Starting the Garden

When we got back from vacation we did an autopsy on the hive that died over winter. 

We found som mold on some dead bees and also some on some patches of wax. There were still some full frames of honey, which leads us to believe that they probably died early in winter. Ilana thinks nosema, I think the there were not enough bees to from a proper bee-ball... Whatever the case it looks like a standard colony loss (no major disease, infestation or animal intrusion) so we can do a hive-split with one of our healthy colonies later this spring and get the beehive back up and running by summer.

I also had the chance to finish pruning the fruit trees, blueberries, and one row of raspberries. I still have two more raspberry rows and the blackberry patch to prune, and then the orchard will be ready for 2013.

I also trimmed some of the trees, including the hemlock next to the garden. The next few days look like cold ones, but next weekend should be good for more outdoor chores.