"I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free." ~Wendell Berry
Along with posting about Purple Martins and our native prairie restoration efforts, I'm starting a new series here on my blog, called, "Feed the Bees". With the recent reports of the decline in the insect populations, it's becoming more & more imperative that we start taking a look at what we can do in our own micro-environments to help maintain or restore the insect populations. All life depends on our pollinators and if they die, we die.
I used to think the Virburnum, dandelions and wild plums were the first bloomers in spring. But this year, I was delighted to find this wee little flower growing all over my yard. It's called, Houstonia Pusilla - or more commonly:
Tiny Bluet, Small Bluet, or Least Bluet
As I've driven around Missouri in search of other purple martin sites and talked with people about their resident birds, I've seen a lot of man-made lawns and hay fields that really don't support the insect populations we need to sustain pollination. But, I'm only one person. I understand to some people, it can be daunting to try to figure out how to change a lawn into an eco-friendly garden that will support so many types of wildlife. With this blog, I'm hoping to encourage others to take baby steps towards supporting our insect populations, including ALL our pollinators, as well as reduce the back-breaking work that people do to maintain these sterile lawns.
Our "extended" Savanna - we were going to burn it this year (it's 4 years old), but life happens and we didn't make the window. So instead, we mowed down the dead stuff and mulched all the leaves. It's ready to be a bee-haven again this year.
We currently own 23 acres here in Licking, Missouri. For a long time, I was focused on picking up the dead branches that had fallen from some of the trees. It was back-breaking work. It was hard. And during the summer, it was hot and, even after spraying myself with Deet, I would still end up with a tick or chigger bite as my reward for my hard work. We would wait for it to rain, and then when there was little chance of a fire spreading to the neighbor's hay fields, we would burn all the old, dead and decaying wood.
We planted 50 of these wild plums as mere twigs(purchased from George White Nursery) in 2008 / 2009. I still remember crawling through the ragweed that got taller than the twigs and cutting it back to let the small trees get some sunlight. Today, 32 of them survived and on average they stand at approx. 14-15 feet and have a plethora of blossoms in the spring, providing a lot of early pollen & food for the bees.
The plants in the southern fields have started to turn green.
The western half of the southern field - mowed and raked - will possibly be burned again next year. It has been planted for 7 years.
The eastern half of the southern field. mowed & raked to remove the duff. Also planted 7 years ago.
After reading more about bees however, I have learned that some of them actually NEED this dead, decaying wood in order to survive. They also need undisturbed soil, covered with dead leaves, etc.
When Bob mowed the fields, he accidentally killed this black snake. It makes me sad when a snake dies, but we left it in the field for any scavengers to partake. Poor guy...wondering why he didn't hear the thundering of the tractor and get out of the way.
So, no more bonfires here on Gobbler's Knob to burn limbs or dead trees. From now on, we'll be piling up the dead wood and letting it decay. The larger limbs from these piles will be used to create new brush piles and cover for the resident quail (and other incidental wildlife that takes advantage of the refuge.
A dead tree. It was struck by lightning and then the insects and woodpeckers finished it off. We'll push it over and it will be at the base of the rest of the pile, providing food & cover for the bees & insects to make use of it.
We trimmed some of the lower limbs on our trees for two reasons: 1) Bob can mow under the trees now without getting slapped in he head by a low limb and; 2) the hawks that come after my martins won't be able to use them as cover. They will be piled on top of the dead tree log above and given over to nature's use.
Small limbs & rubbish will be piled up for the insects to make use of.
This will take a little bit of muscle, so Bob will use the tractor to push it all up together. Then, we'll make a nice brush pile for quail cover next to it. I can't wait to see what kinds of insects move in!
More limbs to add to the pile.
Supporting the Ground Nesters
How can we support ground-nesting bees and other ground-nesting insects?
Protect existing nesting sites (insects can be observed entering
ground tunnels, small piles of soil often surround the entrances)
Do not disturb the soil (avoid tilling, digging, vehicular traffic)
Do not cover soil with mulch
Maintain existing vegetation, which is usually sparse, by removing strong-growing plants (shrubs, invasive weeds)
Nesting sites can be protected from predators like skunks and raccoons by covering the area with chicken wire
Create man-made nesting sites for ground-nesting bees
In gardens, areas can be dedicated for nesting sites. Rock gardens
are ideal as they usually have well-draining soil and low vegetation.
