Early this morning I took a walk down to the hives. As the morning sunshine warmed the white boxes, several of the more daring "scouts" were out and about getting used to their new surroundings.

Life on Pequit Brook is very different from their home in Louisiana. Soon they will lose their southern buzzin drawl. The bees are hovering in front of their hive to begin fixing their location and new home. Over the next few days they will hover farther and farther as they get used to the surroundings.

What do they see with their bee eyesight? As they hover back farther and further, they will see their brook, several bird boxes, a woodland scene, a swamp and a great nature preserve. They will forage over two miles and return to their brood chamber with the pollen that will nourish and enrich the colony. My bees will polinate countless vegetable gardens, fruit trees and flower beds. There is nothing quite like the warm buzzing of the apiary on a gentle spring day.