Hot Mama's Happy!

Lord! It was really hot yesterday. The paper says it was 86F, but in the sun it burned. I have a farmer's tan to prove it. Sitting in the shade with Macks at my feet and a cold glass of water in my hot hand was BLISS. I thought of the scene in one of the 'Godfather' movies where Don Corleone sits in his garden, among his tomatoes with a grandchild: He chases the giggling toddler through the hot summer garden and drops dead of a heart attack. Dead amidst his happiest time and place. The old murderer truly didn't get the death he deserved, but he got one I'd prefer. The older I get and the more lingering painful deaths I see the more merciful a quick heart attack seems. Dear me, how did I go from bliss in the garden to that? Forgive me my meandering.

We had a huge thunderstorm at almost dark yesterday. I took the opportunity to work in the greenhouse until the rain let up. It was a gully-washer. Of course it put water in the basement again, too. We really need to tear out the wood part of that wall and stop those leaks. I have that to tend to this AM, before the bees.

I aim to spend most of the day in the bees, since it will be a reasonable 69F. I need to release the queens and use push in cages for the ones that haven't been in them yet. I haven't fed yet, since there is a nectar flow, but there are some small hives that may need help(either a pollen patty or syrup), either to thrive, or to draw comb. I have 75# of sugar that should be made into syrup just in case. Rather than using the kitchen I'll use that outdoor grill with a burner to boil the water and make 2 parts sugar to One part water syrup. I can dilute it later, or use it for winter feed. It won't sugar out in the summer heat, but won't sour of go 'off' like thinner syrup will. Basically I just need to look at the bees. Some might (hope!) need more room.