<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/covid-19.jpeg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-6177" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/covid-19-300x138.jpeg" alt="" width="267" height="123" /></a>Living in enforced isolation is weird. My social life is normally quite varied and I spend a lot of my time visiting friends, going to meetings and get out and about. That has all changed for the foreseeable future. There are so many unknowns that it is completely destabilising. I was listening to a psychologist on wonderful BBC Radio 4 who said that building a routine is very important and take back control of your life. For me, motivation is a real struggle but I do have coping mechanisms; one of which is to write down a plan of action for each day. If it's a bad start to the day then I will go as far as putting a time against each activity. There's still room for flexibility and there are times when I abandon the plan but I'm in control.

<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/bees-1st-inspectionMar20.jpg"><img class="alignright  wp-image-6175" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/bees-1st-inspectionMar20-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="285" height="214" /></a>Yesterday I did my first inspection of the beehive and was pleased to say they are looking okay. There were five brood frames with bees on them; I couldn't see any eggs but there was certainly larvae and capped brood. The bees are bringing in pollen and storing it. The fondant I had placed in the top section of the hive had only been half eaten so they hadn't run out of food.

The weather is forecast to get warmer in the next few days so I shall inspect again, try to find and mark the queen.