Some areas need to be kept free of vegetation. Rocks and clumps of
perennials are helpful as orientation for bees to find their nest
entrances. Bees choose sunny locations for their nesting sites and
prefer slopes exposed to the southeast, which warm up quickly in the
morning.
Supporting Tunnel-nesting Bees
How can we support bees nesting in wood tunnels and hollow stems?
Leave dead trees standing as long as they are not a safety hazard.
Do not remove dead wood and fallen trees from forests
Pile up logs from cut trees (especially those containing burrows) to
allow larvae of beetles, wood wasps and horntails to complete their
life cycles, and to provide abandoned tunnels for nesting bees.
Do not remove plant stems of dormant perennials and grasses from
garden beds until early spring, and leave removed stems in a loose piles
for as long as possible to allow young bees to hatch from their nesting
material.
Do not mow wild meadows more than once a year, ideally in early spring.
Shelter for Overwintering
It’s important to provide shelter for overwintering insects:
As much as possible, keep leaf litter in woodlands and garden beds where it falls.
Create stone, brush and wood piles as shelters for overwintering insects.
Wait to cut down old stems and clumps of perennials until late winter or early spring.
Table 1. Nesting locations of common bee and wasp genera
Ground-Nesters:
Bare patches of well-drained soil, most
often sandy or silty loam that does not collapse when dry and is soft
enough for digging, but some species nest in pure sand, others in river
banks that are periodically inundated
Mining Bees
Andrena
Minute Mining Bees
Perdita
Cellophane Bees
Colletes inaequalis
Slender Sweat Bees
Lasioglossum
Dark Sweat Bees
Halictus
Green sweat Bees
Agapostemon, Augochlora, Augochlorella
Digger Wasps
Sphex
Horse Guard
Stictia
Spider Wasps
Entypus
Sand Wasps
Bembix
Wood and Stem-Nesters:
Tunnels in trees, logs, rotting wood, and
also hollow stems of herbaceous plants and grasses, as well as wooden
structures and old masonry
Mason Bees
Osmia
Yellow-faced Bees
Hylaeus
Carder Bees
Anthidium
Leafcutter Bees
Megachile
Large Carpenter Bees
Xylocopa
Small Carpenter Bees
Ceratina
Resin Bees
Anthidiellum, Dianthidium
Mason Wasps
Euodynerus
Cavity-Nesters:
Abandoned mouse nests, cavities in the soil, in trees and buildings,
Usually I have the luxury of time when I'm deciding whether I'll engage in a new hobby or not. But the honeybees that showed up in my wood duck box have forced me to take a very different and, for me, an uncomfortable path with this new beekeeping hobby.
I've had to engage in a lot of retro-active-learning; reading, watching You-Tube videos and spending a bit of time performing real-time observations. Not that I'm opposed to any of the activities above, but the point is, I've had to rush through it all. Everything I decide to undertake, I prefer to make sure I know the majority of what I need to do before I'm actually doing it - evaluate at least most of the risks and
then I will charge full-steam ahead. But not when it comes to the lives of the animals for which I'm charged here. The stakes are too high if you fail in that 'hobby'.
Knowing that I needed to check my honeybee hive soon, I finally decided that yesterday (August 4th) was THE day. I had been meaning to call my mentor, Calvin, and ask him if he could come and advise me along the way, but life kept getting in the way, and before I knew it, Saturday was here and I still hadn't called him. "Suck it up, buttercup", I said to myself, "put on your big-girl panties and go do it". So, I did.
I had been observing the hive and trying to determine how far along they were in their comb-building. On July 8th, I had grabbed some video of the front landing area of the hive and then I had quickly peeked inside the top brood box to see what was happening. I had only pulled one frame and, after seeing nothing much was going on, I quickly closed the hive and retreated.
But yesterday, on Aug. 4th, I was about to get my first lesson in how quickly things can change in 27 days, however. I setup the video camera on a tri-pod next to the hive (Mr. Freeze still doesn't have a bee suit), to get a video of my first full-fledged bee hive inspection. I think I made some small missteps along the way (ie, I think I may have over-smoked them), but over all, I didn't wreck anything. I was able to check frames 2 through 5 and after watching the video below, I realized I forgot to check frame #1. By the time I got through the 4 frames, in the 93+ degree heat though, I was ready to pass out anyway, so it was good that I stopped when I did. It's so hot & dry here, even the danged ragweed is turning a crispy, golden brown.
