"It is well to remember that the entire population of the universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others." A.Holmes

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

For A Few Pounds Of Sugar

Here are three of my husband's four bee-hives.The jars in front of each hive are full of sugar water to feed the bees and help get them through the wet, cold days of our spring weather which does not provide enough nectar & pollen for new hives.The close-up shows the feeder jar. You can see how the bottom of the jar slides into the hive allowing the bees access from inside the hive.My husband has been keeping these feeders full, so the bees have no lack, plus, the flowers, trees, grasses and weeds are blooming.
Now, take a look here.In front of the picture window.
We have two HUMMINGBIRD feeders there, but the hummingbirds have to zip through the honeybees to drink the sugar water we put out for them.
The hummingbirds also compete with yellow jackets, hornets, and ants.
 I sure hope we have a bounty of honey this year,  given the honey bee take-over of the hummingbird feeders.I wish I could have captured on my camera the sight of the hummingbirds weaving around the honeybees, and one hummingbird even seemed to be doing a face to face mirror dance with a bee. There are so many little dramas & comedies going on around here all at one time.How could I ever get bored with so much entertainment? This little bit of comedy is to be had for only the price of a few pounds of sugar.

8 comments:

Deanna said...

Hello Kathy.
I have never seen bees do this before! Neat that you captured them in a pic.

Hope you are having a nice Spring!
d

Judy said...

It's neat that you and your husband keep bees. We were watching a show on the collapse of bees and what they thought might be causing it. Hopefully the bees will pull through and multiply. Yours look quite happy on the hummingbird feeders!

Anonymous said...

I can just see the hummer dancing with the honey bee!

A.K.W. said...

Nice! We don't have hummingbird feeders because of our curious outdoor cats.

Amy

Connie said...

My mom used to have a hummingbird feeder which she finally stopped filling because the bees were always so thick around it. I hope you get lots of honey, Kathy.

Debbie said...

Last year the bees took over one of my feeders too. This week it was ants! I'm changing the locations of the feeders to give the birds a chance!
Everything looks so lush and green there! We need rain :)
Debbie

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy said...

Hi Kathy ... what a wonderful thing for you guys to be beekeepers. I like the fact that you didn't color the hummingbird feeder food with food coloring too.

It is always fun to see what you are up to!

Kathy M.

Karen said...

I really enjoyed this post and your great pictures. Have a blessed weekend.