Weather
Snow in the Bee Yard
March came and went, then April arrived. Very little rain in April, but things were greening up nicely. The willows flowered, and then the dandelions started their bloom. April left, and May arrived. There are a litany of various quaint and tired things people say about the weather in Duluth. I am a bit of a curmudgeon today, so I am not going to list these trite -isms. I bring this up, because, today, it snowed. I rather do not mind the snow; it is slightly annoying that I am not able to go out, dig in the dirt and the like.
A Trip to Minneapolis and Those Spicy Italians
I have been busier than usual with the-day-job. I was in Minneapolis yesterday; I headed out at 5:45 AM and returned home around 6:00 PM. Very long day, but the weather in Minneapolis was fantastic; it also happened to be Beautiful U Day at the University (not sure I have been clear - by day, I am employed by the University of Minnesota and work on the Duluth campus, but I frequently have meetings in Minneapolis, outside the day-job, I tinker with machines, tend hounds, tend bees, grow gardens and program esoteric computer things - like compostb.in - a compost-centric app for the iPhone). The non-day-job things ground me, and keep me relatively sane. Anyway, Beautiful U Day happened to have a really beautiful day. The tulips were blooming, the flowering crabtree in front of Morrill Hall and Northrup Auditorium was blooming (and smelled wonderful). With all the flowers in bloom, I kept an eye out for pollinators, but, unfortunately, I did not see any. Not even a bumblebee. Depending on your political leanings, you might blame Karl Rove, who happened to be visiting campus yesterday, or, you could blame the protesters who were protesting Karl Rove's visit. Either way, I was slightly saddened by the lack of visible insect life on such a great day.
Bees, Clouds and Cold - It's Duluth
The weather has certainly not been bee-friendly here in the Duluth area. However, we had a wonderful weekend for getting the two packages of bees + queens into their new homes. The weekdays have been overcast, cold and very windy. Today rain was added into that mix. We desperately needed the rain. The dirt driveway was starting to show signs of dry-cracking.
Spring for a day
We awoke yesterday to a brisk morning; -13F (-25C). The car was stiff and air felt slightly damp. It was cold outside; it was 4:30 AM.
My wife had to be into work early and since we carpool and work at the same place, I was headed in with her.
My office has no windows and is technically underground (http://bit.ly/bbZlRx); a mid-morning meeting had me heading above ground to an office with windows; much to my surprise, the sun was out. The snow was also melting.
Bee puns and hive parts
The apiculture world is ripe with puns, and I will admit that I am not immune from putting some really awful ones to use. All throughout the week, I would bring up bees or bee-culture things with co-workers; always throwing in a pun worthy of a resounding "boo!" (not the scary kind of boo, but more of the booing of one off of a stage).
