Snowbound Hives

Isn't this a wonderful photograph? It was sent yesterday by Bettina Utz, one of my fellow core members in the NYC Beekeepers Association.

Aside from the incredibly pleasing aesthetics at play, what's kind of great about the way the snow is capping these hives is that it mirrors the natural, bell-like shape of honeycomb itself, as seen in this picture from one of my top-bar hives taken a couple of summers ago.
One hopes and imagines that the colonies in Bettina's hives are benefiting from the insulation of their gorgeous "hats" of snow, and that spring will soon release them (and all of us!) from this long winter's nap.

Recent Things

Cloud formations.

Almond sprouting in compost pile.

The spider that lives by Hive Orange.

Comb cut from the dead hives to be melted down to wax.

Asparagus seedling.

Artisan Bees

Exquisite bell jar bee-building in collaboration with Turlough, as featured in Hive Mind Bee Blog. See the slide-show of the bees developing their comb inside the jar.

The Naked Hive

These bees decided to go for a more al fresco approach to comb-building.


These photos are from Ruthven Park, Ontario, as seen on the Ruthven Park Nature Blog. To learn a bit more about what's going on here, go here.