Author Archives: Betsy
May Day
I remember my mother telling me that very early in the morning on May Day, she and other kids would make May baskets out of reeds, and then fill them with flowers and hang them on neighbors’ front doors.
Yesterday the rain held off for the space of a wedding, a maypole dance, someone’s 90th birthday, [...]
Posted in 2010 blog posts, Life off the grid Tagged may day dance, maypole, maypole dance 2 Comments
Telling the Bees
And so one chance comment by Hallie here a few days ago has drawn me down unexpected pathways.
In the British Isles, there’s a whole cluster of folklore concerning how one must tell the bees when something important happens in the family. Most usually, it sounds like this was observed at the time of a [...]
Rainy day bees
A line of squalls blew through the clearing today; hail and rain parading through sunshine. Rowan and Auryn and I worked in the garden between downpours, then would snatch up our sweatshirts and seed packets and run for cover when the sound of raindrops started up again.
One hive’s a bit subdued, possibly because there’s [...]
8-frame Woodenware woes
See the problem? If not, read further.
OK, so is this really reasonable? Here’s my saga:
I always wanted to run 8-frame hives. They’re lighter weight for my lousy back and wrists, and they allow the bees to expand vertically a bit more.
I checked the local(ish) suppliers, and none of them mentioned having any 8 [...]
Foundationless hives, next part of the story