There’s a certain morning in early spring when the world smells new again—soft soil, thawing air, and just a hint of sweetness waiting in the wings...

WINGS!! Wait, was that…

Yep! The zooming buzz of a foraging honey bee’s wings shoot past me!

Ha, Ha!! YES!!

This is the morning I know it’s time to check on the bees.

No matter how many seasons I’ve been beekeeping, that first spring inspection will always make me feel like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. The questions pummel the mind... Are they okay? Did all the colonies make it? Did I do enough? Will they do well this year?

This year, I approached the first hive with my breath held and my heart doing a little tap dance. The lid was sealed shut with winter propolis—bees locking their doors like the suspicious little privacy-hoarding teenagers that they are—and I gently pried it open.

Inside?
Movement. Warmth. Life.
The soft hum of a thriving colony. The smell of warm beeswax and happy bees! There’s not much happier spring-site than that!

Fresh brood.
Healthy workers.
A queen, being tended to by her entourage, strutting like she has nothing better to do than lay 1,500 eggs today (and honestly, she doesn’t). Isn’t that Exciting?!?

Spring had officially begun!!