We Bought The Farm!

Our buyers finally signed on the dotted line last night, so our move to Vancouver Island is a go for the end of this month.  Front Porch Farm will be located in Cassidy, B.C., and we're thrilled!

We need to have our bees inspected per the provincial Ministry of Agriculture, and we just found this weekend that our artificial swarm, which contained 3 potential queens, has no brood but lots of pollen, nectar, and honey.  The original colony had brood, but minimal stores.  There seems to be some confusion.....

We took a chance, and pulled a top bar with the youngest brood we could find, and placed it smack in the middle of the potentially queenless hive.  Maybe she just hadn't made her mating flight yet?  We have fingers and toes crossed that when we do our inspection this weekend, we will either find evidence of new brood, or note that the bees have adapted one or more of the introduced potential queen cells.  It "should" be possible to tell if they've expanded a cell for the development of a larger queen.

Along with the bees, we'll be moving 32 rabbits in 8 cages (we have 3 moms with their litters).  On a ferry.  In a UHaul. Never a dull moment.