Tag Archives: Bees

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Meadow On The Mountain And Other Lovely Things

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It was a long time ago and we had decided to have a picnic.  I had the idea that I wanted to have a picnic in a meadow. Meadows were one of my favorite things in life and one of the most beautiful things that I could think of.  A wide expanse of land, high in the mountains, nestled between rocky peaks. Surround by tall forests where ancient pines and stands of Aspen lived. 

We drove up a two lane highway to Dog Valley. Not sure why it was named Dog Valley, but on the way was a sheer rocky cliff at the side of the road. The cliff was a favorite climb for the local rock climbers.  Each time I drove past this spot, memories of a fallen climber would surface.  One day, a few years before, a climber fell and died instantly, his body landing harshly against the sharp outcropping  of stone. The image of his body draped unnaturally  backwards  over a jutting section of the cliff. His body was folded as if  into a sandwich. His  spine most certainly split and fractured in two from the fall. I shook my head and attempted to rid the image from my mind.  We passed a reservoir and headed higher into the forest.  Finally, we pulled to the side on to a dirt road and headed through the forest. This forest was light and the sun shone through the light growth of pines. After about 20 minutes we pulled into an open space and parked.  

As I opened the car door and stepped out among the tall trees, I was immersed in fresh oxygen and the aromas of forest life.  Life was clean and vibrant here.  The scent of pine and earth commingled with thousands of other scents that only a forest and wildlife can produce.  The essentials that sustain life on Earth.  We gathered a blanket and our backpacks and set off to hike through the forest. We would hike  up the mountain and to a meadow we had located on an old map. 

We were both comfortable in the wilderness. We had both grown up camping and knew how to make our way and create landmarks in our minds and on the trail to remember the way. The pine needles crunched beneath my hiking boots as we ascended the gentle slope of the mountainside.  As we hiked the pines began to thin and a wide expanse of grasses and wildflowers came into view.  We headed into the grasses making our own trail.  Bugs and butterflies were abundant,  buzzing and darting about the grasses and wild blossoms.  Birds swooped in and landed for treasure.  They would either perch and stay or fly away again into the vast skies of blue sky country.  I looked down at my old hiking boots from Raley’s the local grocery and supply store. Every year before winter they would have a big sale on down coats, heavy socks and boots to help the locals survive the freezing winters in Reno and the towns that surrounded the city. My parents would herd us in there and buy us each long underwear, a down jacket, heavy socks and boots.  

My boots were heavy, old and scuffed, but well-loved.  They were making the hike on this mountain much easier. Beneath my boots grasses gave way and the soil was peaking through the different varieties of grasses and budding life.  The soil was a grayish brown, chunky, uneven and exuded the aromas of mountain life.

We reached the center of the meadow and threw out our blanket, disengaged our backpacks and laid down in the sunshine.  I laid on my back and gazed into the endless blue sky.  The air was clear and clean and I took deep breaths, filling my lungs with nature and oxygen.  The sun warmed my skin.  All of my nerve endings seemed to vibrate and come alive, reacting to the living meadow.  Life chirped, clicked, scurried and the grasses rustled.  The suns rays opened the grasses and blossoms, initiating photosynthesis and creating more chemical reactions than a chemistry lab.   I figured we probably wouldn’t  last more than an hour  or two in the brilliant sunlight. All around were grasses, birds, wildlife, the forests and flowers in all colors of the rainbow and of all shapes and sizes. Colors burst forth and shot towards the endless blue sky.  I gazed up into the blue and almost felt as if I were flying, but feeling the strong, sturdy earth against my back reminded me of my true location.  

We didn’t speak, we didn’t have to.  The world was speaking for us and we could just lie back and enjoy the conversation.  Eventually, we broke open the backpacks and pulled out snacks and water.  Something small to tide us over until we made it back to the car. I looked around and listened and felt like the luckiest person in the world. 

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Beat the cold

Photo by Wladislaw Peljuchno on Unsplash

Winter in all of her frostiness is here. She breathes an icy wind down the streets of my sweet city and across the tender throats of humans, making us susceptible to illness and flu. Here are a few holistic strategies to beat back the imps of winter and the havoc they wreak upon our health.

