April 16…Andrea called to let us know she had a newly formed swarm, hanging about chest high off the yellow plum tree…did we want it? “ABSOLUTELY!”
It was pretty easy to ‘pop’ the bees into the bucket…
…and into a Warré hive. Back to having bees again. Thank you, Andrea Gatov!
I’ve been protecting this echium plant for two years. It has finally paid off with these bluish-red blossoms. Just in time for the bees. I think this is Wild Prettii echium.
The day after we hived Andrea’s swarm, the bees were all over this shapely echium plant.
One of our new guests partakes of the nectar.
Yellow-faced bumblebees like it too.
Turnip flowers collect bees. Is that a ‘hat’ on Bee Beard Log Hive???
April 21…Close-up on turnip flowers.
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 
Great to see the bees back Pat. Not sure about that flower pot hat 🙂
I had to do something about the rain getting into my log hive. My wife suggested it, probably because she knew I would agonize over trying to build a wooden hat. 🙂
Gorgeous photos. Love the echium — it look so surreal.
Thanks, Julie. That echium (I wish I knew the correct name of it) had to be frost protected for two winters. This year is IT’S year to blossom and look great. After it blossoms, it dies, and in the process throws seeds everywhere. I’ll collect as many as I can and make them available. 🙂
Very happy for you both that you again have a thriving bee company fulfilling their flowery work…. If the flower pot is a closed, clay one can you get moss to grow on it? That will enhance its naturalness.
Hi Lindylou. We considered a clay pot, but we’d have to drill screw holes to secure it. Hard to do on a clay pot, but it would look good for sure.
Good to see that you have bees again! And ignore Eddy. As the Eleventh Doctor says,fezzes are cool.
Thanks, POB. A detailed post will follow. We added some feathers to complete the ‘cool’ look…or not. 😀
Pat, this is a wonderful coverage of our happy event! So glad it all worked out so easily for all of us.
Yes, thanks again for calling us about the swarm. I looked through the observation window this evening to see their progress in building natural comb. It won’t be long before it touches the glass of the window. When it does, I’ll post it. 🙂
I could only see half of your video (my internet connection is not great) but I saw the Echium and all the bees it is attracting! My Echium has germinated as have the seeds I shared with my beekeeper friends Michel and Josiane. I think we will not get flowers before next year but it is exciting to look forward to. I am glad you have got bees in the garden again. So far this year we have caught eight swarms in the garden. We are not keeping them, we are giving them to Michel. Amelia