August 30, 2017 mid-day

August 30, 2017 mid-day

Squash

Black eyed Susans and Onion Flowers

Onion flowers

I made a quick visit to my bees in Park Heights this morning as I volunteered in the garden. The summer allows a myriad of flowers for the bees to feast on and some great weeds (dandelions, etc..) as well 😦

This summer the squash has been great and the final butternut squash are developing for the fall. When picking them I noticed some bumblebees in the squash flowers. Bees and other pollinators love onion flowers as well and I watched honey bees, butterflies, and bumblebees feed.

I also thought that I would add some recent photos of the hives. I will be adding a new box this hive over the weekend with a feeder because I noticed that bees have been bearding.

Bearding is when the bees when gather along the front of the hive and it is often mistaken with swarming. This because the clustering often looks like it hangs off of the hive and it looks like a beard.  When I saw this happen the first time I thought that the bees were swarming but, it often happens when the temperature rises above 100 degrees.

As we go into September this my final ode to the Summer. Enjoy the last few weeks!