The Revery

I know some people hate bees...and clover, but I love both!

We hadn't seen very many bees yet this year, though we have been very accommodating in not mowing all the clover that blankets our yard until it's knee high to a possum or we can't see the dogs! ;)  Then on Saturday, the bees finally arrived, and by the looks of the little lady above, they've been very busy while we weren't looking.  Check out those pollen saddlebags!!!...she is bringing home the proverbial flower bacon!

I have to say that both Mr. Tide's and my heart skipped a beat when we saw this lovely honey bee, and some of her brethren.  We have been worried about hive collapse and all the issues that seem to be challenging one of the most important creatures on our planet, and not seeing any this year had us wringing our hands a bit.

Did you know that some of the new hybridized flowers either don't produce much pollen, or that their necks are so long that pollinators such as honey bees can't access their pollen?!  Did you also know that all worker bees are female?

But as if to say..."thanks for not mowing the clover or killing the weeds and flowers we love with chemicals,"...these sweet bees gave us their nod of approval.  Thankfully, we won't have to rely on the revery as Emily Dickinson suggests, and the bees will find a way to overcome our notion that manicured, weedless, and flowerless are signs of a beautiful yard!

“To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few.” 
― Emily Dickinson, The Complete Poems