This is a quick post to let you know that I am alive and well in rural PEI. We have 9 1/2 acres of farm land with a tiny bit of woods and are dreaming of turning the first field into orchards, gardens and wild flower meadows. Bill is dreaming of turning this space into a sculpture garden as he turns the barn into a shop and I dream of a perfect habitat for bees!
I have chatted with a beekeeper who has 2,500 beehives situated all over PEI and will be getting a couple of colonies from him after his bees have pollinated the blueberry fields. I would rather get swarms so I don't have to change from deep frames with foundation to my shallow open frames but there is no way of guaranteeing a swarm capture. I will place some bait hives in the spring just to see.
In the meantime I am cleaning up all my boxes and painting them in anticipation. I am also re-reading my bee books to make sure I remember how to do this. I got a wonderful book called Bee Time by Mark L. Winston, a bee keeper, scientist and thinker in Vancouver, B.C. which is fantastic. It is a unique look at our relationship with bees, both wild and managed and nature in general. Worth checking out for everyone.
So to all of you I wish a beautiful Thanksgiving weekend...and if you have time to read, lucky you!
