The New And Improved Toad Pad

Good morning! If you have found this blog again, welcome back. If you're new to the blog, "Hey!"

After a long hiatus, I am once again reporting on the doings at the Dancing Toad Ranch outside of Goddard, America. I'll try to backfill as I go along, rather than give you a long, boring batch of history to read through. Besides, a lot of you know it already, so let's start afresh.

This morning we are getting ready to receive our two boxes of bees on Saturday at the Heartland Bee Company in Springhill, Kansas. Van and I have always been interested in raising bees; and while I was in DC watching my babies, he took the plunge and ordered 20,000 of them, plus 2 queens. I got home to the message that the bees would arrive on the 11th; so we had to make a trip to Springhill for hives, protective suits, and all the other paraphenalia that goes with this hobby. We spent last weekend putting together two hives: 4 brood boxes, 4 honey supers, tops, bottoms, excluders, and 80 frames. Van is sporting a heat patch over his right shoulder from all the nailing! I am making up three gallons of sugar syrup for the initial feeding. We'll keep you posted.

The bees will not only supply some honey (if all goes well), but will also pollinate the garden and my 15 fruit trees. And they are just fascinasting to watch...