We are now finished with the annual package bee deliveries. The larger load arrived at our place at 200 a.m., so there was not much sleep that night!

Alex, Dad, and I carried the packages from the back of the truck into the garage. By the end of it, we had more packages than ever to distribute. They were stacked too high to get good pictures at first, but after some of them were taken away, the other pallets became visible.

It always seems like a mountain of bees to distribute, but within 48 hours they are gone. We've had to get our paperwork better organized as more customers go on the package list every year--we also sell buckets of syrup, honey, and some feeders at the same time, so the three of us keep busy on package days.

Good luck with your bees!

Our threat of snow last night passed us over. Windy and a bit chilly today, but no really bad weather to delay spring too much. I have not been out to see the bees as I've been working consistently on finishing my dissertation--it's always possible to make time when necessary but Dad has kept on top of checking the bees and picking up the dead ones. The live ones evidently have not required a lot of syrup. It has helped me keep focused on getting this phd finished.

The prospect of a strong splitting season looks encouraging. Here we have some of the good colonies--a number of them have a few frames of brood in progress. Sometimes the brood-rearing doesn't really get going until late April, so we hope to use a lot of queens in starting new colonies this year.

The hive below has barely survived the last three winters, but this year the population looks quite strong--hopefully that means most of the other colonies will follow suit in gaining strength as the coming weeks unfold.

The Lonely Hive, Survivor of many winters:

Strong overwintered colonies: