So I got a call early this morning from my local post office, asking me to plase come and pick up my bees. What a lovely thing! I spent a warm spring morning on the deck putting new pale beeswax foundation into my wooden frames, while Connor and I worked on his essay, and the bees hummed impatiently in the shade of the patio table.

By afternoon they were snug in their hive. The Nanking bush cherries are blooming today, and the forsythia. The odd red buds are falling off the maples, and dandelions and lawn clover are sure to be next.

I wish I had asked the breeder to mark the queen with a dot.. I never can find them once they are in the hive. But they seem to do fine without me.

I teach my last 101 class tomorrow! Next week I give the final, and that’s that.