Two Hives Are Better Than One

As you can see the second hive is up and running. The bees have yet to complain about the dragonfly stencil; apparently it's copacetic.  The new hive is quite active and appears to be doing well.

I had hoped for good weather in which to move the bees. No such luck.  Rather they were moved during a light rain.  I did not look for or see the queen.  I was in too much of a hurry to get the girls from one box to the other.  Nor did I smoke the bees though I did suit up.  They were somewhat perturbed so I was glad for the protection.  My daughter stood, unprotected, five feet away and was not bothered.  She'd like her own bee suit.  I think I'll keep an eye out for one -- I'd love for her to experience the bees firsthand.

Now that the hive is installed I must wait for the flowers to bloom.  Right now the hives look a bit bare.  Oh Spring where for art thou?

In other news we went for a drive in the country and found the PERFECT house -- 4.5 acres, close to town, fenced for livestock, a small barn, an out-building, four bedrooms, a fenced in garden, a greenhouse, a pond *and* a treehouse ... everything we could ever want.  Except for that elephant in the room.  Money.

Actually the property prices are quite reasonable as are the interest rates.  A loan on a new house would be the same that we are paying now (or less). But. And it's a big but.  We are upside down in our house with little hope of being able to sell until the market turns around.  Additionally we can't refinance because no one will touch our second mortgage.

I have been wracking my brains trying to come up with a solution.  Could we rent out our house and get a loan for the new one?  No.  Not with negative equity.  Could we sell our cars?  Our furniture?  Anything to pull ourselves into positive territory?   We'd still come up short. Should we tap into our retirement?  Not too smart (plus I'd actually like to retire someday).  Is there anyone who might be able and willing to loan us money?  Everyone has been hit hard by this economy.

Alas I have not found a solution.  Rather I will continue to hope and dream and heavily fantasize (you never know when a winning lottery ticket is going to float down from the heavens).  And I'll continue to maximize the space we currently have.  Oh my poor neighbors.  When they complain I'll simply blame the economy.

xo.