The Secret Life of Bees

The rosemary on my back slope started blooming early due to the late rain and cool weather we had in 2011. Thus the honey bees have been gathering nectar and pollen from it regularly.


The traditional blooming time of the rosemary hedge and when Spring hits the woodland is now, which means we will be adding an extra box to each of the hives next week. When we do add the extra boxes we will also check the honey stores of the warrior girls to see if there is any extra for us to take now or later.


Standing next to the rosemary is quite an experience. Since it is so filled with bees it looks like the mass of green and light blue flowers is undulating with a sound track of the bees aum chant.
I'll be harvesting some of this rosemary to make a tincture for the next edition of Blossom, the traditional eau de cologne natural botanical perfume I release every spring.

Capturing photos of the bees has been a challenge and something I've been practicing. Here are a few recent shots of them followed by an interesting video from one of my fellow b'eeks.



Video courtesy of oldboychoi with this info

A Bee’s Life in a Top Bar Beehive

A compilation of three summer months from inside the beehive. From colonisation of the empty hive to the days following the swarm (that probably reduced the colony to less than half the number).

Bee and rosemary photos ©Roxana Villa

Sage, Rosemary and Time

Saturday in the late afternoon, once all the orders had been packed, I headed over to my local family owned nursery. Autumn is the best time to plant here in the woodland because of the amount of rain we tend to get. Mom had given Greg and I a gift certificate for Christmas which I had saved just for this time of the year.

Potted grasses at the Nursery in late afternoon sun

I had my heart set on rosemary for the south border of the lot to create a nice screen from the neighbors while providing an extra food source for the honey bees. They absolutely adore the rosemary ground cover on the back slope. Other perks are that it grows well here and can handle the summer heat with little water.

For the front slope, which is the biggest and barest part at the moment, I wanted to pick up more sages, matilija poppies, artemesia and cistus. All of those are performing fabulously, with the added benefit of providing more nectar and pollen sources for my little winged friends.

I also was keen on picking up some violets. My mom brought over a nice sized clay pot of a cutting from her garden, which are the ones I use in the tincture for Gracing the Dawn botanical perfume. Since they are coming up gangbusters in her garden I figured perhaps its a good time to purchase them. No such luck, the nursery doesn't carry them, thus I will have to go elsewhere.

photo: Iceberg Rose

The nursery was however, well stocked on rosemary, sage salvia allen chickering purple rock rose cistus purpureus and the hardy white iceberg roses. No matilija poppies though. Thus we loaded up the car and on Sunday I spent almost all day digging holes
in the front slope. My initial idea was to put the white roses in between the native Rosa californica down along the bottom. However, when I started digging I realized that most of the entire front edge of the property is granite. Thus, instead, I dug out the native roses and moved them to the midslope area, on the other side of the matilija poppy batch. I'll be putting the cistus, aka rockrose, down at the bottom. The one I currently have in that location is doing great, unlike the roses that seemed very sad.

As I dug out the California roses I was quite shocked to see that they had actually managed to send shoots of roots down INTO the granite! My goodness. In text where I have written descriptions for my perfume Rosa, inspired by the native rose, I mention it is "an ancient survivor of the California woodland." I now have new respect for the plant and the term survivor. I hope it will be much happier in the mid-slope area where there isn't quite as much hard granite to deal with. Fingers and toes crossed. Meanwhile the cistus, aptly named "rock rose" should be quite happy down there.

photo: Cistus purpureus

The garden, after five years is finally starting to come together a bit. I'd still like to get rid of the icky Eucalyptus trees and plant more oaks in their place. However, in the meantime, the California cottage look is coming along quite nicely. By spring I should have some nice photos to share.

Iceberg rose planted among California native sage Salvia Allen Chickering

Perfume Illuminated: Rosemary

"There's rosemary, that's for remembrance."
(Hamlet, iv. 5.)

Rosmarinus, meaning "dew of the sea" in Latin, is the first binomial name for Rosemary. The full botanical name is Rosmarinus officinalis. Part of the Lamiaceae (previously known as Labiatae) family, this evergreen flowering shrub has it's origins in the Mediterranean, specifically Spain and Morroco.

At today's installment of the Perfume Illuminated Project we will visit this fresh, herbaceous plant that features prominently in dishes of the Mediterranean region and perfume formulas of the past.

FRAGRANCE

Right now, along the back hillside the rosemary is in full bloom with tiny delicate, pungent, and camphorous blue flowers. The European honey bees and sweet little golden finches have been frequenting the slope covered Rosemary shrub frequently lately.


The needle like leaves are where the pale yellow essential oil is stored. For the aromatherapist and natural perfumer the steam distilled essential oil is available in different chemotypes. The chemotype (ct) is determined by the conditions of where the plant is grown and/or where the plant is within it's cycle. The chemotype of Rosemary found in Tunisia is Rosemary ct 1.8 Cineole Rosemary ct Verbenone tends to grow near the coast as in France and California. Each of the different chemotypes has a distinct quality to the aroma and varying therapeutic actions on the body.

The culinary odor of rosemary falls primarily within the herbaceous family of notes in perfumery with others such as Lavender and Sage. A fine quality oil will also impart woody, resinous and balsamic notes depending on the chemotype.

Rosemary in perfume has it's history as a main ingredient in "Hungary Water" a revitalizing preparation created for the Queen of Hungary during the late 1300's. Reputed as the first alcohol based European perfume, "Hungary Water", was the precursor to Eau de Cologne (EDC).

The original "Hungary Water" appears to have been a very simple tincture of Rosemary twigs steeped in wine for several days. Over the formula evolved with more herbaceous and some floral elements added in.

In Section III of the book "The Art of Perfumery" by Septimus Piesse the following formula is found for his interpretation of "Hungary Water":

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By distilling the Rosmarinus officinalis a thin limpid otto is procured, having the characteristic odor of the plant, which is more aromatic than sweet. One cwt. of the fresh herb yields about twenty-four ounces of oil. Otto of rosemary is very extensively used in perfumery, especially in combination with other ottos for scenting soap. Eau de Cologne cannot be made without it, and in the once famous "Hungary water" it is the leading ingredient. The following is the composition of

Hungary Water.

Rectified alcohol,	1 gallon.
Otto of English rosemary,	2 oz.
" lemon-peel,	1 oz.
" balm (Melissa),	1 oz.
" mint,	1/2 drachm.
Esprit de rose,	1 pint.
Extract of fleur d'orange,	1 "

It is put up for sale in a similar way to eau de Cologne, and is said to take its name from one of the queens of Hungary, who is reported to have derived great benefit from a bath containing it, at the age of seventy-five years. There is no doubt that clergymen and orators, while speaking for any time, would derive great benefit from perfuming their handkerchief with Hungary water or eau de Cologne, as the rosemary they contain excites the mind to vigorous action, sufficient of the stimulant being inhaled by occasionally wiping the face with the handkerchief wetted with these "waters." Shakspeare giving us the key, we can understand how it is that such perfumes containing rosemary are universally said to be "so refreshing!"

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FLAVOR: Beth Schreibman Gehring
Please continue reading about Rosemary at the Windesphere Witch blog