Parsley and Isadora

We added a new hive of bees to the apiary this weekend:  3 lbs. of workers (all female bees), a couple of drones, and Queen Isadora!  The bees came in the wood and screen box that you see on the ground in front of the hive, with Isadora protected in a small queen cage inside.  They now are all in an 8 frame deep brood box, building comb using the sugar syrup I gave them to help them get over the shock of moving along with nectar from the thousands of flowers blooming all over the island right now.  Wish them luck!

The bees were not the only work this weekend.  The amazing flat leaf parsley that grows under the blueberries was getting ready to go to seed.  You can tell this is coming when the plant begins to put out a thick, elongated, central stem - this will be the seed stalk.  So, I went to work, harvesting all the fresh smelling, dark green leaves from around the stem, leaving it to go to seed to start next year's parsley plants!  Here you see the beautiful parsley, the stems left behind, and the pile of leaves only that I clipped off the stems, rinsed, and and now preparing to dry.  I love the smell of fresh parsley!