Stay calm and remain purple

Here's a secret I'd like to tell. I love Advent better than Christmas. Advent's the journey, the seeking, the waiting. I have to give credit to my parents, who really did a nice job building that sense of anticipation, with the decorations slowly increasing over the weeks, only to culminate in the fully decorated Christmas tree that appeared in our house no sooner than on Christmas eve, around 5pm. This is the time, as I will have you know, when the Christ child delivers presents to German children. It must be that Baby Jesus, Santa and Father Frost and whoever else is in on this global game of sneaking and scheming, have split up the geographical areas and delivery times to make it all feasible? That is what I tell my children to explain the difference in my culture growing up, and theirs, which needed to match that of their school mates and friends.

But back to Advent. I like to have an advent wreath or other seasonal vehicle for four candles every year. We usually craft it together now, the kids are old enough to help. This year's version recycled the log tea light stands the husband made last year:

And back to the meaning of it all. We shall light one candle more each week, as we wait. And wait we will. With music, hot cider, cookies, and reading stories of St. Nicholas. In this sea of red and green and golden and glitter and shiny instant gratification, we are going to:

{this moment}

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{this moment}

A Friday SouleMama ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see 

.......

A visit to a foreign world

Sometimes you just have to break out of your world, and go visit someplace else. Except there is that pesky carbon footprint thing, and that money thing, and that time thing ... so we 'get away' to a few local hide-outs once in a while. This time, we went to South America. And by that, I mean the excellent Maya exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science. Insta-transport into a totally foreign world. 

We learned about glyphs, kings and calendars. We sat for a while (too long, say the littles - too short says the oldest) drawing, reading, learning, in the peaceful darkness of the exhibit.

Then we took a quick stop in the tropics on the way to lunch - the butterfly room is always a treat for the senses. Then, from far away across the world, we smelled good things to eat.... and went to have lunch before returning to our own little world.

Immigration!!!

I'm simply going to give a pictorial timeline for how yesterday went. I know you're all waiting for the conclusion of what is now a trilogy.....  Picture credit goes to Kaat, who was an amazing team mate on all of this. It was a long day, and almost all about bees. 

Kaat and I got to the DeCordova at 9am and met up with Sam. No change since Thursday. Jarrett had suggested drizzling some honey into the top hole, trying to avoid gluing up the bottom entrance in the process. Anita from Beverly Bees also suggested lemongrass oil, which I had on hand (Of course! It's sun & bug lotion season!), so I filled a drinking straw with honey and a few drops of lemongrass essential oil, and squeezed that into the top hole. 

To add a bit of stick to that offering of carrot, I smoked the bees in the screened installer a bit. It created a stir at the top hole, but no general upwards movement. 

We stayed and watched for a bit...

No dice. Bees are staying put.

So we left for a bit, and Kaat and I took a trip up to Rick's to buy a bunch of bee supplies (I'm looking to create a split off my two hives, you'll hear more about that soon), and we got a chance to pick his brain on the situation. Rick and Jarrett had met a few weeks ago, so Rick was familiar with Jarrett's project and general approach. We all agreed that we needed to somehow do something different, being that the bees showed no inclination to make the first move. We were getting concerned that if for some reason, the bees couldn't or wouldn't move out of the installer, they would run out of fuel and starve. We also ran into some logistical deadlines from the side of the museum. A change of plan was needed!

After checking with Jarrett on the phone, we abandoned a few more drastic ideas and decided to add more honey through the top hole, create a honey trail from the top hole to the installer, and then pry a small plexiglass screen off the top of the installer, hoping that the bees would follow the honey into the hive and make it their permanent home.

I'm only barely tall enough to reach the front entrance of the Haven hive with the squeeze bottle of honey. Luckily it wasn't a very windy day ...

I had a small assortment of razor blade, small screwdrivers, a pocket knife and a letter opener with me, to try and get the screen off. I was happy for my old climbing gear with lots of loops and hooks. After breaking the razor blade, I succeeded with a small screwdriver and opened the top of the installer. I was mentally prepared for the motherload of bees right in my face, see how close I am?

When that didn't happen, my first impression was relief. The bees didn't do anything crazy, like take off and abscond. They stayed surprisingly peaceful after being meddled with so much today. I unhooked myself from the top, climbed down and we took the ladder off.

