Checking the Split

By friday it will have been three weeks since taking the split from Phyllis hive. Remember that we left the old queen in Phyllis hive and the new bees will have to raise a queen of their own from the eggs we moved to the new hive. It takes at least 16 days for the bees to produce a queen from an egg. During that time they are queenless and if disturbed, they may abscond. (Leave) So we have been patiently waiting the necessary three weeks and on friday or saturday, depending on the weather, I will make an inspection of the hive to hopefully find a new queen. If I do, then the split has been successful and I have added another hive to the beeyard. At the same time I will also be checking on the hive where I replaced the queen to see how she is doing. So bee sure to check back this weekend for an updated report. In the mean time you can watch the Fat Bee Man video to see how a split (like the one we did with Phyllis hive) is made.

Spinosad – an organic control for aphids and how to prevent apple maggots.

Fruit trees

It’s a banner year for aphids and its time I sprayed my plum trees again.  Our little place here is entirely organic and we go out of our way to keep it like that.  So when I spray I will be using a product that contains Spinosad.

Spinosad is a microbe discovered in the soil at an abandoned rum factory.  It’s a broad spectrum product, meaning it will kill a wide variety of insects.  The makers claim it will not harm beneficial insects because beneficial insects don’t eat the leaves.  I always take these claims with a grain of salt but I can say that after spraying for aphids I still find lady bugs living in the trees.  It is certified as an organic product.

A newly born aphid (yes, it is called an aphid – we get a private chuckle at all the folks who come into the greenhouse and call them afis.)  becomes a reproducing adult within a week and can produce five new aphids daily for up to 30 days.  Because the life cycle is one week, it is that cycle we are attempting to break.  When using spinosad I begin spraying immediately after the blossoms have dropped from the tree.  I don’t wait to find aphid because I already know these trees are so prone to them.  These are the only trees I spray.  By waiting until after blossom fall you avoid impacting the honeybees.  Without the blossoms the bees won’t be visiting the tree.   This is important not just because I keep bees, but because of all the benefits the bees provide for the rest of the garden and really, to the environment in general.

Back to spraying.  When using spinosad you want to spray on the same day, three weeks in a row so the reproduction cycle of the aphid is broken.  It works well.  For those of you making the switch from chemical sprays to organics, a new mindset is required.  With the old chemical sprays we all saw “the kill” pretty much immediately after spraying.  This won’t be the case with organics so don’t become frustrated.  Organics work best if used before an infestation is on a full scale breakout.  Therefore you want to stay ahead of the curve on plants you know from experience are going to have a problem.  Rain keeps aphid from moving about as they normally would, so aphid are not normally as big a problem in a wet spring, but a dry spring like this year means they can do as they please and they have been a doin!

Apple Trees – A lot of people wonder how to control apple maggots.  Because the health of the tree is not threatened I refuse to spray my apple trees.  An occasional apple with a worm is perfectly acceptable.  Apple trees are quite productive and it’s not realistic to expect to avoid having some worms in your apples.

So what’s the best solution to controlling apple maggots?  Trap them.  I always understood it was a moth that was responsible for the worms in my apples and so I put up traps to catch them.  Well, I never caught a moth and still had worms in my apples.  Low and behold there is a fly that causes the problem.  Apple maggots overwinter as pupae in the soil.  When the flies emerge in late spring or early summer they are immature and must first feed on the honeydew produced by aphid or scale before they are ready to mate.   One more reason to control those aphids!  The flies then lay eggs under the skin of the apple and leave a pheromone so other flies won’t lay there, thus causing the next fly to move on and infest another apple.

I’m sure that in some parts of the country a moth is responsible for the worms folks find in their apples, but if you have tried the moth traps and still find worms, I suggest you get the Red Sphere fly traps.  They look like a large, red candied apple and are reusable.  You simply coat them with a sticky product called tangle foot and hang them in areas away from your fruit trees.  I couldn’t believe the number of flies they caught when I first began to use them.  (These are not house flies by the way.)  They really do work, are safe and very simple to use.

So if you have fruit trees, these are a couple ways to control the pests they get without using chemicals.  Other organic means to pest control are neem seed oil, pyrethrum,  which comes from the chrysanthemum plant and horticultural oil.  Good luck with your gardening and my your fruit all grow deep voices.

The days they don’t come any better than

The days they don’t come any better than this.  A day in good company, with a gentle sun and all at peace in your world, where all things go your way – even the little things.  That would be today, and for such a day I am very thankful.  I rose to a brilliant sun just breaking the horizon and the still calm of a sleepy, peaceful Saturday morning.  The fire crackled in the wood stove just enough to take the morning chill away while the dog made his morning rounds of the property.   I enjoyed a cup of yogurt (Hormone free of course.)  and shared a few words with the Lord, just  as I do most mornings.

