The Beauty of a Bee

I spent a lot of my vacation admiring bees.  Remember how we haven't had very many here, and have been pollinating our garden produce by hand?  Well, I was for obvious reasons freshly enamored with the bee.  Any bee.  Every bee.

Bees on blackberries.  Bees on Queen Ann's Lace.  Bees on weeds.  Bees on sage.  Bees on wildflowers.  Bees on home garden flowers.  

It seemed to me they were everywhere, and it was especially tempting to covet them.

I told a friend I am gaining more appreciation for the organic farming movement--and non-GMO foods--all the time.  I just can't bear the thought of losing the bees.

We've done our part in our little corner of gardenville.  We try to grow organically (we're learning, so I don't use that term too officially), and we only order heirloom seeds.  Still, the bees hadn't found us, and I exclaimed with joy over every little bee I saw on vacation.

Of course the first thing a gardener wants to do upon return from vacation is to look at her garden.  Out to the back yard I went, expressing the usual amazement over how much everything had grown in our absence.

But the best thing of all?

Over there in the basil patch, where every plant was way overgrown and laden with flower stocks,

I. Saw. Bees.

Yes, bees!  They've been frequenting the basil flowers by the multitude every day since, and although I've harvested a good share to make pesto (four new batches in the freezer so far!), I've left some flowers for my new friends to enjoy.

I hope they've found the tomatillo flowers, too.  I've read they'd like those, if they'd just give them a try.