Plantin' Plantains

Today we went up to the farm to plant some plantains and move a few boards down to the yard. We took the plantain suckers (small, already sprouted plants) and stuck them in holes that Kwao had dug earlier. Then we had to use tools to break up the clay-y soil and make the holes deeper, which was a serious workout. I had the ax, which gave me quite an ab workout.
It had rained earlier that morning, so for a while it was nice and cool, but as soon as the sun came out it was straight back to being humid and very warm, despite being only 10 am. Once we finished that job, we got some jelly coconuts as a reward.

After the plantain were all in the ground, we rode home once again with boards hanging out the back of the jeep. We also stopped along the way for some bamboo, which is actually a plentiful natural resource in Jamaica. We're in the middle of making a bamboo hive, which you guys will hear all about later!

Sad news: we lost a hive. A wild hive that we had cut out of a pimento tree decided not to stick around. There are several reasons that this could have happened, but I think it might have been because the hive was simply too large for them. It was a small hive, with only three pieces of comb. It was probably just too much space for the bees to defend. We also found a few hive beetles and quite a few wax moths inside the hive, which is never a good sign.

Dee, Kwao and I with the hive that absconded :(