Dog days of summer

These are the dog days of summer so it was time for Mollie and Murphy to get their hair cuts.....

....gone are the mats and snarls that are impossible to run a comb through.

They are energized and think they look quite spiffy in their new hankies, that was until they got carried away with their game of hide and seek and ripped Mollie's to pieces.

While some friends are jetting off to Sweden and Scotland, Bruce and I are hanging out at the farm, I went to the pond yesterday to check on the bees and I'm very disappointed in the swarm I captured. They are the laziest bees I've ever seen, I waited outside the hive and finally saw one lone bee venture out, they haven't built any new comb and they are consuming the honey they stored while they were in the trap hive.

They obviously have not read the book about the Little Red Hen to see what will happen this winter!

Now these are busy bees! They are constantly flying in with their tiny saddle bags of pollen and back out on another hunt and gather expedition.

Newly drawn comb and capped honey is a thing of beauty.

Taming the wild bees with some smoke when they stormed the roof to try and drive me (the intruder) away.

Capped brood is another thing of beauty, this tells me the queen is alive and well and doing her job.

Long Live the Queen!!

Back at home it's a fine day for a dust bath.....

....now the other side.....

.....and a "Do you MIND?" look from her.

Oops, sorry.

It's a good day to hang out in a box with some plants....

....or in the gazebo in Zoe's favorite chair.

When it gets hot, egg production goes down....

.....but this is a little ridiculous, don't you think??