This year's bees look as good at this time of year as I have ever seen bees look. I've been taking a lot of these slow motion videos because it helps me understand just how fast the bees move.  They're actually a bit bumbly in flight, more like zeppelins than jets. 

We now have been on our vacant lot and may soon have some in Florence again.  We didn't really have great spaces for a bee yard but that's changed. My friend Kari kept bees through what I think of as the dark times.  Mites were super bad when we stopped.  The best treatment was Mite Away Quick Strips but it was awful.  It was as likely to kill your bees as it was to do in the mites.  I've been following Kari lead and I am optimistic that one can again keep bees successfully.