Top Shelf
Third floor window
dim in
bright out.
Big bumblebee flies clumsily across
as two leaves flit float down in dance
the bumblebee stumbling back
while a third slow falling leaf
lingers in light.
Here inside is pre-cricket quiet
there outside the water rush
of wind and traffic
with the babble of the birds
seeding at feeder.
Black cat quivers
crouched on inner sill
wanting bumblebee,
leaves,
the birds below.
– Smith, 5.17.2017
Our 3rd year beekeeping – lost 3 hives and 4 queens, now on our 4th hive with 5th queen.
Hive 1 gave us 120 pounds of honey, then died the first week in February from Nosema aka bee diarrhea.
Hive 2 purchased from a bee supplier, had a bad queen who laid erratically, and the workers killed her.
We bought a new queen without researching the correct procedure, and the hive killed her too.
We bought a replacement swarm late in the season, got maybe 4 pounds of honey, and the hive died the last week of February.
Last Wednesday we got a free replacement swarm with a new $35 queen, so here we go again.
