2205_1927 Honey Bee
In the spring I let the dandelions grow freely in my backyard and garden, because the bees are hungry and no other flowers are yet in bloom. A month later, most trees are flowering, as well as my chives, currant and caragana bushes... so the bees have more options. I spend the next month digging out the dandelions.
It's backbreaking work, but I like honey - believe it or not - in my coffee. I picked up this habit in 1970 in Vancouver. I had never drunk coffee at home, but on my own for the first time, some junkies introduced me to it, and they took it with honey, so I did likewise. ("Junkies" - I know, I know. They lived next door. I never used. A drag queen lived upstairs. It was quite an education. I was reading Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs, and writing bad poetry.) In self-defence, I will add that I like my coffee black. The old Turkish saying comes to mind: Coffee should be strong as hell, sweet as love, and black as death. But I digress.
The additional perk of allowing the dandelions and bees to thrive, of course, is an occasional photo op. Sprawled on the grass, from time to time kicking out a leg so the neighbours will know I'm not dead, I get down and dirty and into the six-legged world with my macro lens. This spring I made an effort to get a good shot of a bee's pollen baskets, something I don't think I'd ever done. Here it is.
Photographed in Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2022 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
2205_1927 Honey Bee
In the spring I let the dandelions grow freely in my backyard and garden, because the bees are hungry and no other flowers are yet in bloom. A month later, most trees are flowering, as well as my chives, currant and caragana bushes... so the bees have more options. I spend the next month digging out the dandelions.
It's backbreaking work, but I like honey - believe it or not - in my coffee. I picked up this habit in 1970 in Vancouver. I had never drunk coffee at home, but on my own for the first time, some junkies introduced me to it, and they took it with honey, so I did likewise. ("Junkies" - I know, I know. They lived next door. I never used. A drag queen lived upstairs. It was quite an education. I was reading Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs, and writing bad poetry.) In self-defence, I will add that I like my coffee black. The old Turkish saying comes to mind: Coffee should be strong as hell, sweet as love, and black as death. But I digress.
The additional perk of allowing the dandelions and bees to thrive, of course, is an occasional photo op. Sprawled on the grass, from time to time kicking out a leg so the neighbours will know I'm not dead, I get down and dirty and into the six-legged world with my macro lens. This spring I made an effort to get a good shot of a bee's pollen baskets, something I don't think I'd ever done. Here it is.
Photographed in Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2022 James R. Page - all rights reserved.