I can't believe it – it is my seventh day watching after the bees. Yesterday I communicated with Bill saying that one hive was not so active, and the bees weren't taking and sirup to speak of. I was asking if he could come over to show me how to check the bees and to see whether there was activity on the part of the queen.
   This morning, it turned out to be a sunny day, even thought there were clouds around. I sent Bill an email and a phone message saying that the bees were active and that it would be a good day to check on them – I would not be next week and all this week, the forecast is for rain.
   Bill came. I dressed up with my net. He too. Then we went into the hive, taking off the outer cover, empty box, and inner cover. Then he showed me how to take out the frames with the bees on. We did so without putting gloves on. It feels a bit strange not to shake off bees when they are sitting, several at a time, on your hands.
   Bill showed me how to recognize the eggs. You had to look closely, which is not an easy feet with the netting in front of your face. Also, we looked for the queens but could not see either one. But Bill was pleased. He said, "We are not out of trouble yet. But your bees look good." We sweeped out some of the dead ones, then put everything back again. I added a jar of fresh sirup on the one that was empty. As the picture shows, a few hours later, they had already taken about 25% of the jar. I just now prepared another, bigger jar to add it should they need tomorrow.
   While tying up the raspberries, I was watching the bees enjoying the sun. When the clouds moved over, the bees withdrew into their hives. The air was chilly. Tonight will be another cold one. I hope we will get some good flying weather soon.