Books and Bees

A couple of nights ago I finished Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. It took a bit longer than I planned but this was partly because towards the end I was enjoying it so much that I rationed myself to 10 pages a night. It's certainly one of the greatest things I've ever read, staggering in its range, brilliantly witty and full of horrors.
This is an anxious time for beekeepers since they can't be sure they are still beekeepers, as their hives may not have survived the winter and it's too early to take off the roofs and look inside. Each of mine has a pack of Apifonda candy so at least they won't starve, but this current bitter weather is just what they don't want. We'll see.