Vision Quest 7~ The Bees~ Collective.

To read episodes 1 to 6 visit HERE

 

Vision Quest 7. The Buzz of Bees

Muna turned to face another wall of the garden, here climbing the walls were the many clematis showing off their beautiful blooms along with climbing roses. Entwined amongst them all were bindweed and ivy, the ivy had grown so thick in parts the wall could no longer be seen. Here Muna’s attention was drawn to the Bee’s as she saw them collecting the pollen and inspecting each flower, each with heavy yellow sacks of pollen they had collected.

Image Source Here

She saw the bees fly off and watched as they all seemed to be heading in the same direction. Around in a circle they flew and she saw them land one by one flying underneath what appeared to be a flat stone. But upon looking closer Muna saw that it was a hive.

The Buzz of their wings now seemed to intensify as Muna seemed to travel now within the hive as she saw the cones of honey being created. She saw the Queen, the lava being tended and fed, Muna remembered all the things Aponi did with honey and how medicinal its properties are.

Honey is the only food on the planet that will not spoil. All seemed so perfect each cone exactly perfect in dimensions and size. How did the bees create such intricate perfection? The Buzzing seemed to overtake her senses again as she heard all the bees talking all at once, telling each other with their musical dance where the best pollen was located.

Muna smelt the fragrance of the roses as the perfume lifted her as she seemed to fly around the garden, she felt the softness of the Rose petals, she was showered by the pollen, She flew from flower to flower exploring their stamens feeling the joy of freedom. Muna felt the love from the flowers as they opened their hearts to accept her.

Muna now found herself standing once again viewing the scene in the middle of the garden… She saw the butterflies drinking the nectar, she saw the many bugs crawling among the vines, the green flies, the ladybugs and she saw the birds as they flew in and out of the ivy, she saw a small bird digging with her beak into the undergrowth turning over the leaves as she searched for food.. Nature was perfect she thought.

All things created for each to survive, ALL are connected.

 She thought of the work the Bees did, pollinating the flowers and crops, if it were not for that busy bee she thought, what would happen to the crops and flowers. What would happen to mankind? As if in answer to her unspoken question a Hawk swooped down from the sky out of nowhere and plucked the small bird from where she had just seen it gathering food. All she heard was its cries, and they were both gone, with only the flutter of a few feathers left on the ground. Her heart gave a lurch in sadness..

Muna bent to retrieve the feathers and held them within her palm, as a gust of wind blew sending them flying high over the wall … She shivered, as a tear dropped to her cheek. Muna also understood that Nature was also perfectly balanced.. All things created for each other to survive also meant that some died so that others may live.

Image source Google Images Here

As Muna’s eyes looked around the garden she saw the mists had now come back, creeping up once more around Muna, making the garden now seem unfriendly. She felt the chill in the air. She looked over her shoulder, and saw the Wooden Door in what would have been the North Facing Wall. The heavy wooden door looked forbidding. As another shiver ran down her spine.

 

This part of the garden seemed more neglected, the weeds had overtaken the boarders to the wall, and thick brambles grew along with poison ivy, wild garlic, and bulrushes. Here she saw there was a small pond, which was clogged with weeds and mud, but life still swam in its depths, as she saw the small fish dart this way and that.

A cloud seemed to pass over the Sun and it plunged the garden into shadow sending more cold shivers though her being…

This was the Door Muna feared the most, instinctively that she knew she would have to open up the door and walk through it, but to do so; she needed to wade through the water before it..

“ Only you can face your Fears Muna” Aponi’s voice echoed in Muna’s mind.

 “ For it is only you that give them life”..

 

More to follow in the not too distant future, as Muna confronts her fears and finds out what has haunted her Dream time for so long as she goes through the North facing door. 

Love and Blessings

Sue

Image Source Here

 

Please help save our Bee’s

Most of you know how passionate I am about Gardening and doing so without pesticides or herbicides. Progress of my garden and allotment can be found HERE. 

 So it was with great dismay I learnt of the decision of our British Government to allow certain banned pesticides to be used on farms here in the UK.

 Please Sign the Petition here Thank you. 

 

The following article is from Avaaz,

“Dear friends,

The government has just allowed bee-killing pesticides to be unleashed across Britain’s farms, threatening the butterflies and bugs we rely on to grow our food.

Scientists’ warnings got these pesticides banned across the European Union,but the government has caved in to the powerful pesticide industry and the National Farmers Union to let them be used here again. It’s up to us to stop this madness — if we continue to poison our pollinators, the hedgerows, fields and fruit trees of this country will end up silent.

Overturning a decision like this is going to take an unprecedented number of us speaking up. But we can do it: nearly 3% of British internet users are getting this email. If each of us signs and gets just one friend to sign we can reach 6%, if each of us gets two people, we can reach 9%, etc etc. Sharing the petition online could have the ripple effect we need — click to sign now and share on Facebook, Twitter, email, everywhere:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/save_the_bees_keep_the_ban_national/?blGazab&v=62464

While the rest of Europe has backed a ban and seen their bee numbers are continuing to recover, the farming lobby in Britain has always preferred an industrialised chemical-powered approach to agriculture and with an attitude which says “as long as the yields are good, to hell with the consequences!”

It’s true that some reports show that neonicotinoids can deliver a short-term improvement on harvests, yet if we carry on using these pesticides the wider impact on critical pollinators will be catastrophic. Last Parliament, we saw how frustrated the government can get when presented with evidence-based science, doing all it could to block Europe bee-saving moratorium for pesticide use. Now it wants to go it alone across our green and pleasant lands.

