JUNE 18, 2012 BEE HAPPY AND BEE CONTENT

Life in abundance comes only through great love.” Elbert Hubbard

“Love is the immortal flow of energy that nourishes, extends and preserves. Its eternal goal is life.” Smiley Blanton

" It is only when we have the courage to face things exactly as they are, without any sort of self deception or illusion, that a light will develop out of events, by which the path to success can be recognized "


Love was as in abundance this past weekend. My cup flowed over. It was one of these weekend when the miracle was there. Rick, Alyssa , Gregory and I have spent weekends together many times. This was different. It was Rick's first real or legal Father's Day. It was my birthday as well as Father's Day. We truly are a family and this weekend was best example. We laughed, cried, worked, played and sunned together. We watched movies. We had a birthday dinner with friends, Evan and Donald. I went to a 12 step meeting to announce my upcoming 18th sober anniversary.  Regardless of the errors I have made in the past, I have been making healthy choices with integrity. From the moment I made choices with integrity, my recovery began to take form. It has continued for almost 18 years. I do not think I made correct choices until I was 8 years sober. I had a reawakening with my G.O.D., prayer and meditation.  Today I am my authentic self with flaws and all. I am not perfect and never want to be perfect. I continually want progress. We all witnessed the miracle of life among honeybees. Gregory and Alyssa watched on as Rick and I hived our some 200,000 bees. It was a blessing that during the Friday night ride in the car to Sayville  and more importantly on the ferry that none of the bees escaped. What a ferry scandal would have occurred if the bees had escaped ! On  Saturday, my 39th birthday ( I only wish ) I had the privilege to unpack, and hive our bees with Rick, Alyssa and Gregory .


Why are we beekeepers ? Why does it matter ?  It matters to me. I want to do something about a crisis that is happening as we speak. If you don't have honeybees you will be eating less fruit and vegetables on your dinner plate ! Bees are making headlines these days, and not in a positive way. Colony collapse disorder has cut through honeybee populations, with some beekeepers reportedly losing up to 90 percent of their stock in recent years. European bee populations are also declining, and so are some species of North American bumblebee. That data is often interpreted to mean that all of the world's 20,000 bee species are in danger, and that we may be in the midst of a "global pollinator crisis." But there's little data to back up those claims, scientists say. In May 2012, Scientific American published an article entitled: Hive and Seek: Domestic Honeybees Keep Disappearing, but Are Their Wild Cousins in Trouble, Too? I found the article very interesting !
So if you find bees interesting and you want to help--YOU CAN. You can join .thehoneybeeconservatory.org .

You can take action today and help make our world a healthier place for bees. Here are things that you can do to save our bees:

1. Plant a bee-friendly garden. Flowers – especially ones native to your area – help feed bees and other valuable pollinators. Native plants also oftentimes require less water and fertilizer than non-native plants. You will be doing a huge favor to native species of bees, who have adapted over thousands of years to feed off these plants.
2.  Start a honeybee hive. You can directly impact the health of your local ecosystem by starting a honeybee hive. Plus, you get the added benefits of bee products such as honey, beeswax, as well as the satisfaction and joy derived from working with a hive. Contact your local beekeeping club for more information. Rick and I did a beekeeping course at http://www.honeybeeslives.org/  You can also do a beekeeping course at the New York Botanical Gardens. (http://www.nybg.org/)

3. Sponsor a Hive. If you can’t start your own hive or would like to help increase the number of hives, why not help fund new hive installations? The Honeybee Conservancy is working with Bee Native to install stocked honeybee hives and provide beekeeping training to American Indian communities across the U.S. On the http://www.thehoneybeeconservatory.org/ you can find out how to sponsor a hive.

On Sunday, I observed Rick sitting in the back of The Little Red House staring at the hive. He watched as bees came and went. He happened to catch me at another hour watching the same back hive as well as the front hive. I was very content with our progress and hiving our 200,000 bees. Thanks goes to Grai and Chris from bringing them down from Upstate. I only hope and pray that no Fire Island resident takes their own anger out on innocent honeybees !
For the first time in a long time did I find Fire Island peaceful. I was with my loved ones. I was doing something we wanted to do. Fire Island Drama was no where in site - how blissful ! I got to see friends we wanted to see. I felt no obligation. I got two solo early morning meditations on the beach. I even had an outdoor screening of Lucille Ball's , MAME with Rick, Francesca, Alyssa, Grant and Spencer.

I am a most grateful man.

Until tomorrow....