gavin

What a marvellous bright sunny day we had here. Rolling up at the old orchard around 1 pm, the mud in the lane behind the walled garden was still sufficiently frozen solid to take my considerable weight, but the sun was on the hives and the bees were out in numbers. Three of the survivors were bringing in lots of pollen, and one - the Monkish bee colony - didn't seem to be. Might it be queenless? Too early to tell. It may also be well out of its comfort zone, climate-wise.

So, ...