Well the other day (Monday) was quite warm and the bees in the backyard
were active.  They've been snooping around my stacks of sticky supers on
sunny days.  I took a closer look at the hive entrances and lo and behold
- big lumps of pollen on their legs - a wonderful sight after a long
winter.  Looked very pale yellow - perhaps willow.  Interestingly, one hive
was collecting it very heavy, the bees coming home with the stuff all over
them.  In fact, they looked like bumblebees!  Virtually every forager had
it all over her.  The other colonies were collecting moderate amounts,
visible only on the "pollen baskets" on their legs, as usual.  (BTW, They
ignored the pollen substitute I gave them, but I'm sure happy to see the
"real thing."
 
Of course, now the temperature is back in the 20's...
 
No losses found yet out of 3 dozen colonies, but signs of dysentery were
bad past couple of months, and some clusters are small.  Hopefully they can
hold out til more even temperatures arrive.
 
That's my report, back in a moment with sports and the latest business news