homecoming bees part 2

Dear Family & Friends,

Following my last post, our village grandfather came to check our beehive to confirm if there really is a bee colony that settled in our empty hive as we suspect. He opened the hive...Lo and behold - we've got a miracle! We danced a dance of joy:) Oh, I can't tell you how happy that made us.

checking our beehive

Indeed it is a miracle. First of all it is very very rare that bees would swarm and get into an empty beehive by themselves. Secondly, It was around July or August that they got in there...the height of summer....it's too late for them because if they swarm, it normally happens in Spring time.

honey bees busy keeping their home in order

Our once empty beehive now got a tenant! There's a queen, eggs and even new babies already inside:) Our worry is that as we're entering autumn ....we need to get them strong for the winter season. Plants that hold nectar for their food to sustain them is winding down by now....so we need to help them by feeding them sugar syrup for this time.

Last year we were told that 40% of the bee population in Bulgaria died because of our severe winter. We have to be prepared for this and we will see to it that we insulate their home the best we could.

a valuable piece of our real estate

I'm so encouraged to have left my garden messy...plants going into flower looking scrappy...but they hold some food for our bees. We are now back with a noisy garden...exactly the noise that I want to hear everyday - bees buzzing all around me:):) Our bees are back home!

beekeeping in our garden

We thank God for this wonderful miracle. This is a big gift for us...and we did nothing for that matter. Moneywise, what would a bee colony cost? -  about 60 euros...but ours was given to us for free and most of all, there was no work involved from us:)

Hope you have a wonderful day like we have here.

Yours