May 24, 2019. San Antonio. Bees and Gardens.

Son David loved his bees. And the whole family appreciated the honey. Two years ago, all his hives died. All of them. He kept two hives at the back of his yard plus four at a friends ranch in Comfort, a town an hours drive away. And he had a demonstration hive, kept in his backyard office, which was wonderful to watch the bees in action. David was not pleased with the death of his bees so for awhile he had no bees. He wondered if something he did caused the bees to die so he continued to read about bees. Three weeks ago he decided to get another hive which is now in his demonstration hive. Watching the bees work is endlessly interesting. Before dark last evening we went to watch. We could not find the Queen but all the others were busily doing their job. While I watched, several bees were getting rid of an insect that had gotten into the hive. Eventually that insect would be outside pushed by the bees. I loved watching them. After a few weeks, David will buy two more hives for his yard. He gets great pleasure with his bees. Another major interest of David is his yard and garden. When they moved into their home 18 years ago, the yard was just grass and a few bushes. Now it is lush and gorgeous. His plantings are beautiful everywhere you look. Ken who himself was an excellent gardener always admired David's yards. In the front it is ordinary. But the back yard is magnificent. His roses are in bloom and are beautiful and he has planted flowers around the yard. His vegetable garden provided the family with produce. The newest section of his back yard is the cutting garden. David parks his truck at the back of the yard so every evening when he comes up to the house he cuts flowers for Suzanne to arrange for the house. When I arrived, there was a vase of flowers on the coffee table in the living room and in the middle of the kitchen table. All the flowers came from David's cutting garden. David is pleased with both his bees and his garden as are all other family members. I have always wanted a cutting garden but Ken was not much interested in flowers. But fortunately, David loves flowers as well as bushes. It is a great addition to his yard. I love his back yard and am delighted to see it again. Now this afternoon we will drive to the lake house for the holiday weekend. The Internet will be connected tomorrow morning... we hope. So here we go again. Another change of scene.