It’s official, the bee season has begun…multiple attempts to procure an extra inner hive cover the other day were met with “out of stock” and “check back next week.” By now, many of us have received our new bees. But as I write this, it has not yet happened and I am counting down the days to when I pick up my packages. Having lost my hives over the winter, I miss the bees. I miss doing spring checks and watching for swarm cells. I miss watching them react to the warm sunny mornings and looking at the different colors of pollen coming in. It’s a wonderful feeling, really. I see it as an affirmation of what beekeeping means to me and the value I place in being a steward of their species. Until then, I’ll watch others do their inspections and tidy my shed and clean my equipment for their new tenants, grateful for the space that will be created when the boxes and supers go back to work.
Our April meeting featured Dr. Dewey Caron who reviewed Spring management – splits, swarms, feeding – all the classics. So many good reminders and new ideas, he is such a rich source of experience and knowledge. We’ve decided to keep our meetings directed to more experienced beekeepers and it’s worked out well. Our online Beekeeping 101 class is a great way to serve new beekeepers but keeping more advanced beekeepers engaged via our monthly meetings has remained a priority. One great side benefit of Zoom meetings is the dialogue that happens amongst members in the chat box – don’t you think? It’s added an unexpected dimension to the meetings for folks to pose questions, links to more resources, explanations of something the speaker said, even jokes. Just one more way for us to connect and share!