Bees are simply amazing! The more I read about them, the more wonderful they reveal themselves to be.
Our little colony has been cleaning house already.
Yesterday they were visiting the birdfeeder- soaking up the sweetness in the corn, I suppose- and scouring the buckets we used to collect sap.
Later in the afternoon they were bringing in big bunches of pollen- some pollen balls so big they fell off their legs before they could get them home. We ate some- sticky, and quite sweet. I love that stuff. When we lived in Minneapolis I had a big jar of bee pollen on top of the refrigerator that I'd sprinkle on my cereal in the mornings. Jake would just dip in a spoon and swallow the whole lot. You can also bake with it- it makes lovely yellow-crumbed muffins.
We're considering the addition of a contraption called a pollen trap, that is designed to brush off some of the pollen from the bees' legs. Bee pollen has long been touted to possess a wide range of healing powers, from restoration of the female reproductive system to reducing cholesterol, but when I've taken it is was as a method to fend off spring allergies. Now I just eat a lot of our backyard honey, and it seems to do the trick. Last spring I was blissfully free from my typically annual itchy eyes and runny nose and lingering headaches! Some people are allergic to bee pollen, so read up about it first if you intend to try it.
Where did that pollen come from? What is blooming already? Besides a single yellow crocus the ducks discovered and promptly demolished, we can't tell. But... soon!
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