I’m so excited about our new apiary. Our new bees will arrive mid-to-late April.

Jenna and Ashley worked hard on this project today. I took pictures.   Here’s where they started this morning….

The hives have to sit level so there was digging and positioning involved…here’s Jenna…

After the leveling, they installed landscape plastic as a weed barrier  held in place with large flat rocks that we had on hand. The rocks are heavy  but Jenna and Ashley moved them around like rock stars.   Betty Butterbutt came to lend a hand…

But she grew bored and took a nap…

Here’s where we are at the end of the day….still need the fence wire in place and the posts need to be evened up, but most of the work is done.   We made the stone into a path along the back side of the hive where we’ll stand and work behind the bees.  In the front of the bees, the stone is laid in a decorative pattern to hold down the weed barrier.

Notice how the shade falls on the hive? The picture below was taken about 6 pm — this shade will feel good to our bees in the blazing heat of summer.

Here’s our hard working pals, Jenna and Ashley. We enjoy their friendship and will miss them greatly when they leave for their work this summer. They have been such a help, and Mike will go into his upcoming knee replacement surgery with peace of mind that the real RiverCliff Cottage is in good shape.

Are they going golfing?