Bye Bye Winter?

-Posted by Isaac

Jayne beat me to the punch. I was going to talk about the cool little crocus flowers coming out and convey my vast botanical genius concerning angiosperms (after asking Jayne all about them).

I'll stick to an easier subject: this crazy, hard-on-bees March weather.

A week ago it looked like this:

No School!

And we took full advantage of the situation.

Mason adds the finishing touches

The next day, the melt was on...

Is this not the ugliest snowman you've ever seen?

Heat: the extreme weight loss plan

 and the next day...

 I couldn't help taking a minute to watch the bees get their first taste of new pollen.

The pickins' were pretty slim as far as available protein. The maples and willows have yet to bloom so basically it was a few small crocus flowers and sawdust.
I helped the girls a little-

This is dry protein powder, Bee Pro. When there is nothing out there blooming the bees are crazy about it, bringing loads into the hive. Every bee yard gets a bucket this time of year, but it only works well for a couple of weeks on a few warm days. As soon as the first reliable natural pollen becomes available (maples), the bees won't touch it. The chicken wire keeps rodents from getting a free meal.
I've got hundreds of pounds of it to later turn into protein patties. This stimulates brood rearing.

Our little "bee pro" poses next to Bee Pro.

Now it's blustery and cold again with intermittent snowstorms.
Hard on bees and people both.