tender pink mallus

tender pink mallus --

curlicue stamens shading

a hot honeybee

We've been in a heat advisory for the past two days: 104 F/40 C in the shade and 84 percent humidity. Common enough conditions in some parts of the world, but extreme in June in our little corner of the Midwest. Elsewhere, raging forest fires out West and monsoon floods in India. 
          In spite of the heat, the honeybees are working the pink mallus blooming outside our front door. Back at the hive, some of the workers are fanning their wings to cool the brood chambers. Outside, there is enough of a breeze to keep our wind turbine spinning, so we stay inside our straw-clay walls, sprawled on the cool limestone floor under the whirring ceiling fan.
          Tonight, merciful thunder and lightning, promising rain.

wild bee balm blooming

wild bee balm blooming

in the meadow, nectar for

yellow swallowtail

Monarda, also called wild bergamot, bee balm, horsemint or Oswego tea, is blooming in pinkish-lavender clumps all over the meadows and sunny swaths along the roads. The tiny tubular blossoms clustered at the tip of the stem look like a tasseled head out of a Dr. Seuss story. The flowers attract pollinators able to extract nectar and pollen from the long tubes, such as hummingbirds, butterflies and bees. My apiarist neighbor is happy that her honeybees are foraging on these pesticide-free flowers. The crushed leaves exude a spicy, fragrant oil that tastes like a slightly bitter blend of spearmint, peppermint and oregano. When my Potawatomi friend came for a visit, she was delighted to find bee balm growing in my wildflower garden. She said the plant has long been used by Native Americans as a seasoning for wild game, as well as for medicinal purposes, such as an antiseptic poultice for skin infections and minor wounds, an infusion for headaches and fevers, and a tea for mouth and throat infections. Not just a folk herb, the antimicrobial ingredient of bee balm, thymol, is used commercially as the primary active ingredient in modern mouthwash formulas.