Today I was picking up the apples on the ground in the orchard for the pigs, and Tom called me over to an ivy covered tree in our front yard.  It was humming with bees going for the flowers on the ivy.  I have not seen anything like it.  I thought maybe they had swarmed to this tree so was looking for that.  But then one of our regular egg customers John showed up.  He is a bee keeper and said it is not a swarm but a last desperate attempt to get food at the end of their season.  It was amazing to see and hear.

I am planning to build and set up a hive this winter and spring.  I plan on starting with a rabbit hutch that is no longer being used and making a top bar hive.  I have the bars.  I ordered them, and they arrived the day my face was swollen with bee stings.  It was ironic.  I am waiting for the wasps currently in the hutch to become dormant before I start building my hive.  But I have the information for the meetings of the local beekeepers so will go there to gather more information and find out where to get my first bees.

And I guess we will not be cutting down this ivy.