So, last year I kept four Gold Star top bar hives - three at my house, and one at the L.O.C.A.L. garden a few miles away - a garden associated with the culinary arts program through Regional School Unit #1.

Now, I live in a beautiful spot - I can see water out three sides of my house. I have an osprey nest in the top of a very tall snag in my backyard - I can watch it through my living room window, kicking back in my recliner. It’s really very nice here.

Unfortunately, it’s also right across the street from Whiskeag Creek in Bath, Maine. And that means it’s windy. It’s a veritable wind tunnel, in fact. So the hives that I have been keeping at home have always had a tough time of it. So tough in fact that I lost all three this year - even though it took until March for the last one to crash.

But darn it, that’s depressing. So depressing in fact, that I didn’t even go check on the fourth hive - tucked into the corner at the garden. I just figured they hadn’t made it. Wrote them off. Even ordered another package to go in that hive!

But Thursday I went by there - thinking I’d clean the hive out in preparation for bee arrival next week… and much to my delight - they were still kicking. More than that, they are THRIVING. They’ve even got a crop of drones going and a few small queen cups in the works - in the first week of May!!!

So I unwrapped them, (they’d been wearing a tarpaper wrapper for the winter) and opened a second entrance, and did a partial inspection. I’ll need to correct a few places on one side where they’ve cross-combed a bit - so I’ll be bringing a container as I suspect this will mean there will be a small honey harvest. I might even take the opportunity to split them, since they’re so raring to go already…

All I can think to say is “Oh me of little faith…”

Thank you to the bees, for being so restorative. *grin*