Well, spring has truly sprung here at the Deanery:) It's a beautiful day here and I'm surrounded by the true signs of spring - everywhere is bursting with buds and blooms, the birds are singing and the sun is out; washing flapping and windows open; knitting in the garden.
In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.
Alfred Lord Tennyson
Or a drake's...........the poor ducks spend most of their waking hours trying to get away from randy drakes, and Sweetie and Lillith fly up and over and spend their day wandering around the garden guddling in puddles and snapping at flies. Here they are just outside the kitchen window. Lillith is the darker of the two.
As for the bees, well, it's almost time to open them up for the spring inspection. Thinking ahead I ordered some new frames and foudnation wax this morning so I'll be ready to set a new supe soon I hope. Today is a bit windy and chilly, so another few days won't go amiss. The ideal temp is 14 degrees on a still day, or as I prefer, when the flowering currant (ribes sanguineum) is in bloom, which it is now, so won't be long. They've been out and flying quite a lot on the sunnier days, so seem fairly healthy. I'm looking forward to taking a bit of honey this year; I didn't last year, just left them in peace as the weather wasn't wonderful. They seem to have made it through the winter OK and are raring to go. I'd like to get another couple of hives going if I can, maybbe this year, we;ll see. Top bar hives are very appealing at the moment, and I have the instructions somewhere to make one. Off to blow the cobwebs off the bee suit now!
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