
Ahh... Spring!
Migration with new birds passing through daily.
New plant shooting up in the garden every day.
Trees completely leafing out almost overnight.
And, the busiest time for bee related business.
I lost our only remaining hive, Diana, sometime in January. Diana went into the winter weak with a queen that never seemed to get the egg laying thing together. I can't believe how much I missed checking out a hive or two during a warm day in March and being excited about a honey bee in the front yard in early April.
This year, Cute Husband agreed to the addition of 3 hives! I say "agreed" because Cute Husband knows me. He knows I am completely excessive and left unchecked, I would have an entire farm in our back woods. A farm that really would not conform to our neighborhood covenants.
So, we will refer to the bee yard as an apiary, not a bee farm.
I installed the new girls last Monday, which is pretty late due to a delayed delivery from down South. And, yesterday, after 6 straight days of rain, I noticed that Locust is in bloom. The start of the big time nectar gathering that slows down (in Maryland) after the Popular Tree Bloom at the end of May. A lot of bee work must be accomplished in the next few weeks for these hives to store enough for the winter.
Cute Husband and I are just as busy as our bees.
And, perhaps just as focused.
Birds, birds, birds - studying warbler songs, planning quick pre-work bird-gets, reading our local listserv to plan the next trip, comparing notes with birder buddies who scouted out birding for the weekend, dreaming of the next warbler we want to see.
Spring migration happens but once a year!
Birding on the walk from the parking lot to work. (Black-throated Blue in Annapolis proper this morning)
Birding on the way to pick up the newspaper in the front yard in the morning.
Birding from the window in the middle of a meeting. (Scarlet Tanager, heard)
Ahh... spring!