A Daylily

It's hard to believe that the last few blooms of summer are almost here.  We wait through the long winter to get a glimpse of color and before we know it we're at the end of the season.  We still have the beautiful fall colors to look forward to and the Mums are some of my favorites. 

The Black Eyed Susans should be in bloom for a few more weeks.  It must be their orange color that makes me think of fall.  Not that I'm quite ready, although with the heat that we have had here lately, I find myself longing for the cool nights that fall brings.  We are finally getting some much needed rain tonight.  You can water every day, but it doesn't compare to a slow falling rain to make things perk up.

This is one of my beautiful daylilies.  The orange color is just so amazing.  I managed to get a close up shot of it while the rain drops were still there.  Hope you enjoy it!  Take time to look at all the beautiful colors in the great outdoors that our Lord provides for us.

Our Garden Frog

Could this be the same frog that we see every year in our garden?  He or she gets a little bigger from year to year.  But how would we know?  I'd like to think he feels at home there.  He always manages to scare me while I'm busy admiring the plants growing and the veggies getting so close to pick.  He blends in pretty well with the colors of the plants, so you don't know he's there until you get too close and he jumps.....and yes.....I jump!!  As long as it's just him and not a snake I'm good.   I suppose we should give him a name....I'll have to think about what would be a good name for him.

Cat Nap

Now this is how to take a cat nap! The hot days of summer are a perfect time to nap.  Who am I kidding....anytime is a good time for a nap! 

What a sweet little face!!

The photo isn't the best, but it does help explain why several of my daylily buds have been eaten!!  They didn't even have a chance to open. And this I do believe is the culprit!!  We've seen her a few times lately.  We watched her easily jump over the fence and into the neighbor's yard.  There are a lot of leaves and other stuff to eat, why pick on my daylilies!!  I'd gladly give her something else to eat.  But she is pretty, isn't she??

Worker Bees

The term "Worker Bees" takes on a whole new meaning when you watch the bees in action. We added a second box to the hive tonight.  The bottom box is almost full!!  It's amazing that they have been so hard at work to fill it already. 

The Queen has been busy too!!  If you take a close look at the photos below, you can see what looks like little white "C"s.  That's bee larva.  So the Queen has been busy laying larva which will eventually be the second generation of the summer.  After she places the larva in the comb, the workers are busy sealing it up with honey and wax.  This is what the larva will eat until they hatch and become a bee.

This is the top of the box.  Just look at that honey dripping down. 

Here's my husband scrapping off some honey so we can have a sweet treat!  Yummmmm!!

While he was putting on the second box, it happened!!  The bees were not happy and he got stung on the leg.  It was just a matter of time.  At least it was only one that stung.  Just look at all of them flying around!  Yikes!!  Believe me....I was as far back as I could get and still take the pictures.  I don't have a suit...so if they get too close....I'm gone!!!

And here is the second box added on the top.  So now they have plenty of room to work.  I don't know about you, but there is so much to learn.  If we didn't get the second box on in time, half of the bees would have swarmed to find another open hive.  So it's really important that we check the hive at least once ever 7 to 10 days.  We have two more boxes that we can add this summer.  And it's looking better all the time that we will have lots of honey this fall!!  Stayed tuned for the next update!!



A Butterfly

Tonight I actually had my camera nearby when a beautiful butterfly decided to make a visit to one of my hanging plants just outside our window.  I grabbed my camera and quickly went outside, trying to be quiet so I wouldn't frighten him/her away.  I stood still (in 95 degree weather, not an easy task for me) for it to come back around.   I was finally able to get a shot of him/her.  It's funny, but until you can see them up close, I would have never known that he/she had shades of blue.  They always just appear to be all yellow from a distance.

I have a butterfly garden in another spot in our yard, so I'm hoping he/she will tell their friends so we can continue to watch and enjoy their beauty.

I'll be back tomorrow with a few new photos of the bees!!  They have been very busy.  Make sure you tune in for the next adventure of the bees!!

Bee Update

Our bees have been busy!!  We haven't been able to open the hive because it's been so windy this week.  But tonight we were able to look inside.  The Queen is laying eggs which is a great sign.  And five out 10 grids (I'm sure that's not the technical term, but you get the idea) are almost full of wax and honey.  You can see the wax and honey in the picture below.  It's the yellow honeycomb stuff at the top right. 

Our neighbor girls were over and we all were able to sample some of the "pure" honey.  Wow....it was amazing!  So sweet!!  The girls weren't too thrilled with chewing on the wax to get the honey out, but I think they liked it just the same!

Here's a closeup!



This weekend we need to fill their sugar water supply, so we'll be able to peek in again and get some more pictures.  Stay tuned!!  Isn't this fun??  It's looking good for honey this fall!!!