And so it ends...

Maybe.

Last week in eager anticipation of warmer weather and bee-tending, I created this blog, joined the Beekeeper Association of Northern Virginia (BANV), joined the Virginia State Beekeeper Association (VSBA), and signed up for an 8 week course on beekeeping. All the while I'm having visions of me in my bee suit, soaked in honey, diligently working in the yard with bees dancing all around me...

I almost immediately thereafter surmised that my bees are most likely all dead.  Which may make this the shortest blog of all time. 

The last sign of activity was February.  It was a warm day, and bees were out and about.  It is now March 12, and has been over 50 degrees for at least 3 straight days.  Yet, no discernible bee activity has been detected.  Additionally, Brian (my life partner) recently tapped on the hive, and listened closely to what he reported to be a very ominous silence.

Depressing.  Is it my fault?  Am I a failure?  Probably.  Brian cleverly suggested I purchase new bees, install them, and pretend the whole failure thing never happened.  Of course, I ignored his advice and publicly acknowledged my expected - but not yet proven - failure on a public site.

First beekeeping class is tonight.  Trying to stay positive.  Going into the hive this weekend, or sooner if possible.   

And so it begins...

And now you ask in your heart, "How shall we distinguish that which is good in pleasure from that which is not good?"

Go to your fields and your gardens, and you shall learn that it is the pleasure of the bee to gather honey of the flower, But it is also the pleasure of the flower to yield its honey to the bee.  For to the bee a flower is a fountain of life, And to the flower a bee is a messenger of love, And to both, bee and flower, the giving and the receiving of pleasure is a need and an ecstasy.

People of Orphalese, be in your pleasures like the flowers and the bees.

~ Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet