Last summer we set up our beehives with the help of our friend Tim. So far, they have deigned to stick around, which is not a given. Apparently, bees sometimes decide to pick up and relocate as a whole group- swarming it’s called.

This past month with the bitter cold and windy storms, Dominick worried that they might not make it through the winter. But a few weeks ago there was a sign of life! Our daughter came in from feedingthe chickens and said, “Mom, there are bees in the chicken feed!” I didn’t really know what she was talking about so I just said “oh OK that’s nice...”.

But she was right! They needed a little protein and managed to find the tasty chicken feed! Tim came back out and he helped us learn about these “protein bars” for bees. They love it.

Now every time there’s a warm day and the sun is shining on the hives you can see little bees heading out to find the early early bloomers: the snow drops, crocuses. It’s very reassuring.

Bee food!