Winter Bees - Sylvia Plath Poetry . .

Below are 2 of my favourite Sylvia Plath poems centered around bees with her very unusual understanding and slightly mad interpretations. Sylvia, born in Boston USA, had a short but interesting life, suffering from depression after a breakdown during her college years. Her father kept bees and had written 2 books about bees - Sylvia had a very close relationship with her father and was devastated after he died.
Her marriage to English poet Ted Hughes produced 2 children, but the unhappy, unbalanced woman committed suicide in 1963 in England.






WINTERING
Sylvia Plath 1932-1963

This is the easy time, there is nothing doing.
I have whirled the midwife`s extractor,
I have my honey,
Six jars of it,
Six cat`s eyes in the wine cellar,

Wintering in a dark without window
At the heart of the house
Next to the last tenants rancid jam
and the bottles of empty glitters ....
Sir So-and-So`s gin.

This is the room I have never been in
This is the room I could never breathe in.
The black bunched in there likle a bat,
No light
But the torch and its faint

Chinese yellow on appalling objects ....
Black asininity. Decay.
Possession.
It is they who own me.
Neither cruel nor indifferent,

Only ignorant.
This is the time of hanging on for the bees...the bees
so slow I hardly know them,
Filing like soldiers
To the syrup tin

To make up the honey I`ve taken.
Tate and Lyle keeps them going,
The refined snow.
It is Tate and Lyle they live on, instead of flowers.
They take it. The cold sets in.

Now they ball in a mass,
Black
Mind against all that white.
The smile of the snow is white.
It spreads itself out, a mile long body of Meissen,

Into which, on warm days,
They can only carry their dead.
The bees are all women,
Maids and the long royal lady.
They have got rid of the men,

The blunt, clumpsy stumblers, the boors.
Winter is for women ....
The woman, still at her knitting,
At the cradle of Spanish walnut,
Her body a bulb in the cold and too dumb to think.

Will the hive survive, will the gladiolas
Succeed in banking their fires
To enter another year ?
What will they taste of, the Christmas roses ?
The bees are flying. They taste the spring.




THE ARRIVAL OF THE BEE BOX

Square as a chair and almost too heavy to lift.
I would say it was the coffin of a midget
Or a square baby
Were there not such a din in it.

The box is locked, it is dangerous.
I have to live with it overnight
And I can't keep away from it.
There are no windows, so I can't see what is in there.
There is only a little grid, no exit.

I put my eye to the grid.
It is dark, dark,
With the swarmy feeling of African hands
Minute and shrunk for export,
Black on black, angrily clambering.

How can I let them out?
It is the noise that appalls me most of all,
The unintelligible syllables.
It is like a Roman mob,
Small, taken one by one, but my god, together!

I lay my ear to furious Latin.
I am not a Caesar.
I have simply ordered a box of maniacs.
They can be sent back.
They can die, I need feed them nothing, I am the owner.

I wonder how hungry they are.
I wonder if they would forget me
If I just undid the locks and stood back and turned into a tree.
There is the laburnum, its blond colonnades,
And the petticoats of the cherry.

They might ignore me immediately
In my moon suit and funeral veil.
I am no source of honey
So why should they turn on me?
Tomorrow I will be sweet God, I will set them free.

The box is only temporary.

Starting the next Venture . . .

Abit blurred I know, but hey its a start to my next venture !! My son Cameron manages a printing firm and very kindly, for his dear old Mum, printed my business cards and they are cool. Bright yellow with black writing, the bee being drawn by my youngest daughter, Ellena, on the lovely Mothers Day card she made for me - I love it, so decided to use it for my cards. Ora means pure in the Maori language. I will get the stickers for the honey jars in the same design.

Don`t you love that happy bee ? ? - although those wings might prove a tad useless - at least she hasn`t got a sting !

Favourite Reading . .

Above are some of my `bee` titles, ( my copy of `Robbing the Bees` is lent out) I do have a small collection of much older, some from last century, beekeeping books and a huge, some would say, over-the-top amount of infomation I have gathered about bees, beekeeping, anything remotely connected to bees - especially historical .

Most of the books I have had to send overseas for, the older ones I have found at second-hand book shops. My blogger friend Julia very kindly sent me a copy of her book `The Sweet Life` which is full of her beautiful photos and well written story of her and her family`s first year of beekeeping - her blog is great also, check out `Henhouse Pottery` .

One book I would recommend reading for all beekeepers and anyone who cares about what is happening to our world, is `Fruitless Fall` by Rowan Jacobsen - you know how everyone scoffed at Rachel Carson after she wrote `Silent Spring` ( another `must` read for all humans), well, the day has come my friends, and we are are going to have to work very hard to make things right or even , just abit better . . .

Winter morning market place . .

On a brisk, sunny winter`s morning the monthly farmers market is held at Tamahere, a small district on the outskirts of Hamilton city. The market, which has over 100 stalls, is held in the grounds of St Stephans, a delightful old wooden church, surrounded by trees and gravestones. In fact, the oldest and largest Rhododendron tree grows in this churchyard.

The stalls sell everything from fresh fruit, veges, all seasonal and fresh from the orchards that surround this area, plus nuts, coffee, yummy pastries, honey and home-made crafts. I particularly enjoy the plant stalls as they are always good value for money and healthy plants. A friend has a herb nursery and she always does very well at this market. I never buy eggs anywhere else as I know they come from happy chookies who roam free - the eggs look and taste different anyway !

This is a very popular market, one of many held around NZ on a Sat or Sun. It has grown hugely, is a great place for a wander around, taste the cheeses, sip a good hot coffee, have a yarn to someone you know and take life abit more gently then usual . .

There is often music playing, a South American group with their flutes, youngsters busking - nothing to loud and distracting - all in all, a very pleasent morning spent.

Frosty Morning . . .

Winter has certainly arrived with her frosty breath , -4 degrees C, frozen grass, brilliant blue sky with the last of the autumn colour slowly falling to the ground to end the yearly cycle once again - something I alway marvel at and never tire of . .

A fantastic frosty morning in the Waikato this week,a Gingko tree in the Hamilton Gardens looking spectacular with it`s pillow of fallen leaves which the gardeners leave as long as possible, mowing a circle around the tree !

How lucky we are to live in this energising place . . .

Club Honey Show 2009

The Waikato Domestic Beekeepers Assc held their annual Honey Show at the May meeting. It was very successful with quite afew of our new members entering honey and winning prizes !!

It is judged by taste, with light, medium and dark in both the runny and creamed classes. Wax and mead were also judged and I must admit, one of the mead samples had a real kick to it !

It is a fairly laid back affair and I would like to make some changes next year, maybe get judges in from commercial honey producers - make it more interesting. The number of exhibits has grown alot over the last couple of years, I think it is time to make it more professional.

We hold our meetings in a classroom at the Horticultural campus of Wintec, which is a large learning institution in Hamilton city. It gives us lots of room to spread out, we can show DVDs and videos, plus there is a laptop and projector for power point presentations. The biggest bonus is where we are situated . . . the Hamilton Gardens - my favourite place.

Alot of the honey was quite dark in colour, probably due to the pennyroyal around in lawns here in the city during autumn. Most of our members are from the urban area, with afew out of towners on life-style blocks or close to the bush areas.

Our club is growing rapidly with many more people interested in keeping bees, I hope after the adult night class I am teaching in August we will have many more wanting to help pollinate our world . .

Honey Jar .

Is this not a cool honey biscuit barrel or a large honey jar ? My friend gave it to me afew years ago and I love it !! The detail on it is beautiful and it is in perfect condition. I have a small collection of honey pots, but I think this is my favourite .

NATIONAL BEE WEEK IN NZ.

Below is an extract from the Organics Aotearoa web site. It is Bee Week here in NZ, focusing on the importance of bees in our lives. There has been articles in the news papers each day, so hopefully more and more people will become aware

01 May 2009
Organics Aotearoa New Zealand (OANZ) is putting a focus on bee-friendly farming, calling for reductions in toxic agrichemical use and increased organic research as Bee Week begins on Monday 4 May.
"Bees would not survive without human support, while a third of all the food we eat depends on bee pollination", said Dr Jon Tanner, OANZ Chief Executive Officer.
"During Bee Week, OANZ will advocate for reductions in toxic agrichemical use and more organic research", Dr Tanner said.
"There is mounting concern at the world's declining bee population, with agrichemical use a leading cause.
"Increasing organic research would allow all farmers to reduce their reliance on harmful agrichemicals.
"Greater research is particularly necessary around varroa, where we do not yet have organic options which can control the early stages of infestation. Beekeepers face having to abandon organic production until effective treatments are found.
"New Zealand produces around 300 tonnes of certified organic honey annually, mostly for international export. Organic bee products typically attract a price premium of around 25%.
"Organic beekeepers are required to locate hives more than five kilometers from intensively farmed properties, and to abide by certifiers' standards for hive management.
"Despite the challenge posed by varroa, organic beekeepers are generally positive about their future. Consumers are demanding the greater traceability which organics provides, and more farms are making the switch to organic production.
"OANZ is pleased to work alongside the National Beekeepers Association, Horticulture New Zealand and Plant and Food Research in coordinating Bee Week", Dr Tanner said.
ENDS
Three organic case studies are available for download:
Waitaki Honey Company
organic bee products exporter John Hartnell
the New Zealand Beeswax Company
There is also a media backgrounder with information about the themes of Bee Week, and more information is available on the National Beekeepers Association website.

Wild Hive

The alders are in a group on the river flat below the gardens, the mighty Waikato river flows through the city of Hamilton and is edged with great river walks and gardens.

Foraging bees at one of the entrances

Last week I came across a wild bee hive high up in an Alder tree down on the river flats below the Hamilton Gardens, I was so excited to find it as there are so few wild bees in NZ now. It was up to high to reach, had 2 entrances and the bees were very busy flying in and out.

It was most probably a swarm from one of the hives here in the sustainable garden, I was told that there had been a swarm acouple of months ago. I just hope it survives the winter and doesn`t die from varroa or other diseases.