efficient structure in nature as it uses the least amount of wax in its construction.
• Bees are expert mathematicians. On receiving information, say of six separate food locations, they can calculate the shortest possible route to reach all the flowers.      So that’s why we talk of making a bee-line somewhere!

 I think the information that really made me think was the fact that it takes the lifetimes of 12 working bees to make one teaspoon of honey.   That’s an awful lot of effort- so bear that in mind next time you sample some great Greek yoghurt and slather it with delicious honey.

And finally a little sketch of mine in homage to the honeybee - respect!