Hinegardner Orchard in Montour requested that we take bees for apple pollination in short order, so Alex and I loaded the 4x4 and headed north. With the flatbed out of commission, the job is considerably more laborious. Ideally we used the Swinger to load several 4-way pallets, and then Dave Hinegardner unloads them with his tractor forks. Due to our unfortunate circumstances, we stacked two layers of 10 colonies into a standard bed and unloaded by hand......the unloading took place in a raging thunderstorm. My whole purpose in transporting them last night was to avoid the bad weather in the forecast, but the sky turned ugly as we headed north. When we pulled into the dark orchard around 9.00 p.m., Dave waited for us with headlights shining and proceeded to lead us to the various drop locations. Somehow we managed to unload everything without falling into the mud or slipping on the truck bed....hopefully things go as smoothly when we pull them out next week--but I don't mind if we skip the rain this time around! No weather worries as we finished loading the colonies destined for apple blossoms.....