Bees, Bees and More Bees!

 OMG!!!! You guys... come look!! You're not going to believe this...

Do you see??? That lump on the tree??

How about now??? 

No, eh? OK... let me send in my trusty film crew...

How about now?? Yes!!! All over that tree branch... and those specks in the air...

They are bees!!!! Yes... bees! We were sitting on the deck and all of a sudden there was a huge cloud of flying insects. And we could near the hum of them... then they started to gather on the tree branch. Can you see? All those specks against the sky are bees...

We did a video... you can hear them!

They are doing a bee swarm! This is when the hive gets too crowded. The bees start some new queens and when they are ready to hatch, the old queen leaves the nest with about hive the other bees.

They can fly up to a mile and then land on a convenient spot (like our tree branch). Most of the bees huddle around the queen to keep her cool. While a bunch of scouts head out to find a new hive location.

The scouts come back and report on their spot and then other scouts go and check out that spot to see if they think it's a good spot too... this can take a few hours or a few days.

I should mention at this point, that the bees aren't dangerous. Our friendly Winnipeg beekeeper friend said we could stick our paw in there and they would do nothing. Cause they're not defending honey or a hive... Although if we went digging for the queen, I'm sure things would get nasty...

We debated calling a local beekeeper (it was a Sunday) but I voted on leaving the bees alone because... maybe they'll choose our yard and then we'd have a honey hive that I could call all my own!

Every bee needs a local honey hive, dontcha think?

This is soooo cool!

The bees do a little waggle dance when they fly back and somehow that communicates to the other bees where the possible new home is, how big it is, and all sorts of other stuff... fascinating...

The hive mind is a strange and wonderful thing...

I do have to say, we've made our garden beary bee friendly... with lots of different flowers...

And lots of foxglove and lavender because they love those!

After a few hours... we heard the bees taking off and this swirling cloud slowly moved over the house and across the street (sigh...)... bye!!! I tried to run after them but... too many houses in the way... maybe one day we'll be chosen for a honey hive!

Mail Call!

 Hullo, I got a postcard last week... and I think I know who it's from...

It's got a bear on it (and the Big Dipper... also known as Ursa Major) and... it was taken at the Devil's Tower.

And... Jerry & Ben were visiting that area of Wyoming the week before!

Let's see... yup... they have been hiking in the Black Hills area... cool!

Jerry says he was disappointed that the Devil's Tower had nothing to do with Devil's Food Cake...

Seeeeee... another example of points-of-interest confusing hungry stuffies by being named after food... Hmph! Thanks for the post card guys!!

We found the Totem Poles!

 Look!! We found the totem poles!!! They are all laid down, decaying back into the earth but... we think we can recognize some of the totems.... let's get stated...

This one is easy... it's a whale. Maybe a grey whale? Doesn't have a dorsal fin, so can't be a killer wahle.

This one has us perplexed... we are going to say wolf... 

There is usually a thunderbird or eagle at the top and all you can really see are the claws... which may be grasping a fish! Salmon of course...

And on this totem, we think that's a raven with a fish...

The bottom one here could be... a beaver? Maybe... nope... it's got a fish in it's mouth so has to be a bear! Hi Bear!!

And this looks like a frog... these animals on a totem can tell a story or represent a clan or a family... the most important one could be at the top or bottom, or even in the middle... 

OK, wait... this one is definitely a beaver!! See the tail pulled up between the legs?

This one is a bit perplexing... looks like a human face... with a fish or a whale and then a swan?

And here's another whale!

Followed by... an owl?

We looked high and low but we couldn't find any description of these totems or what story they once told...

And this one looks like a fish in the talons of a thunderbird, wrapped around a human face?

We really wish we knew that these all meant!

It probably won't be long, a few years, before these are all gone, back to the soil from whence they came... 

The thunderbirds are already pretty much all gone... but, we found out that there are some newer ones around town... going to have to go and down a totem-finding expedition!

Cocoa is a tad miffed that there were no mouse totems... or even rodent totems although... wait... does the beaver count? Yes!! They belong to the Order Rodentia!! Yay... Cocoa is happy again.

Creatures of the Forest

Hullo! We are still in the park, on the hunt for totem poles. We got distracted by some forest dwellers! This stag looks beary handsome! I wonder if there is a bear here... Or a mouse?

 Oooh... Hello Mrs. Raccoon... Did you know that in Germany, raccoons are called "Waschbär" or "Wash Bear", because they "wash" their food... so that's sort of a bear!

That one seems focused on something... 

Beary pretty doe... wonder if she's looking for the stag...

And... look... a chipmunk!!!

Cocoa says chipmunks belong to the rodent order... different family though... still, it's a Rodent Relation!

And er... hmmm... did you know eagles can carry away small dogs, cats as well as rabbits and mice??

Ruuunnnnnnn!!!!!!

Whew... we ran as fast as we could and stumbled across what we thought was a log but... no... it's a totem pole!!! This one was raised over 100 years ago. When they get old and rickety, they are laid down on the ground in a ceremony so that they can decay and return to the earth...

We found a pic of it when it was first laid down several years ago...

Quite a difference... we think this might have been a bear totem... maybe... Wonder if there are more around here?