It took long enough but Spring appears to have finally arrived in DC.  Yesterday the weather was a perfect 77F and sunny day which the bees loved. I hope Spring has arrived for you too!

These are the views from the Second Story Apiary on the first and second day of Spring? Can you spot the difference between the two photos? If you spotted the beautiful coating of snow in the second photo you would be right!  We got over 4 inches of wet snow on the second day of Spring.  Happily, the cold doesn't seem to have hurt the blooms or the bees.  The bees were happily flying to and from the hive on the third, much warmer, day of Spring.

To tell the story of life inside a hive I brought a frame filled with honey held safely within a windowed display case so visitors could see what honey looks like when it is still in the honey comb. Few people had ever seen a frame full of honey before and asked lots of questions about it. I also brought a nucleus (aka five-frame) hive so that visitors could see what the inside of a hive looks. It was a great opportunity for visitors to not only see but also smell a beehive. Many people remarked that the inside of a hive smells like honey and beeswax!