For now, this is a collection of photographs from the Bee Haven years in Vermont. We’ll be gradually adding and subtracting from this gallery to reflect new wanders.

Did you know crocuses are some of the very earliest plants bees feed on in the spring?

Bee Haven Honey Farm looks out on the village of Putnamville, across the North Branch of the Winooski River, named for the Abenaki word for wild onions, or what are called ramps in Vt. now, which have always been plentiful on the eastern ridge lines of this valley with the Green Mountains of Worcester, Mt. Hunger, Mount Putnam, White Rock Mt. and Hogback Mt. on the west.

Being around bee swarms is a special joy and a blessing.

A gathering of wax and propolis from hive nooks to use in an infused body butter, alongside some spring violets and violas for use in a vinegar. Did you know violas have similar properties to violets and thus can be used in similar ways?

Find a blooming hawthorn tree in the spring and spend some time sitting underneath it. It’s a wonderful way to experience the magic of pollinators local to your scene and to the feel the connections between plants and insects, the earth, the cycles of the seasons. As above, so below and all around.

Bee Haven was somewhat notorious for the use of old, sometimes decrepit hive equipment, much of it inherited from the even longer ago beekeepers who passed on their hives and apiaries to Rick. Old is truly wonderful.

Oh, the times with rose petals and fresh honey.

Happy to have completely inadvertently captured this picture the afternoon I was laying under a peak-blooming Basswood/Linden tree and this beautiful hawk did a fly over.

Honeybees don’t feed on digitalis flowers because their tongues aren’t long enough to reach inside their deep and furry flower passages, though some of the largest pollinator bumble bees will give it a shot and is it ever fun when you capture this happening. Let this not keep us from growing all the digitalis flowers, including this dreamy favorite, the Grecian Foxglove.

Working in the garden involves being a little more careful when you share it with lots of honeybees, along with all the other pollinators, if you don’t want to be stung regularly. They aren’t interested in stinging you. Instead, it happens when you step or sit on them while they’re getting up to their own important work. It can help to remember this for those afraid of them. They’re not seeking to sting you, you’re shocking them and endangering their lives as you wander around like the big, unaware galumphs humans often are in these times. Going slowly and carefully, while keeping your awareness on the presence of the little buzzers is all it takes to avoid this.

Bees bearding around on the outside of the hive in summer are generally saying it’s really hot and humid out and the hive is packed with honey, pollen and nectar inside, and a whole lot of bees, in our time of peak population. Kinda like hanging out on the porch when it’s hot.

If you grow Tulsi in your gardens you know how much the bees love it.

Gardeners have opportunity to witness honeybees and other pollinators up close and learn their habits as well as being able to enjoy hearing their hums and buzzes. Their songs in the garden are such a pleasure.

Honeybees aren’t into the elders but we are and so are the berry-loving birds. Best practice in my world is to harvest what you want and leave some for the birds.

Same with the garden. When you grow food it’s not really necessary to attempt to protect every last bit of it from the creatures that will seek it out for a meal of their own. There’s enough to go around.

Rick’s Leo birthday is traditionally celebrated with a flower crown on the morning of his day, honoring the sources of honey and the connections between bees and flowers, the Sun and Leo’s.

When all the honey supers were coming and going in the honey house during extracting, it’s a great time to scrape the frames to gather the annual propolis supply which got tinctured and used in other ways as a hive medicine.

Many kinds of tinctures and vinegars being infused and stored before their eventual straining, for use in syrups, elixirs and blends.

There’s a particular moment of the year in the fall when the fire colors matched the ridge line of Long Meadow Mt. to the east of Bee Haven when it’s lit up in its brightest seasonal colors.

The honey extracting line full of frames in extracting season.

Definitely spent a whole lot of time standing right there over the years.

If you grow herbs infusing them in honey is a no brainer. The honey becomes a more specific medicine, carrying the properties of the plants you infuse it with, as well as taking on their beautiful flavors and fragrances. Be mindful of keeping the lid off the infusing vessels so the moisture from the plants can escape the honey and evaporate as you’re infusing. You can remove the herbs eventually with a fork and eat them like a candy or plunk them into your teapot as you make a cuppa.

The stunning ridge lines of the valley around Worcester in peak foliage. Always breathtaking as well as a little different every year.

The weeping flowering crab on a cold and rainy fall day. We planted this tree over kitty Gris Gris when she finally decided it was time to leave us. It did magnificently because of her presence.

Oh, Calendula, you hearty thing you.