Been busy...
With the holidays coming, Joanne signed us up for the usual charity
"Christmas Boutiques" put on by the Manhattan social set, and on a few of
the days, she would be at one, while I was at the other.  I can say with
profound authority that the name "Holiday Fair" is misleading - it certainly
is no holiday, and it ain't fair!

But it does get rid of a significant fraction of our honey crop, in cute
little half-pound jars in gold muslin bags with a wooden honey dipper tied
with the strings of the bag, and at prices that seem like larceny to a
simple beekeeper.  But selling the honey and such is Joanne's specialty - I
just keep bees.

After a whirlwind tour contract renewal tour of several locations who have
end-of-year money burning a hole in the pockets, I am back, but as I drove
around, I heard on the radio that the US was going to require all drones to
be registered.  Somehow, the administration's "pollinator protection"
initiative seems to have gone awry.

I am surprised that there is not more pushback from the beekeeping
community.  Math off the top of my head, the paperwork requirements will
crush anyone with more than about 250 hives, assuming typical drone
populations, and only a few beekeepers who practice "drone comb removal"
varroa control on 12+ hives.

But the Holidays look to be green in the city this year, so the gift to give
will be Candyboards.  It was in the 60s over the weekend in NYC, so hives
were burning up fuel on sorties sure to come back empty-handed
("empty-cropped"?).  Gotta go weigh the hives.

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