As some of you may know, Jessica and I became beekeepers last summer. We only have one small hive but we hope to expand in the future. As you also may know we just experienced one of the harshest winters on record, with what seemed to be endless amounts of snowfall AND extreme cold. The temps were below zero for many more days than I care to remember! Cook County has quite a few beekeepers and as much as 65% of the county's honeybee population was lost due to the harsh winter. We were extremely lucky in that our one little hive survived!
But now summer is here and with it longer, warmer days. Our bees have been loving the sunny days lately and really taking advantage of the dandelions that sprout up in the yard this time of year. I have purposely been putting off mowing a large patch of dandelions so the bees can take advantage of them. And let me tell you, they sure do love them! Yesterday our dandelion patch was FILLED with honeybees! For quite a while I laid on the ground in the middle of the dandelion patch with my telephoto lens, taking pictures of the bees. It was quite a challenge, since they are quite small and don't seem to stay on any one flower for more than a few seconds. Still, I came away with a few shots that I really like. It sure was fun to lay on the ground surrounded by flowers and bees. They were landing on flowers all around me, and sometimes landing on me too! They had absolutely no interest in me, however, so I wasn't worried about getting stung. They were too busy collecting pollen from the dandelions. These sure are fascinating little creatures and I love seeing them so busy right in our own yard. We are happy to be doing our part to keep the honeybee population going!
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