I was really glad that Calvin had convinced me to only have 9 frames in these 10-frame bodies - it leaves a lot of extra space for pulling frames out without rolling / crushing the bees. All the frames I checked had capped brood (I incorrectly called it "capped honey" in the video) and/or larva, and honey dripped out of a few cells when I tilted them! Whoa - they have been BUSY.
I only found 2 hive beetles on Aug. 4th on my old sticky board and today, Aug. 5th, I found one, and only one varroa mite. From my amateur assessment, it's apparent, my girls are doing pretty well so far.
By the way, just in case you're looking for the perfect cloth wrap for thoroughly cooking your enemy in the sun, a Harvest Lane beekeeper suit is perfect
for that. Just sayin'.
After viewing the video below, I also realized that I really need someone with me to take close up pictures. It's hard to convey the thrill of seeing the capped brood, an emerging baby bee and glistening honey in the sun, via words alone. And I was terrified of moving the frames away from the hive to get closer to the video camera for fear of dropping my queen off on the rocks or in the grass (maybe that's not really something that happens often...fellow beeks?).
Here's my 17 minute- long video, in which I managed to NOT pass out. Maybe next time, I need to strap some ice packs to my body before I go down there. I swear, my core temp today still feels like it's at 150 deg. Hehe!
Frames 2 & 3 are pictured below.
You can click on the pictures below for a bigger view also.
This past January, I decided to check my wood duck box and take off the entrance reducer (used to prevent starlings from moving in), so that any investigating wood ducks could move in. Imagine my surprise when I opened the duck house and was confronted with honeybee comb. Luckily for me, it was cold outside and in my ignorance, I had opened a hive that could have immediately attacked me when I opened the door on any other day, but since it was cold, they didn't have the energy. Sometimes, it's a benefit to be totally clueless. Other times, not so much...but on this day it was. I quickly pulled my hooded jacket tightly around my eyes and drew my hands back into my jacket like a turtle as I observed the comb and the 1" of dead honeybees on the floor.
I called my friend and fellow purple martin landlord, Calvin Cobb, in Hartshorn, Missouri who advised me to 'leave them alone until it warms up in Spring - and we'll see what's going on". Leave them alone? Do you NOT know me? So, on Feb. 15, I went to check on my bees. I thought my pictures were kind of cool - hey, I have comb in a wood duck box!
I kinda felt like Sloth from "The Goonies", "Hey, you guys...I got bees..IN a WOOD DUCK box.... and I wasn't even trying!"
But this is 'everyday' stuff to the pros and my 3 or 4 little bees were kinda boring. And, to be frank, I wasn't even sure I WANTED to keep bees - that is, as the beeks call it, "be a beekeeper". I'm ...well, I AM terrified of being stung. I don't NEED one more insect bite on my skin or something else to scratch and I have enough troubles with my dairy allergies.
So, I waited patiently for May to arrive, fully anticipating that this bee adventure was going to be a flop. But the honeybees had their own business to attend to and they kept trucking along....doing what honeybees do.
Finally, on May 17, 2018, we had the 'perfect' weather to open my wood duck box and see what my little backwater, redneck hive was up to. I'm not sure what Calvin was thinking, but I was most certainly impressed! So, this is what bees do with all that stuff they're gathering?
I don't think Calvin had much hope for my little hive and I really didn't know what to expect. Sooooo, a trip to Hirsch Feed store in West Plains, MO and SOMEHOW, I am HOOKED and slowly transitioning to becoming a "beek". My loving husband - my driver for, "you must educate yourself on this", ordered me a book from Amazon - "Beekeeping for Dummies" and dang...the more I read, the more I became hooked. Who knew that bees had such an organized social structure. Wow, this is fascinating stuff!
Then, my sister and I took a 4-wheeler ride to see what the bees were doing on June 16th. They were hot. So was I.
As Calvin and I exchanged emails and phone calls, waiting for the perfect weather to move these bees, I continued to monitor them. "They're hot", Calvin said, "and they're trying to cool off", when I sent him the picture below. We still had no idea what was waiting for us.
Finally, we were able to schedule THE day - today. There would be NO cloudy weather or rain (which apparently makes honeybees VERY cranky) on June 28th. Yes, Thursday, June 28th was going to be the REAL moving day for my girls. Never mind that it was going to be 92 degrees today. Stay tuned for the rest of the story. OMG, @ the expected heat!