1.) Eucalyptus oil. It’s magic. Even if your nose is not runny now, but you feel suspiciously congested, head to your local natural foods store and pick up a tiny bottle of this magic oil. Just take a few deep breaths and this will clear your lungs and create an inhospitable environment for those nasty cold germs. And if the cold was not beat back and you are suffering, place a few drops on your pillow, rub it across your chest and maybe a small drop under your nostrils. That nasty cold will clear much faster and you will breathe easier, I promise.

2.) Ecinacea. Thanks to the health craze that is now sweeping our lovely country, we can find all kinds of sources to partake of the herb Echinacea and it’s fantastic immunity boosting properties. It’s lovely in tea, but any medium will do and it will surely shorten the life of your cold.

3.) Propolis. Propolis is the reason that bees are precious and we should do everything we possibly can to protect them. A byproduct of hive building, propulis holds legendary immune building properties. Had a wild night out or the kids are sick and you didn’t get to sleep? Pop a propolis capsule and let it guard your health until you get those rare moments to rest. Propolis will give you the energy and protection your system needs to work through the cold, your work routine and all those things we do to be the amazing people we are.

Photo by Daiga Ellaby on Unsplash

4.) Lemons. The fruit that promises health and a healthy ph. Lemons are bursting with pure vitamin C. A cup of hot water in the am with a squirt of fresh lemon juice with infuse your morning with sunshine on wintry day and help you to fight those persistent bugs that fly about infecting one human after the other.

5.) Apple Cider Vinegar. Acidic and another way to balance the body’s ph and make your system inhospitable to germs. A teaspoon in your hot lemon water will quickly relieve any upset, nausea or feelings of bloat. Also full of good organisms that will do battle with anything that is paying a visit, but you don’t want to stay.

6.) Last, but not least, where a scarf around your neck. So simple, but incredibly useful. By keeping your neck warm, the site of life giving blood flow, you keep your head warm and well-perfused with the your own healing properties.

In closing, I wish you health, the ability fight your ailments and beautiful, clear, frosty days during this lovely winter.

Photo by Edit Sztazics on Unsplash

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Straw Flower Family

The straw flowers were standing lovely in three small tin pots. They reminded me of a multigenerational family clustered together and at different stages of their life. Small blossoms with closed velvet buds slept and awaited their moment to arise and take the stage. Once their bright yellow petals were sprung, they would be stiff and as dry as parchment paper. Perfect for fairies to write love notes upon. The enfant buds had a neighbor that had already fully opened. This blossom, like a dandy, displaying his new clothes and revealed his luxurious velvet orange button at his center. Across the way and glorious; a neighboring blossom lay it’s face fully open to the public. The center button was fully opened and it’s symmetrical seeds lay like a thousand tiny soldiers standing in formation creating the circle of life. Next to this beautiful blossom and nestled between the various buds was the grand parent to them all. It was an old blossom that was fully opened. The straw petals fallen aside and soft feathering seeds cascaded out and over it’s sides. These small aeronauts were ready and waiting to be transported by the wind to a new land.

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My mom planted straw flowers in her garden when I was a child. I didn’t remember them until I picked some up at a local specialty store to decorate the house for a party. I loved how bright and cheery they were. They exuded the ambience of summer, beaches and warm days. As I examined them, the thought of Dragon Snaps and violets floated into my consciousness and a picture of my mom and I planting flowers. That was the sixties. Everything was full of sunshine and promise and my mom drove a van with huge psychedelic flowers on it. Flowers, peace and love were a part of everyday life. This was obviously a flower that was meant to bring joy.

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It’s official name is Xerochrysum Bracteatum. We know it as the golden everlasting or strawflower. It’s a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae and it’s native to Australia. It was first described by Étienne Pierre Ventenat in 1803. Étienne Pierre Ventenat was a French botanist born in Limoges, France. He was the brother of the famed naturalist Louis Ventenat. He devoted his life to the study and the documentation of the plants he found in the greenhouses and the gardens of Europe. In 1850, the straw flower was developed in Germany and new colors were propagated. So now we have not only yellow; but bronze, purple and red. It was initially known as Helichrysum bracteatum back then and this continued for several years. In 1990 it was moved to the genus Xerochrysum and now it’s part of the daisy family. The strawflower is found around the world and grows in many different habitats. Butterflies, bees, grasshoppers, beetles and moths rely on this hardy blossom for sustenance. Crafters use them for potpourri and making wreaths.

