Checking on (and Naming) the New Hives

On Saturday, Wren and I took a quick look inside the two new hives to make sure the queens had been released from their cages and that all was well in bee-ville.
In both cases, the queen had been released. Above, you see the cages with a couple of dead attendant bees.

Both colonies had built an impressive amount of comb in the week since we'd hived the packages. Interestingly, the bees in both hives were building along just one side of each of the top bars, rather than across the whole top bar.They seem to be using the vertical guide (intended to reinforce the combs so they don't break) as a brace for the comb. I hope that as time goes on, they'll start working the other sides too. But who knows with bees? In any case, they're just getting started—all will bee revealed in time.
By the way, thanks to all who suggested names for the two colonies in keeping with the David Bowie theme. Wren has decided to name the colony she hived last weekend SERIOUS MOONLIGHT, a phrase from the David Bowie song, Let's Dance. I've been debating about SUFRAGETTE CITY, but have decided on MOSS GARDEN—a favorite of mine from "Heroes". I like the calming influence of the phrase Moss Garden, and I hope the bees will too.

We need to get into Hive Orange (our surviving hive from last year), but the weather has been uncooperative. With luck, we'll get a look next week.

Mossed in Thought

I'm an avid moss-lover, so I'm glad to see the small but growing movement toward replacing lawn grass with moss. Humble, sensuous, ancient, and weirdly postmodern—moss is a truly underrated pleasure (a victim of biobigotry?). It's about time it got its due.

The New York Times (whose headquarters now includes an open-air birch-and-moss garden) has an article today about moss gardening. The piece touches upon the ecological benefits of skipping the water-intensive lawn and going with the Buddhist-like serenity of the less-thirsty, no-mow bed of moss.
Gazing at moss in all its intricacy and greenitude evokes a soft, pristine mental state that even the prettiest lawn can't approach. To learn more about moss gardens, check out these resources:

Mossy Acres

Saiho-ji Zen Garden

Moss Gardening—a great book by George Schenk that I've spent many hours happily exploring.
Whatever you do, don't miss this cool how-to site on moss graffiti.
You may also like the moss art of Brooklyn-based Edina Tokodi, as featured on the wonderful Inhabitant blog.