Well, for the first time in far too long, I hiked into the apiary, to see what was happening there.   My thought, as I looked around, was that at least it is going to provide me with a great opportunity to rebuild and restore it in a better place and plan!   I am sorry to report that the two colonies I had remaining last year have either crashed, died during the winter or flown the coop, as the apiary is a quiet, and deserted place just now.   While the hives have not suffered too much – they are still standing and appear fairly dry and such, the girls are gone.   Maybe in a couple of months I can afford a nuc or two and get them going again.   At least this affords me a chance to clean up the hives, and move them to a better location.   

     One problem I noticed a bit ago is that the “good” place I had for them turned out to be a location where a river of very cold air would accumulate and flow by.   Considering the single digit temperatures we had a month or two ago, I suspect that is what did the girls in.   Ah, well, live and learn.     As I may have mentioned before, though, one good thing about living on the property, instead of 30+ minutes away is that it allows the opportunity to actually take care of things, instead of being an absentee Landlord.

     More later…

     Bee Man Dave.