This winter we had a pet hive sitting on the dock and buried in the snow. I think the signage to the left has a little extra meaning in this case ("Bee Keeper Parking Only: All Others Will Be Stung"): This hive was a random bunch of bees collected from inside the building last fall. There are always several pounds of bees that accumulate during the extracting season. The fun part was that dad dropped in a queen cell from a honey box, and she actually emerged and mated. Even with a good queen on hand, these late season efforts at bonus hives don't often work--the bees are usually too old to endure winter, and there's normally not enough time to squeeze in a couple of brood cycles. Anyway, it was a success this time, and there were two boxes of bees inside when spring drew near and the snow was melting away.