Apian Cirque du Soleil

Hurricane Bill is a few short hours away from the coast of Nova Scotia, and moving this way quickly. Even though Amherst is not on the coast where Bill is predicted to make land, we will still experience high winds and heavy rainfall. It has, in fact, been raining all night. Like most others in the province, we've done our best to secure things both outside and inside our home. It would not be a surprise to lose power and we are prepared for that as well.
It has been interesting to watch the bees the past few days. This picture was taken earlier in the week during lovely sunshine. The bees were engaging in a peculiar behavior known as "bridging". It is unclear to apiarists what they are actually doing, but you see this when the hive is happy. To me it looks like play; the bees line up to take their turn in joining a chain which they build between frames. It's fun to watch when they are doing this, but extremely difficult to photograph as they are never still.
Early this morning when we checked the beeyard, the colony was not quite so content. The buzz of the hives on approach was not a happy cadence. Whether it is because the rain is keeping them inside today or they sense something larger is any one's guess. We added ballast to the hives in hopes that the hurricane winds will not blow them over, and will keep our fingers crossed.