Vintage Home and Farm

The strangest thing happened this spring. Both of our hives of honeybees, which had survived the extreme cold this past winter (it got down to 9 degrees F, the coldest it's ever been here), died when spring came. I think their numbers just grew too small to keep warm with our cold weather in the spring. After discovering that the first hive of bees had died, we went into the second hive, which seemed like it was still going. But, what I discovered in the second hive was a dead cluster of the original bees surrounding the lower frames and a new cluster of living bees in the top box of the hive. The cluster of living bees in the top of the hive look different from the original bees. They are slightly darker, larger, and more robust-looking. I think they moved in during warmer weather in the middle of spring. I believe they were actually robbing the other hive, too, as the first hive was empty of honey but had bees coming in and out when we discovered the dead colony inside. The reaso...

At the end of May, we visited Japan. Since our visit was only for 6 days, we decided to stay within the Tokyo area. We had a wonderful time. Paul opted out of going, not really enjoying large crowds. We appreciated that he took care of the farm while we were away, and he did a great job keeping up with everything. Below are a few photos from our trip. There were huge crowds in Shibuya. We walked across Shibuya Crossing several times. It's one of the largest intersections in the world. When it's time for the crosswalks to open, all the lights turn red so that the entire intersection opens up to pedestrians. People can walk diagonally across the intersection if they want. We visited the Inokashira Park Zoo and Aquarium, along with several nearby parks, while waiting to go to the Studio Ghibli Museum. While wandering around near the zoo, we came across a sculpture museum with many enormous sculptures both inside and outside. In Harajuku, we went to a cat cafe. Every evening, we st...