Spring Changes

Spring is humming in Southern California. The blue ceanothus blossoms are thick with bees in search of pollen. After the loss of our bees and the subsequent swarm at a friend's house, shaken into a box and relocated here, we are back to two hives thanks to an additional swarm that simply moved into a prepped hive Eric had readied and placed empty on our property. Although I've heard bees do this and even heard fellow Backwards Beekeepers give sworn testament that it has happened to them, I had my doubts we'd have the luck for it to happen to us. But there they were. In the hive. Busy. Buzzing. Doing the work that bees do. It was like finding a wrapped present left on your doorstep containing exactly what you hoped for in your most delicious daydreams.

With spring comes extreme hair. After over a year of repeated requests by the boys for mohawks, Eric pulled out the clippers and granted their wish.

And my youngest son sports some facial hair...at least for a brief time. A distinguished gentleman to be sure.

Weekend Beekeeping

After a lengthy absence, we made it to a Backwards Beekeeping meeting. It is frankly thrilling to see the amount of people interested in beekeeping.

Kirk Anderson was there, of course, spreading the gospel of chemical free beekeeping. I have no idea why this guy doesn't have his own television show or at least rule the greater portion of the universe. He is an amazing speaker. So thoughtful and incredibly witty.

Scooters were brought to Farmlab. I remember when this guy could barely see over the handle bars. His older brother chose to recline and read a book; later in the evening, he (the older brother) succumbed to a nasty stomach flu, poor guy.

Inspired by the meeting, Eric and I came back home and took a look at our hive. This was my maiden voyage. Eric has been the go-to beekeeper at our house while I've been hanging with the kids inside. The kids are finally old enough to be trusted to watch us through the window while we work (although the youngest made a mad naked dash to visit us prior to opening the hive. He returned to his perch by the window, but I think he is a prime candidate for a beekeeper suit.). My suit was an anniversary gift from Eric which is one of the best anniversary gifts ever. My suit came with an Eric drawing about the birds and the bees. I find myself gazing at that card often.

I understand bee fever completely. I'm already an avid proponent of beekeeping, especially Backward Beekeeping. It's about observation and being a true student of the bees.

Under Eric's tutelage (while the boys stayed safely inside the house), we inspected the hive. The bees are drawing comb and producing honey. I did not see the any brood (I only pulled out three frames from the top box). Next time we open the hive, we will do much more. We have some deep frames in the bottom boxes. We plan to take the hive apart & pull out those frames and replace them with the regular sized frames. I'm really looking forward to suiting up and working with the bees.

Kirk, we'll have those deep frames back to you soon.

Pollen Gathering

Bees are gathering pollen this morning on our blooming Ceanothus.

Bee House Keeping

Russel posted this cool video on the Backwards Beekeepers blog which shows his bees cleaning up after a rainstorm.