A trail of bees developed. 

There was a definite trend ...

Sam took this picture later in the day... bees still there, still crawling up the front wall of the Haven hive.

 

Et voila. Sam snapped this peaceful shot as the dark rain clouds moved in this evening. That is all I needed to call this one a One Good Day. Kicked back with friends, good food, craft beers and great conversation. On Sunday, I will go and take down the installer, and go back to waiting by the phone for the next swarm ...

 

Immigration???

I know you're sitting on the edge of your seat, waiting for a Haven bee update. All three of you. Well, on Wednesday there was nothing much to report because it was in the fifties here, and very rainy. Predictably, the bees sat tight and did nothing, and we (Jarrett, the artist, Sam from the DeCordova, as well as us four local beekeepers who are helping out) decided to follow their example.

This morning, the air was warming up and the day was sunny and full of promise. I went out there at 9:30 to check, and saw a bit of buzzing in the installer, but no traffic out of the top entrance of the white hive body. After a short run on the gorgeous trails near the DeCordova, I returned to little change and decided to come back later in the day. 

After picking up the two littles, we returned to the sculpture park to have lunch. A picnic at the DeCordova is always a wonderful idea, if you're in the area! At this point, quite a few bees were moving through the hive body and exiting at the top entrance, some came back to enter at the top as well. Alas, until 5pm, there was still a good size cluster in the installer, telling us that Her Majesty, the queen, had not walked into the hive body yet. 

     

So it's been a day of full time waiting and patience, not exactly my strong suit. We will return in the morning to try a few more beekeepers' tricks to lure the bees into the hive, if they haven't moved in when we show up.  It's a real cliff hanger!

Haven - the immigration

Today, I got a phone call from Jarrett. Funny how when you're waiting for something to happen (in this case, I was waiting on swarm calls.... swarm season hasn't really kicked off yet around here), when it does happen, it's sort of surreal. Jarrett told me that his bee contacts from the North Shore had collected a swarm and would I come help set up the install device at the museum? Of course I was happy to do so!

Packed up some gear and went off to the museum. We installed the ladder and a rope, mostly for my nerves. I did not want the box of precious bees to get dropped by accident! (see me holding the rope in the picture below). It was a cool and windy afternoon, so the pole swayed a bit in the wind.

The swarm, in a 5ga bucket. For a moment, I saw the queen walking on the netting. It's harder to tell when you only see bee bellies, but her size and way of walking gave her away.

Brian, the catcher of the swarm, did the honors of pouring them into the 'installer' and then climbed up to attach the installer to the hive.

The installer is a very cleverly designed piece of bee equipment - it has window screens for walls, so that the bees can't escape but at the same time can still breathe and spread pheromone to their sisters who may have flown off during the initial 'pour'. Further, the screen prevents the bees from liking this enclosure too much. Bees like a dark cavity for a permanent home, something Jarrett has emulated with his HAVEN hive design. The installer has small windows all over, and only one exit, giving the bees no other choice to leave than through what we all hope will be their future home.

My friend and bee mentor Kaat came as soon as she'd heard, too, some of the photos are hers. Here you see me checking for any 'moving in' but the bees were cold and just clustered in the corners of the installer.

Hopefully, that last ingredient listed on the plaque is now in place! It was fun to see quite a few of the museum staff poke their noses out of the buildings and car windows to catch a glimpse of the action. Bees have a way of connecting people! Tomorrow we will be back to see if the moving in has happened overnight or in the morning... stay tuned...

Bee HAVEN

A few weeks ago, I had the wonderful luck of crossing paths with Jarrett Mellenbruch. He was giving a talk on his HAVEN project at the local sculpture park and art museum, the DeCordova in Lincoln, MA while I was visiting with the kids (You have heard me rave about previous exhibits here). I had to revise the preconceived notion of 'some artist jumping the bee bandwagon' I had when I first heard of the HAVEN project (kinda humbling to confess that in public, isn't it?).

A HAVEN hive on its 15ft pole.
Photo credit: Jarrett Mellenbruch

Jarrett is not only a 3rd generation beekeeper, and extremely knowledgeable, but also has enlisted top notch support for his project, both on the artistic and the bee science side of things. I learned a lot during his talk, and was impressed by his ability to think about beekeeping from the perspective of the bees (who want to be living high up in trees, in cavities of particular dimensions, and don't really care to be disturbed regularly by a nosy, thieving beekeeper...). After the talk I offered him my help, being that he was installing two HAVEN hives far from his home in Kansas, and I am a local beekeeper itching to learn more about swarms and how to attract or catch them.

