Lost my bees; they absconded when the queen failed to escape her cage. I have more on order. Hopefully, they found a new home, and will become feral pollinators. Unfortunately, they won’t last, since they can’t raise a queen without larvae to raise up: no queen, no babies; no babies, no new queen.
So far, we’ve cut over 200 stalks of asparagus. Less than 5 of them have been from the 4-5 YO purple varieties. Those established quickly, and just as quickly peaked, then about 8 out of the 12 have died out & the remaining are about on par with our 2 or 3 YO old standards. Meanwhile the oldest plants, are still spreading & producing like gangbusters.
This past Sunday & Monday—my days off—saw a stack of feed sacks full of pine cones, a circle about 10’ in diameter, chipped & tilled in in a major and a minor section if the garden.
Planted shallots, and seeded 2 hills each of 3 types of squash: two winter keepers, and Cocozelle (Italian Marrow squash).
Right now, the weather has cooled, and is foggy & drizzly, with rain & possible thundershowers predicted for the next week...except Sunday.
ZFruit trees are finally starting to bloom.
Sorry to hear that about the bees. You have made good progress it seems. Hubby has done quite a bit, but is behind due to jobs coming up and weather not co-operating.
I am really sorry to hear about your queens’ failure to get out of her cage. Was there a cork plug in the end of the cage where the candy is located?
I always check to make sure that cork is out. Then, the bees can start working on the candy plug from the outside.
I have to be much more attentive this year to treat for mites. We lost both colonies the past two winters. This past winter, they were still alive at the February thaw, but were too weakened to last the last two months.
Our two replacement packages should be coming next week. Good luck!