Forget the 4th of July, Independence day and all the wonderful tributes we will all make at the end of this week. I want to pause and salute June. In my blogosphere, minuscule as it is, I noted several other writers who waxed eloquently about my favorite month. From NH Garden Solutions with posts of the glorious minutia of nature all around, to Gallivance posting Dog Tails from Athens about a world-wide animal population problem elegantly solved. From Laura offering glorious images of the rural landscape emerging from the dead of winter in a touringnh blog from her jeep named Toad (or Towed depending on the accuracy of her GPS system that particular day) to Marie Keates reporting in from the UK with her gardens and walks.
June has been a month, colder than usual here, but full of such color and purpose. I have marked my first full year; I am allowed to say, “I’m a second-year bee keeper.” Every opportunity I have to walk out and sit quietly to observe the hives, I’m calmed and filled with renewed resolve, it feels almost like a drug.
This is the first night of 2014, the very end of June, when the windows are wide, the breeze is just starting to pick up and fans are moving the stifling air. The very first day when anyone could find a reason to complain about summer, except that the temperature cools quickly and nights are perfect for sleeping. The orchestra of June nights is the toads and night hawks, the “who cooks for you?” owl and the pines whispering with the breeze.
Therapeutic Misadventures 
June is also one of my favorite months! Thank you for the mention! I won’t be complaining about the temps after the winter we had. Too bad we can’t bottle some of it for January!
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My granddad kept bees; he always said you should tell them your secrets. I love your descriptions of the frogs and owls. We have an escaped peacock in our village. It makes a hell of a noise. Nobody knows who it belongs to. Adds a rather unusual flavour to an English summer evening.
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Thank you for the mention Martha. Every month has its own kind of beauty but I’ve always liked June, too. Especially when school was in session.
I can see how watching the bees and hearing their hum could be calming.
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Hi, Martha.
I am impressed with your ability to blog daily and look forward to my morning read. I should be able to update my blog soon as I finished the orchard fence today and started putting the 2nd coat of stain on the barn. The darn day job keeps getting in the way so I took another week of vacation to try to catch upon chores. Gee, I remember when vacation was hours in a kayak, visiting the Outer Banks or maybe Plum Island. Now it’s a tractor or a ladder!
Please excuse some unsolicited friendly beekeeper advice. Looking at your hives, if you have enough bees in there to require 2 deeps and a medium you can help your bees by removing the entrance reducers. If there are bees in all of your hive bodies you probably have a minimum of 40,000 bees in there. That should deter most creatures and the reducers are just creating a traffic jam and making it hot in the hive. Just watch when inspecting so you don’t inadvertently create a robbing situation. Hopefully you also have an electrified bear fence surrounding them! I’ve heard of 2 beeks loosing hives to bears in our region this year.
Looking forward to my “coffee with Martha” in the morning!
Cheers,
John —————————————————— John Snowdon Honey Meadow Farm, LLC Holistic beekeeping and purveyors of hand crafted organic soaps, candles and woodenware
http://www.HoneyMeadowFarm.com http://www.nhbees.wordpress.com http://www.cheshireconservation.org
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Thank you John, I am humbled that you take joy in my musings. Your hive observations are excellent and I will remove the reducers first thing in the morning. I have seen an increase in entrance fanning/gathering and worried about the heat.
As to the fence, I had it last year and have not had any sightings close by this year. I know I am taking a huge chance but the hives are strapped to some pretty heavy base material and the 410 is at the ready. Fool hardy lazy on my part and an attitude that will be addressed this weekend.
Plum Island and the Outer Banks are two areas of the world close to my heart…how strange you should mention them. Long Beach Island also figures heavily into fond memories…
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Martha, what a wonderful celebration of June – you write so beautifully. For those of us living farther south, it’s the perfect description of May. 🙂 And I love how you describe the serenity of beekeeping. Congratulations on year two, and thanks so much for the mention. Much appreciated. ~Terri
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Terri, I love following your adventures though this working thing is definitely getting in the way of my commenting and time spent reading other blogs. Thanks for your comments.
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Thank you for the mention. It seems June is a very different month on this side of the pond, sticky warms days, and nights, especially at the end of the month and flowers everywhere. I don’t blame you for watching the hives, if they were mine I’d have to be prised away from them by force )
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