Hello family and friends;
I can imagine you stirring the last spoonful of Fern's honey into a lovely hot cup of tea and thinking, "I wonder how the bees are doing? Did they survive the winter?"
Well, I had the same question, so today being a sunny, mild day, Ray and I took our new bee smoker ($35) and went to check on them. I had heard that cold doesn't kill the bees as much as moisture (and starvation). Wearing my bee jacket ($60) and using the hive tool ($12), I opened the first hive and removed the insulating baby blankets and cushions, etc. There seemed to be plenty of bees but the frames were almost empty of honey. So, as recommended by the honey supplies people, I put sugar (lovely dark brown sugar) on the top and also some pollen candy for the new babies and closed it up again.
The second hive was the same as the first, but when I opened the third one, there it was. Ugly, killing mold. So we got a new hive ($50) made by our Russian mentor and transferred as many bees as possible into it. I think I lost half of the bees, who didn't want to move into the clean hive, but we probably saved the rest from certain death.
When we finished, Ray remarked that I still had a lot of bees on my bee suit. However, they weren't trying to attack me, they were using me as a toilet. It's amazing how much poop a bee has in its little body! My lovely white suit was covered with brown spots.
So now you can stop worrying. The bees survived the winter and there will be plenty of honey for all of you who come to visit us. Hopefully I will also be able to sell some to make up for all those expenses listed above.
Good night then. Keep in touch.
Love from Fern and Ray.
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