Fast forward a few weeks, and my friend Kaat and I found ourselves back at the DeCordova, learning from Jarrett about his sculptures/hives and how to install swarms in them. Turns out the rock climbing experiences of my youth will come in extremely handy here... I cannot wait to be able to show you action shots! Picture a bubble-headed beekeeper, armed with a box of live bees, climbing a tall pole that is swaying gently in the breeze! (Feeding back into the theme of: The worse the idea, the more excited I get about it ...).

Once swarms are installed, it is the hope that the HAVEN hives will continue to house thriving colonies, who in turn will issue swarms, and contribute to the health of the overall bee population. They will provide data about the habits and life of thriving feral bee colonies, but also (re)acquaint their human visitors with honeybees. Visitors will be encouraged to learn more about bees, and to submit observations of the HAVEN hives to the project. Knowing how interested most people react when I start 'talking bees', this is one of my favorite aspects of the whole project. So excited to be a little part of it, and hope many people will visit and come away with the same sense of wonder and amazement that strikes me every time I learn more about bees.

 

{this moment}

. . . . . . . . .

{this moment}

A Friday SouleMama ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

. . . . . . . . . .

{this moment}

. . . . . . . . .

{this moment}

A Friday SouleMama ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

. . . . . . . . . .

Breaking the rules: The significance will be clear if you read yesterdays' post.

Reject and Protect

When I realized my family was going to be in DC for this event, I jumped up and down in excitement. The Cowboy and Indian Alliance (CIA!) is a a group of ranchers, farmers, and tribal communities from along the Keystone XL pipeline route. They have joined together in such a meaningful way to protest the pipeline. Over a multi-day event, filled with ceremonies, art and learning about each other, a tipi with fingerprints from hundreds (thousands?) of people was created and donated to the president (nominally), but delivered to the Museum of the American Indian for their use in the future.

Now we've been home for a few days and I still can barely put into words how much it meant to me to participate in this amazing show of unity, respect and hope for the future. 

I will try to walk you through a few pictures, for a tiny glimpse.

On Friday, we arrived at the tipi space set up right on the National Mall. 

We walked to the tent where the tipi was being painted, and the artist, Steve Tamayo, allowed us to help him paint a part of the giant canvas. He explained to us some of the significance of the motifs, and I'll try to paraphrase without too much distortion. The turtle in the center represents respect for the female. The turtle's longevity is something we hope for all women, and its 13 panels on the shell represent 13 lunar cycles in a year.  There are 28 horses, one for each day of each lunar cycle. The big dipper is shown in its spring configuration, which represents the rejuvenation of the earth in spring. The dipper is pouring out blessings. More info on the meanings of the motifs are found at the end of this really great article.

We explored the tipis and the space in general. My children were interested to learn that Native Americans don't wear their traditional clothing on an everyday basis! We looked at the tipis, left our fingerprints on the tipi liner, and then headed to the National Museum of the American Indian and continued to learn about the lives of the first nations today, in the US and other countries.

On Saturday, there was energy in the air! I found groups from Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, besides our own rather sizeable crowd from MA.

The tipi was front and center while prayers from several faith traditions were said. There was music, and inspiring speeches, as the crowd was gearing up to march down to the Museum.

Then the group lined up to walk. Today it was more clear who the Native Americans were ... fascinating to see! The march itself was peaceful, as the whole event had been. It wasn't as much of a rally as it was a ceremonial event. We didn't follow all the way to the museum because the troops were very tired and hungry. Still, I have a feeling I will recall being a part of this for a very long time.

 

Roses on ice

The roses I got for Valentine's day have been looking sadder and sadder but I didn't want to toss them just yet. Naturmama Caro to the rescue - in her wonderful book, she describes how to make ice sculptures with embedded treasures from nature. Oh, and here is a link to her blog for it, if you want to see. I sprayed a Bundt pan with oil and showed the kids the picture, that was all the action needed on my part - didn't it come out nice?

Now we can see the ice sculpture through the window when we sit at our dining table, for as long as it stays cold. Happily ever after :-)