July 2007 Update
First, we had some fun working our bees at Necaisse in June. The owner had a youngster with him that was interested in working the bees with me. So we went out to the bee yards and checked the bees for queens and also to see how they were doing harvesting a surplus for removal in a few weeks. We found one queen-less hive, so I brought out the box with the extra queens and showed the youngster, Elisa, how the queens were packaged.
Here I show Elisa a queen cage I'm about to put into the queen-less hive.
Here, Elisa holds the queen cage while her brother stands a safe distance away.
Alisa shows a frame of attending bees from the queen cells box. These bees keeps the caged queens comfortable almost as if they were free in a hive.
Now for some updated photos from the camp...
Here is a backyard view showing the new grass growing in the sand that I had emplaced to cover the mud left by the hurricane. The new roof looks like the original and the downspout added to the gutter now drains the rainwater into the canal so it doesn't erode the sandy soil.
Another backyard view from the side of the camper. On the left is the old sand and on the right is the new sand just recently put in. I had a hard time getting the guy to finish with the sand so I got another fellow and he finished it right away. But it's still a year later. Anyway, the grass is beginning to show up in the new sand and I planted some cuttings a few days ago while I was down there to speed up things a little.
This is the full view the the new sand area. A pretty good amount of grass is beginning near the left back and I'm sure by this time next year it will be fully covered. Especially so if the frequent rains continue.
Finally a photo of my across-the-street neighbor's house. It is a couple of feet higher than the original and it is pretty much complete on the outside. The inside needs lighting and bathroom fixtures, appliances and flooring.
Otherwise it's in pretty good shape. He is awaiting his grant money to complete the house. "The check is in the mail"