One of the nice things about being a beekeeper is the fact that it is kind of novel and people have tons of questions. Just this past month I gave an interview to th elocal newspaper about my bees. The interview lasted quite some time and the reporter, who is an excellent writer, seemed quite engaged by the topic.

The photographer was another story. I think that the thought of being within a few feet of several thousand bees was to much to contemplate. After several attempts at setting a date and time, in fact, I ended up having my lovely wife take the photos.

After a few candids were taken I decided to use up some time and shot several extreme closeups of the bees as they arrived back to the hive from a day of forraging. So delicate were their wings and gentle feelers. The smell of the hives, the murmur of the grass and the low buzz of the brood chamber. It brought back all the reasons that I am keeping bees.

Beekeeping makes you slow down. In the age of ATM's and the World Wide Web, beekeeping is still as simple today as it has been for centuries. I like observing and could watch the hive for hours on end. The best part is the slow pace of discovery.

In fact it was the observation recently of birds & bees that has brought up an interesting question. I have two ,count em, two pairs of nesting Baltimore Orioles. On each side of the hives hanging over the bees are the brightly colored nesters. Is this a coincidence? A friend at MassAudubon reports of a South American bird in the same family as the Baltimore Oriole that does just what I have described. The bird nests near bees so that the bees will provide safety from predators at the nest. I have emailed the local beekeepers with the question as to whether they have observed the same in the vicinity of their nests. Three beekeepers have reported that indeed there may be something to all this.

After I had put away the camera and taken off my veil, the sun had just about set and the mosquitos began their unmerciful attacks. As I walked towards the house a bright orange Oriole flitted past and into the hanging nest. I was happy to have the ballance of all things just right.