Progress

The bees have been inspected. We were hoping that we might be able to be there for the inspection, mostly to glean information that won't be obvious to us from what the inspector might have said. Oh well.

So now we're trying to figure out the next step--you know, the one where we actually buy the bees, pick up the spare hive parts, and see our new hives. I guess maybe it's pretty strange that we're buying them without seeing them, but seriously, what would we be able to tell anyway? "Ooh, the hive boxes are painted an ugly color, how unfortunate"? Precisely why we were hoping to see the inspection.

In the interest of keeping a proper log, I should note that, while it rained last weekend, and evidently sprinkled on my friend at the bus stop yesterday (a mile away, I saw only clear skies), it's still dry dry dry overall. How disappointing...we were really hoping that last weekend signaled an end to the drought. So everyone agrees that we'll likely have to start feeding the bees sugar-water before the fall, because there won't be enough nectar or enough honey. We honestly don't mind if we don't get much honey, since we're in it for the knowledge this year, but it's bad for everyone else, from beekeepers to the local farm (Bull Run Mountain Farm) that we've bought a vegetable share from this year.

And, on a last note, last night was the party at the end of the class. We're officially on our own, now. It was a snackie pot-luck, and I figured that under the circumstances I had probably better bring something that wasn't sweet, out of self-defense. So I brought tuna salad and crackers, and was very gratified by the enthusiastic reception it got. We had several nice conversations, and I will miss seeing these people so often. Hopefully we'll see at least some of them at the next BANV meeting. Turns out the BANV summer picnic is on my birthday--not such a bad thing!