Strawflowers are easy to grow. They are heat tolerant and survive well in poor soil. If you decide to grow them, the most important thing to remember is-water them lightly. I’ve got mine outside now and they seem to be thriving in full sun and with just a watering or two a week. On cloudy days, they are a reminder of sunshine and and hold the promise of summer and warmth in the days ahead.

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My Bees

Bees are truly amazing. They are supposed to be insects, but they seem to be far evolved from an average insect. They have an advanced animal kingdom form of communication that indicates they have intellect and cognition. They are choosy who their friends and enemies are and base this on a variety of factors. For their friends they will make delicious honey and for their enemies they will terrorize them, to keep them away from their colony.




I was so excited when I found I have a colony of bees living under my shed. One day I opened my back door and looked down my alley, to see a swarm of bees furiously buzzing and colliding. After sometime the chaotic activity diminished and only a small portion of the original swarm lazily flew around the same location. Later on as I was walking past my shed I noticed them flying in and out of the bottom of the shed. This continued on for days and then finally honeycomb could be seen peeking from beneath the wall. Unfortunately, it wasn’t any honey coomb I could harvest. First, I didn’t have a bee suit and second, I knew nothing about gathering wild honey. But it was amazing to think that there was actually a thriving bee colony in my own backyard.

I thought about the new colony and what it meant. People liked to walk by my shed which was situated on a pretty alley in the center of the historic district of town. Would the bees chase them or would some person, thinking they were helpful, remove the prized colony?




It worried me. I knew that that honey bee populations were rapidly diminishing due to loss of habitat and farming practices in the United States. I didn’t want to be responsible for losing even one more of these small precious workers. I treasure the sweet treat they produce that’s loaded with immunity boosting properties. I use bee byproducts myself to prevent colds and infection. Propolis was one of my favorites. Propolis is derived from the materials that a bee deposits to build and protect the hive. It contains proven antimicrobial properties. It always gave me a boost, especially if I was feeling fluish.

Another great attribute of bees is their venom. One time I actually stepped on one of the bees that had scurried under my back door during the night. At first, I didn’t feel anything except anger and wanting to pulverize the small aggressor. How dare he come in and attack his host for the night?  Then suddenly a deep throbbing pain shot up my calf from my foot.  The next feeling was an odd numbing sensation and then the arthritic pain to my knee disappeared. For a full day, my knee was pain free.  My anger quickly morphed into bliss and wonder and  the miracle of that  little sting. I researched the phenomenon and discovered bee venom therapy; known as Apitherapy. I found out it had been around for thousands of years. Patients must be clear of venom allergies first and then it can be used to treat painful medical conditions. It has been proven to be quite successful for the relief of pain. Mellatin and Adolapin are two factors found in venom. Mellatin decrease inflammation.  Adolapin decreases inflammation too; but also contains pain blockers. The bee venom also increases the circulation and decreases swelling. I felt wistful and wished that people could understand how amazing bees were and what important contributions they make to our world.

Pretty soon the bees were making nightly visits to my house. They would crawl under the back porch door during the night. They were attracted to the light I left burning at night that cast a warm golden glow. They would crawl under the door and fly to the light, some would make it as far as the inner rooms of the house. At first I was a little frightened. I had seen old abandoned homes where whole walls had become a giant beehive. I knew that there had been several honey farms located in this part of town at the turn of the century and maybe their ancestral instincts were guiding them to reclaim their territory. I learned to capture them without causing harm and send them on their way.





I really love bees. I love that they make honey and I love how they are yellow like sunshine and soft and fuzzy. I think their stinger is cool and amazing- the perfect weapon. I could easily become a throwback from the agrarian days of my city and participate in telling the bees; a ritual believed to bring good health and fortune. Families would ritually tell the bees of new babies being born, deaths in the family and other significant changes to the family. If the bees were kept in the know, they would stay and continue to make honey. But I knew I couldn’t let them start living in my house. So I learned how to block them. I found a way to block their entrance and they don’t come in anymore.

So, I had bees and I love that. I say had, because since I published this article, the bees were removed.  Occasionally, I’ll see one small lost bee hovering about, but the colony is definitely gone.  I’m glad they were here though and proud they chose my shed and  built a thriving colony. Luckily they were under the shed and not in it. I wish they had been capable of being domesticated and viable companionship like a cat or dog, but they are what they are and close companions they are not. So I enjoyed them from afar and helped them as much as I could.  Hopefully they were moved to a bee farm where they can fly through the sunlight on warm lazy days and be free to  make honey without being threatened.