There is little I enjoy more in life than spending a day in the garden with my wife of nearly 33 years.  Though we have traveled to numerous places both in and outside the country, those trips have only served to prove that its the simple things in life that bring the greatest joy.  Today I thinned dead canes from the raspberries while the honey bees watched.  The berry plants will soon be in bloom and apparently they can’t wait because the bees were all around.  I also pruned some fruit trees while my wife prepared a bed for this year’s crop of dry beans.

She has cabbage that is a foot tall already – this in the cold central oregon high desert.  We have been eating spinach and lettuce she planted inside our cold frame, for well over a month now.  Last years carrots are now gone so a new crop is on the way as are potatoes, beans, onions, garlic, peas and much more.

She made the comment that this work can be hard and as I clipped the next few berry canes it got me to thinking.  Someday, if I live long enough, I likely wont be able to do this kind of thing anymore.  As I near the age of 61 I have noticed it gets slightly more difficult each year.  Who would have thunk it?  But you know what?  That thought made the day even more enjoyable.  I became that much more appreciative of the things I can do now and my enjoyment of these simple pleasures soared.

It’s the return on the work of your own hands that makes this hobby so rewarding.  Yesterday I was down at the local organic food store arranging a purchase of our truly magnificent organic rhubarb.  In a kind way the woman said that if I was going to be a supplier for her that I also needed to shop there and she would give me a discount for doing so.  While I honestly appreciated her offer I think she was a little taken back when I told her we don’t buy much produce because we grow most of what we need, even through the winter.  (There are ways to keep carrots fresh in the ground, potatoes and even greens like spinach, not to mention canning.)

So after making a run to the dump to drop off our “yard debris” as they like to call it, I got to thinking how the simple act of gardening is foreign to so many people.  Did you know that in Switzerland a number of communities have gardens instead of “yards” and coordinate what they are growing with one another so they can trade instead of each individual trying to grow everything they need for themselves?  I like the concept and I bet they each know their neighbors a whole lot better than we do in most American communities.

Americans have taken their food supply for granted for a long time.  It’s kind of sad.  There is a lot of practical knowledge and understanding of the world we live in when you grow a portion of your own food.  Now the government, in concert with Monsanto, is feeding us frankenfood and no one seems to care.  The reason for growing GMO corn and soy is so the growers can spray it with tons of chemicals that kill pests but don’t harm the plants.  I wonder where the environmental groups are and what the pay off was for them to remain silent.

Recently the U.S. was pressuring the nations of europe to license all seed.  Meaning it would be a crime if you used your own seed instead of the government approved seed.   It doesn’t take much imagination to see that my own sons might never know the joy of growing some or much of their own food and that the simple joys of gardening will be relegated to the dust bin of history.  I hope our nation wakes up before we get there.

It was these thoughts and more that made today so enjoyable.  The exercise is good for me, I’m doing it with my best friend in life and I’m doing something that will produce the best food I can eat, the tastiest food I can eat and reward me for my labor like few jobs can.  I encourage all of you to take the first steps toward growing some of your own food.  Learn about what is being done to our food supply so you can understand why it’s important to get involved.

As much as I would like to be self-sufficient, I’m not going to do it on my one acre.  But I certainly can be less dependent while enjoying some of the best food on the planet.  It is my hope each of you will take a stand against the government’s GMO frankenfood and begin to grow at least a little bit of what you eat.

Want to see what a queen looks like?

Go to about 4 minutes 20 seconds in this video and you will be able to see the queen busy laying eggs.

High speed video of bees building comb.

This takes place in a top bar hive.  Excellant time lapse video of bees building comb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=821uVRAcZ1I

 

Life on the farm – in the city.

Life on the farm is anything but layed back.  This week the well went out and last night the range maggots (deer) stopped by.  They were over due for a visit and quickly went to work on the apple trees, but nipping off the asters?????  Hadn’t seen that one before.  Must be a youngin still figuring out what to eat.  The veggies got off easy though so we will set up the motion sensor sprinkler tonight.  It really works.

For those of you who dont know, we used to live out of town on a couple acres and guess what?  Never saw a deer.  It was only after the city grew out to adjoin our property that the deer became a problem – a combination thats been around a long time.  Read any of the diaries from the settlers coming west to Oregon and you read stories of near starvation – very few deer.  Deer are abundant today because of mans improvements and once the green yards, water fountains and “ice cream” plants sprung up with the new housing the range maggots moved in.  So today I put the fence up around our vineyard and sprayed the apple trees with “deer out” ( a minty smelling, but apparently bad tasting product). 

