It’s here, the cool morning temperatures, the dew on the grass, the smell of crisp leaves that tumble down to cover our laws. Colors of yellow, orange and red are bursting magically overnight in the trees around us.
Corn stalks and creepy characters are taking over our homes, while pumpkin everything is now available like Cheerios, coffee, bath and body works candles and cremes, and tempting pumpkin desserts to name just a few. You all know what I’m talking about, it’s fall. This is a special time of the year for many parts of the world because the growing season, as we know it, is just about over. It’s time to harvest, while giving a little nod to the long winter which will follow soon after.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Fall is a time for celebration… And we deserve it.
We have worked hard over the spring, summer and fall. In addition, we’ve left our bee yard with “what next scenarios” including how to deal with spring losses, wondering how my hive became queenless, stressing over hives the are determined to swarm, pesty invaders like small hive beetles, mites and perhaps some rodents. There were cool, rainy days were timing was such you simply needed to “bear and grin it” to take care of your hives. We also dealt with sweltering hot days where wearing a heavy bee suit wasn’t ideal as the salty sweat dripped from our foreheads leaving our eyes to sting.
So yes, after that last crank of the extractor, and hauling multiple five gallon pails of golden honey to a safe spot in till its time to bottle, you can put a smile on your face… I know I did…