Bees survived the winter

Here's what my hive looked like yesterday, March 9th, 2013. Bees were flying all around, even out to the back of the house.  Temperatures were in the 50's. 

I will leave the black tar paper on the hive for about another month.  Today I will also take off the Christmas wreath.  It's looking somewhat out of season! :)

I spent a good part of the day yesterday working in the greenhouse, getting it reorganized and cleaned up. While I was in there, I also planted some Kale and Cilantro.

Inside, I moved the parsley and lettuce that I had growing in the basement out to the porch.  I may need to move them in periodically over the next month, but hopefully they will be fine on the porch until they, too, move into the greenhouse.  I have eaten fresh lettuce and herbs for most of the winter.

 Of course, my electric bill doubled this year because of the grow light and because of a new air exchange system I had installed in November. Between the two items, my latest bill showed usage was double over last year! I don't like that part but I did like having the fresh lettuce.