The girls, checking out their new home (pre-entrance-reducer)
First let me give you some good garden advice I did not follow: carefully plan your vacations to NOT fall in major planting times, no matter how tempting the vacation! OK, I couldn’t do it either, but have been paying the price for a couple of weeks. The week before vacation I was running around like crazy trying to get all the little cool-crop seedlings (broccoli, kale, cabbage, winter lettuce, beets, cilantro, parsley, etc) I’d grown with the light table or purchased at Chicken Holler into the ground. This was a gamble since if it didn’t rain, they’d die tragically in the field… But I got lucky on that one and it rained a lot. Which was not so lucky for the vacation part of the story…but we had a good time and lots of good food and great company, regardless… My wonderful neighbor Hershel looked after the seedlings to tiny to plant and they came through beautifully. (Thanks Hershel!)
Since I’ve returned from vacation, I’ve been trying to catch back up with life, all while preparing for the new bees! After taking the January bee class series, finding a mentor (Thanks Charity!!) and ordering the amazing array of stuff and gadgets required for a brand new hive, the occupants arrived on Saturday! Driving home with 10K bees in a flimsy box (and a half-dozen or so clingers-on clutching the outside of the cage and taking occasional confused flights) in one small Corolla was a lively experience, but I loved it. I’ve loved every single thing about this bee adventure and I can’t wait to tell you more, much more! But for today, given that I’m still behind at everything, I’ll just leave you with this brief note and a few pics of the girls. More to come soon…
They are so beautiful..we've been watching "Bee TV" from lawn chairs...
—A Larrapin Garden www.larrapin.us
Posts most wednesdays & weekends unless I’ve been on vacation or I’m transfixed watching bee TV! Don’t miss any post though—you can subscribe by Email here. You can also get bonus links and recipes by “liking” our Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/larrapin.garden. Geesh, we’re even on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LarrapinGarden.
One Comment
Really neat! I think it is so great to keep bees especially with the threat of their extinction upon us. I hope to take some time someday and also learn how to do it. Thanks!