Spring is a Wild Ride

Spring is a wild ride. The thrill of feeling sun on your skin. The delight in wandering out doors without a protective bindle. I have been enthralled by watching the earth spring to life with all manner of plants. Every time I look out my window and see an army of purple flowers I’m a little sad that the bees aren’t here yet. They should be cashing in on this early bounty. Every drop of nectar and pollen they save now is bit of insurance that they will be able to make it through our next long Nebraska winter. I have no expectation of surplus honey for me this year. I am using top bar hives, which are (supposedly) better for bee health, but notably less productive in terms of honey.

Speaking of bees, I need to be outside painting my hives in anticipation of the bee’s arrival on FRIDAY! At last!!! The girls are coming. I am anxious and excited all at once. I wish I was a little more prepared, but then I think beekeeping is a little like parenting in that you can read all the books in the world but never know what you’re in for until you actually start doing it.

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I just can’t seem to find time to write these last few weeks. The above two paragraphs was all I could manage, and there were several days between the first and second! Every moment that I have had with sleeping children has been spent outside painting beehives, reading about bees, or playing domestic catch-up. You can bet cookin’ and cleanin’ have sunk pretty low on my list of to-do’s with the bees’ arrival so close. I will have time to fill you in on our happenings here as soon as all 20,000 or so of my new pets are safely in their fabulous new homes… Today I have to put a guide on all the bars for the bees to build their comb along and make some sugar syrup to feed them. In the mean time here are some pictures of our recent days… wish me luck with the bees!

On a bee hunt: We found two bumble bees in the creeping charlie!!!