HANG ON I’M GETTING TO THE BEE REPORT   :)

Earlier in the week the well went out.  It’s something always in the back of your mind.  Rows of berry plants, 20 fruit trees, the vineyard and a huge veggie garden over an area of about an acre require water.  Even in the mild weather things were drying out.  It was putting the vice grips on my mental health, so today I called another company to come check things out because the first one couldn’t seem to be bothered.  Fortunately it was only a $200 fix, but the pump is old and he told me the bearings could go at any time.  That’s a $3000 dollar fix.  If you look for humor you can find it in most things and today when I was outside leaning against the fence, writing out the check to pay for the repairs he was writing up the receipt and said something that made me chuckle.  He was on the phone to his wife and in reference to the check I was writing said “Gotta go honey, this is the part I like best.”  Ya gotta love honesty.

I could be calling him again tomorrow or next year.  No way of knowing.  That’s farming.  Ok, so it’s small scale, but anyone who has attempted to grow serious amounts of food knows there’s a lot at risk and a lot that goes into it.

Speaking of growing things – been selling numerous raspberry starts and today the phone began ringing with inquiries for our organic rhubarb.  Our usual spring time sales. 

Spent the morning building “supers” for my beehives.  I enjoy the construction part, the painting not so much.  Had on the perfect music for building beehives too.  The group is from Tacoma Washington. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URwgGshVf50

The BEE Report – The hives are looking good and needed some room to expand, so I added a super (a box with frames) to a couple of hives.  This gives them room to move up and build more comb for honey and brood.  Both are needed before we can expect them to store up honey for us Beeks.  I checked the hive with our new queen and saw that she was a busy bee.  The brood (capped larvae) from the old queen was scattered everywhere.  It should be a solid block more or less.  The new queen seems to be filling in the spaces so it looked good, even though its still pretty early to tell how well the new queen is doing.  Another week or so.

I so very badly wanted to look in the new hive taken as a split from Phyllis hive  but they say not to disturb them for three weeks.  Sometimes a good cigar (a rare treat for me) and a gin and tonic on the front porch is the better part of valor.  The tonic was perfect, drank from an iced pint beer glass.  The glasses all have different sayings and painting on them.  I always save a special one for my friends so if you ever stop by to visit you will get the glass that says “Yellow Snow”.  It’s actually a beer brewed by Rogue Ales.

Tomorrow I hope to plant potatoes.  Peas, beets, lettuce, spinach, cabbage and tons of garlic and onions are well on their way, compliments of my better half who specializes in those things.   Had better wrap this up and help her set up the deer sprinkler so we can keep those buggers out of the garden tonight.

Happy Gardening.

Long Live the Queen Part Two, A Beeks Kind of Day.

The kingdom is at peace and full employment has returned to the realm.  The queen has been released from her carriage and now rules over the joyous masses.  I was unable to meet with the queen today, she had more important things to do than meet with the local Beek, and its much too early to see signs of her laying eggs.  Still, the hive was as calm and quiet as a hive can bee.  A queenless hive does not act like that.  It’s citizens will be agitated and on edge, making an unmistakable roar.  That was not the case today so this Beek is quite possitive the queen is securely ensconced on her throne, busy walking the halls of comb and filling each vacancy with a fresh new egg. 

After nine or ten days the larvae turns into a pupa and the cell is capped.  This is when we will know for sure the new queen has been doing her job.  She was placed in the hive five days ago.  Figuring it took at least a couple days to free her, all she could have done to this point is lay eggs.  We will return later in hopes of finding capped brood.  That will be the true sign the queen and the hive and functioning as they should.

After inspecting the hive that was requeened I decided to check out one of my new hives.  WOW, has this Carniolan hive ever been busy!  It is ready for another super.  (a box of frames for the bees to work on)  I was just getting the next super ready when another Beek arrived, dashing about my yard calling out for me.  Good fortune had blessed Phyllis the Beek with a swarm.  Swarms are too much fun – free bees!!!

After quickly putting the hive I was working on back together and grabbing my gear we were off.  Phyllis set a new land speed record getting back to her place in hopes of arriving there before the bees moved on.  The rest of story is on video on my facebook page.  Oh what fun!

After moving the bees from the tree they were in and establishing them in their new home, Phyllis brought me home, where upon I pulled out a quart of honey to close a deal Phyllis and I had made in a trade for the split I took from her hive last week.  She also bought a copy of my book “Truth’s Blood” to give to her daughter to read.  Phyllis started reading an ebook copy but said it was too scary.  I take that as a huge compliment.  She thinks her daughter will like it.  I hope so and I think you will too!

I then suited up again and returned to the bee yard.  Went through all the rest of my hives.  The queens were keeping to themselves today and I never saw a single one of them, but I’m not concerned, plenty of sign they have been busy.  So busy that I need to add more supers (see above for supers) to each of them.  Based on the amount of brood filling the frames, these hives are going to explode in the nest week or so.  That is excellant news as it means they are making good progress and that means the possibility of a good honey crop.  Much too early to count on that but all looks good at the moment.  Keep your fingers crossed, there are already customers signed up for five and a half gallons of my treatment free, (no chemicals like the commercial honey) all natural honey. 

Have a great week folks.  May your queens be productive and your Beek days bee the best.