But we know they are nervous — gagging scientists from speaking out and burying notes from previous meetings. We have also seen how u-turns are possible, with the fox hunting vote killed off — but that was only possible because a petition went completely viral with thousands of people sharing with their friends and family. Let’s do it this time for the bees. Sign the petition and share it now everywhere you can think:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/save_the_bees_keep_the_ban_national/?blGazab&v=62464

Two years ago, Avaaz members across Europe came together to introduce the first continent wide-ban on neonicotinoids. Let’s do it again and get rid of these crazy poisons in the UK once and for all.

With hope and determination,

Sam, Nick, Luis, Antonia, Lisa and the whole Avaaz team

More information:

Pesticide experts silenced by UK Government as it looks to bring back bee-killing neonicotinoids (The Independent)
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/pesticide-experts-silenced-by-uk-government-as-it-looks-to-bring-back-beekilling-neonicotinoids-10397707.html

UK government gags advisers in bees and pesticides row (The Guardian)
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/17/government-gags-pesticide-advisers-refusal-support-bee-harming-neonicotinoids

NFU attempt to dodge pesticides ban: Bee Coalition reaction
https://www.buglife.org.uk/tags/bee-coalition

Independent research supporting the continued ban
http://www.tfsp.info/resources/

Avaaz.org is a 41-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people shape global decision-making. (“Avaaz” means “voice” or “song” in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 18 countries on 6 continents and operates in 17 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz’s biggest campaignshere, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter. “

I hope dear Friends you too will add to the already 75,000 signatures to add your protests to help save the insect world, not to mention the affects on health.  

Many thanks.. 

Sue 

Please share..

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/save_the_bees_keep_the_ban_national/?clGazab

 

Friday Facts ~On a Summers Evening

Do you remember those childhood Summer days when all you seemed to remember was the Sunny days?, Well for once this Summer here in the U.K. it’s been a little like that.. And I have been soaking it up, as I have enjoyed my flower garden at home and of course the allotment…

Last evening we sat out enjoying the last rays of what had been a very hot day, in fact one of the hottest so far.. I had taken my knitting outside sitting under the umbrella’s shade..

When my hubby spotted something unusual crawling across the drive towards the Lawn.. 

I couldn’t believe the size of him/her.. as I went to get my phone to take a photo, I pulled out my tape measure from my knitting bag so you can see the size of him.

He moved determinedly across the lawn. And we moved him into the rockery away from any bird’s eye view. But half an hour later he was back on the lawn obviously knowing where he wanted to go.

I had an idea he was from the Moth family but hadn’t a clue what he was.. So I googled Largest caterpillar moth and found a picture of him straight away..

He is called the Elephant Hawk Moth, and this is what he looks like when he/she pupates into a Moth.

In all my years I have never seen a moth in this area as this one, his wings span can be up to 70mm apparently they can  be found throughout most of England, Wales and Ireland. In Scotland they are mainly found in the south and west.

The elephant name is given due to his trunk like section behind his very small head.. Although when he was sniffing around on our lawn He looked more like a little shrew.  I thought he must be ready to pupate but didn’t realise until reading various information that they pupate beneath the soil..

So as he ambled his way around our lawn for the best part on an hour, we decided to help him find a suitable spot.  We placed him beneath the Rhododendron and magnolia tree where we often empty lots of rich compost soil. There its soil is soft and also it is more sheltered from hard frosts and snow in the winter..

We also saved a frog from our pond as we sat in the candlelight of our garden from a neighbours cat, the squeal of the frog alerted me first, the cat ran off, as the Frog played dead on the lawn.. Making me laugh as he jumped and landed on my foot.. He soon hopped back into the safety of the pond none the worse for his ordeal.. The cat later returned sniffing where she had left him, and sulked away the disappointed hunter for the night..

I hope they both go on to survive the ravages nature throws there way.. I was particularly pleased to see the Elephant Hawk Moth Caterpillar.. a species here I had personally never seen before.. Especially in the light that here in Britain around 60% of our Butterflies and Moths are in decline over the last 10 yrs they have taken a dramatic fall. Scientists have done a study that says “  More than one in ten of all the species assessed are under threat of disappearing from our shores altogether”

But not only are our insects disappearing but also Other once common species like the lesser spotted woodpecker, barbastelle bat and hedgehog are vanishing before our eyes.

Extinction is happening across the world. Did you know that our animals, fish, birds ect are also under great threat? “In the past 500 years, we know of approximately 1,000 species that have gone extinct — but this doesn’t account for thousands of species that disappeared before scientists had a chance to describe them” And the cause? “ The current crisis is almost entirely caused by us — humans. In fact, 99 percent of currently threatened species are at risk from human activities, primarily those driving habitat loss, introduction of exotic species and ... Because the rate of change in our biosphere is increasing, and because every species’ extinction potentially leads to the extinction of others bound to that species in a complex ecological web, numbers of extinctions are likely to snowball in the coming decades as ecosystems unravel.”

To find a list of facts on what is under threat and why visit HERE you will be shocked  at how many species are dying never to be seen again.

That’s why conservation is so important.  I was very happy this year when we had a Bees Nest in our Garden Rockery, and one under our allotment shed this year… We must be doing something right to keep attracting them..

Speaking of the Allotment, I will finish with a few photos of some Sunflowers in the Allotments and the Bees enjoying them.

 

Have a wonderful Weekend all of you 

~Sue Dreamwalker~

Sources:

http://www.wallwork.me.uk/garden/elephant_hawk_moth_large.jpg

http://www.uksafari.com/elephanthm.htm

http://butterfly-conservation.org/48-4026/sixty-per-cent-of-uk-species-in-decline-groundbreaking-study-finds.html

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/elements_of_biodiversity/extinction_crisis/