Hive alive!

Well folks, it's been a couple weeks since I hollered at ya, so here's the latest from the farmhouse:

It's been roughly three and a half weeks since the bees were released into the hives and now that the weather's warming and the blooms are becoming plentiful, the hives are thriving. The activity at the hives in the afternoon is intense with hundreds of bees flying in and out constantly. It's pretty bad-ass when the bees return to the hive with their hind legs weighed down with pollen and nectar. After a stupid move of opening the hive sans veil and gloves (during a beer break while installing the garden fence on Saturday) to check the sugar syrup level I was stung twice, once on the arm and once on the head... awesome!

On Sunday, Dick Johnson stopped by to watch over the hive inspection; which went very well. The bees are doing great! Both queens (still unnamed - any suggestions?) are laying a ton of eggs, and the first of the baby bees should be hatching from their cells this week. With that, the hive population is set to soar, and we should be adding the second deeps by memorial day. DJ also brought over some metal poles for me to use on the electric fence as he thinks the plastic ones won't really stop a bear.

In non-bee news, with a helping hand from a visiting Brendan Murphy, the garden is now fenced in and planted with carrots, radishes, kale, broccoli, garlic, peas, sunflowers, various lettuces and a rogue chili pepper plant. We should have everything in by early June. Also, Joe the Tiller made an always welcome guest appearance (this time with a truckload of firewood!), as did a new snake friend.