Christmas Eve Roof Visit, Christening of the Hives

Western party wall

 I have adjusted the hives on the roof to take them off the flat roofing surface and placed them on brick party walls that separate our house from our neighbors.  Several reasons for this decision:

• It raises the hives up above the adjacent surfaces to reduce the risk of snow covering the entrance;
• It gangs the hives on the most structurally robust portion of the house;
• It partially obscures the hives from new homes going up across the street thanks to the chimneys against which the hives abut.

Eastern party wall

I have also finally labeled the hives to keep them straight in my head.  The western hives are: Narragansett (active), Newport (active), and Wickford (empty for now).

The eastern hives are Westerly (empty) and Providence (empty).  Our active but unlabeled double hive will transfer it's bees to Westerly and Providence after the last freeze.

Kaitlin prays over the bees

The western hives sit on leveled frames of 1 X 3.  The eastern hives are on similar framework that is then in turn sitting on some mechanical dunnage.

Christmas Eve is a day for reflection and faith, and it is my faith that gets tested as I go to the roof and witness the silence of the girls.  My concern is reinforced by entrances full of dead bees.  There were a couple girls flying around, perhaps to reassure me - not terribly effective.