But there's something that's been missing this year. I don't know why but usually the little blue flowers are like catnip for bees. They flock to it; buzzing around all day long. They fly from one flower to another with drunken swoops.
Except for this year. Nowhere to be seen.
Out the other end of our property I have the black- and red-currant bushes merrily plumping out their fruits. There are some tiny and amusing wax-eyes that keep landing and dipping their beaks in. You can tell from their shocked expression that they know they shouldn't.
Occasionally we even get a bumble bee bumbling by. But not a honey-bee in sight.
I realise that there have been a variety of ever-more-destructive diseases blighting our poor little honey-bunnies for a number of years, but they've still remained plentiful around our place. Mostly by virtue of not living very far away at all from a couple of extremely large berry farms.
This year it seems it's even started to effect us. And by us I mean me because my darling doesn't believe in fruit. At least not as a food-stuff. Not even when it's cunningly disguised as a cake. Even a chocolate cake.
Farewell my little friends. I will keep my fingers crossed that you recover from your Varroa mites or your colony collapses and come back strong and healthy next year.
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