An Unseasonably Warm Fall

I put my bees to bed for winter today.

Then I had a very odd morning not really sure how to feel..

Sad, because our hives we're so negatively affected by mites this fall. Scared, because what if they die over winter like over 50% of hives do - why is that number so dang high?? Worried, that I didn't do enough to prepare them for our harsh lake affect winters. Happy, that we took the leap and started beekeping in the first place. Amazed, that our strong colony gave us 130lbs of honey and still had 2 deeps full for winter stores. Indifferent, because nature will nature how nature wants and there's really nothing I can do about it.

I also have an errie feeling, but not the world is ending…I just spent hours doomscrolling and now I must prep eerie feeling. It's a calm errie.

After I tucked the girls in for winter I watched them busy about like any other day.. bringing in pollen like it was mid summer. Their little pollen pockets full or nearly there. Where are they getting it? What is still blooming in November in Grey Bruce….

Then I spent a couple hours tinkering and cutting herbs in my garden and now I can't help but wonder how the insects, animals and plants know the season is changing or not for that matter.

I watched all of my plants & herbs slowly die off over fall.. my lemon balm, catnip, feverfew, chamomile, many different mints, and mugwort to name a few…. But now they're making a comeback!!! It's been an unseasonably warm fall. I am thankful for anything and everything growing and still blooming right now. Late season food for the bees and for us yay!!!…

But how do the plants know it's safe to grow again? Do they? Maybe it doesn't matter if it grows but then dies off suddenly with a cold snap. Maybe it knows the weather pattern is safe for it to grow right now. Do they feel the impending doom of the cold season ahead or not?

Is that just a human thing? We sike ourselves out waiting for winter to actually arrive, forgetting how much can actually be done right now.

I'm guilty if it. Tired and burnt out from summer I pray for snow to cover the garden so I can forget about it until spring. But here it is still… begging me to tend to it a little longer.

My bees are tucked in the best I could provide for them. My garden, I dont tuck it in. I let it run wild and unruly for all to forage from during winter.

Had I pulled everything up or cut everything down in October and tucked it away I would have never had fresh catnip and lemon balm for tea today, and maybe the bees wouldn't have so much to gather from either. They clearly know what their doing - the queen is still laying even.

How they know???… I'll forever wonder.

Maybe if I tucked them in sooner I never would have questioned how nature knows things.

Maybe if we took the time to watch the seasons change, actually truly change… instead of relying on the calendar or the weather man to tell us….we wouldn't feel so confused when winter doesn't show up when we think it should.

Maybe if we payed attention we would have whatever innate knowing that the bees and plants do. They don't seem to be bothered by the current weather.

Maybe.. so many maybe’s and an errie fall morning.

Stay curious friends.. I think when we stop to think about how nature just knows, It helps connect us back to our own knowing, or maybe it's just me.

See you in the spring girls 🐝🐝🐝🐝

~ K

*** I write how I think. It's mumbles and jumbles half the time and my grammar is shit, but it aint Ai so 🤷‍♀️ follow along for more human nature ramblings 💛