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Category Archives: Bees
Assessing the Damage
After three nights in the 20s, it looks like we are out of the chilly woods for at least a week or so. Much needed rain is in the forecast and the low temperatures are predicted to remain in the … Continue reading
Finally, a Tomato — and a Correction
I harvested my first tomato yesterday, finally. It’s a Martino’s Roma tomato from Seed Savers Exchange, one of several paste tomatoes that I planted in hopes of having a huge harvest to freeze, can and dry. Given the green fruit … Continue reading
Posted in Bees, Fruits and Vegetables
Tagged sonicating bees, tomato blossom drop, tomatoes
1 Comment
The Bees are Back!
It was so exciting to see a trio of bees really working over the crocus in my front yard this afternoon. Other bees were gathering pollen from my neighbor’s patch of crocus. If you blow up the more horizontal picture … Continue reading
New Guide to Protecting Pollinators
After almost 50 hours of Master Gardener training this month, there is one image that I cannot get out of my mind. During the lecture on growing fruit, the professor put up a photo of some workers in China, up … Continue reading
The Bees are Back
I built this simple bee house in the summer of 2008, and it has consistently attracted insects – despite an attack from a woodpecker last summer. Well, the bees are back. About two weeks ago, I noticed that some of … Continue reading
Posted in Bees
4 Comments
Hungry Bee
Are bees hungry when they prowl from flower to flower grabbing nectar? Thirsty? Or some other instinct? I don’t know, but love having bees in the garden for all the good things they do, pollinating beans, tomatoes, and raspberries along … Continue reading
Bee Condo Attacked!
Well, nature is cruel, and yesterday I witnessed a downy woodpecker pecking at the bee babies in my bee condo. (I had the camera with me because I’ve been trying with no luck to get a photo of a hummingbird … Continue reading
Bee Condo Fully Occupied
A quick check of the bee condo the other day revealed it is nearly full. The smooth mud plugs indicate a leaf-cutter bee, the same kind I had last year. Orchard mason bees, the ones I hoped to attract, have … Continue reading
Posted in Bees
3 Comments
Bee Magnet
I like to plant flowers that attract wildlife to the yard: bees, birds, butterflies. Seeing butterflies dance on top of a coneflower or watching a bird as it works diligently to remove a seed from a dried sunflower increases my … Continue reading
Posted in Bees, Bulbs
2 Comments
Bee Condo, Year 2: Return of the Leafcutters
I had been lamenting that the bee condo I built last year would go unoccupied this year, but I was surprised yesterday to discover that a swarm of leafcutter bees (Megachile spp.) had moved in. Leafcutters are native bees in … Continue reading
Posted in Bees
4 Comments