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Old 22-07-2015, 01:51 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jun 2010
Posts: 3,072
Default very few bumble bees

we did see some earlier in the season, but now i'm
not seeing them around much at all. even the smaller
bumble bees are few. that said the squash plant blooms
are still looking to being fertilized and about
anything else too.

we have several bee hives put about 50ft from the
property in the field to the NE and those bees are
humming up a storm every day. including using our
birdbaths as drinking fountains. with all our flowers
being out this time of the year the gardens are quite
loud with the bees at work.

it will take me several more sessions to get the
north garden weeded through again. i had put down a
few layers of wire mesh to keep the rabbits, chipmunks,
etc. from digging up some new seedlings and a few
remaining crocus bulbs that were rescued from being
moved from another garden. weeds growing up through
those meshes made that area look like a jungle. i'd
weeded it twice before, but then was off busy planting,
harvesting/processing strawberries and weeding other
areas before i'd gotten back to that garden. a few of
the lambs quarters were large enough around that i
needed my pruning shears to snip them off and get them
out of the mesh. the largest i snipped off but left the
root down in the ground. it wasn't coming out without
major digging and i didn't want to disturb the soil
that much in that area. of course when going out to
work on a project i usually have a few dozen tasks i
have to do first to get going. one edge had some mint
starting to get going and i'd wanted to dig that out
for a few years so i finally got to it before it
could drop more seeds.

did some trimming of the honeysuckle bushes in the
north hedge which are so heavy with fruit that they
are sagging over the grass. it's a messy job when they
are fruiting. good fun. my garden long-
sleeved shirt is white, looked like i'd been through a
bit of a gun battle in a movie by the time i was done.
also cleared a bit more of the edge along a fence in
the NE corner where the honeysuckles attempted to take
over and crowd out the lilac bush.

most of the gardens are looking great, only a few
bug and critter issues and the live trap has been working
well for dealing with the larger critters. we had a
lone groundhog show up a few days ago and i noticed it
quickly enough nosing around the live trap that had not
been recharged with bait. it also needed to be emptied
of rainwater. i got right out there and put some sun-
flower seeds in it and 20 minutes later the groundhog
was safely captured. one of the trays of bait i used a
flat glass saucer and it managed to break it. luckily,
it didn't cut itself. we've switched to more sturdy
metal now, but i'm hoping that will be the last of the
groundhogs. now that the beans are mostly taller i'm not
as worried about them doing so much damage even if they
do show up again.

we've had fairly regular rains, i have to get out each
day to clean up the birdbaths and put fresh water in them
(seems like the bees are using them more than the birds,
but we still see a few birds in them so i'll keep filling
them), but otherwise i've not had to water much. i'll do
a bit of watering the next few days as the sun is out and
the shallower rooted plants have had an easy life so far
so they're going to need a bit.

the garlic is due to come out. that will keep me busy
for a while along with plenty of more weeding, but on the
whole this season is doing well. it makes a lot of
difference with both hands working.

after i get the north garden straightened out a little
more and some more weeding done perhaps i can get going
on the back strawberry patch project. next week. the
week after... hmm... onions could use some more thinning
and...


songbird
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Old 04-08-2015, 04:38 AM posted to rec.gardens.edible
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Aug 2015
Posts: 1
Default very few bumble bees



wrote:
we did see some earlier in the season, but now i'm
not seeing them around much at all. even the smaller
bumble bees are few. that said the squash plant blooms
are still looking to being fertilized and about
anything else too.
we have several bee hives put about 50ft from the
property in the field to the NE and those bees are
humming up a storm every day. including using our
birdbaths as drinking fountains. with all our flowers
being out this time of the year the gardens are quite
loud with the bees at work.
it will take me several more sessions to get the
north garden weeded through again. i had put down a
few layers of wire mesh to keep the rabbits, chipmunks,
etc. from digging up some new seedlings and a few
remaining crocus bulbs that were rescued from being
moved from another garden. weeds growing up through
those meshes made that area look like a jungle. i'd
weeded it twice before, but then was off busy planting,
harvesting/processing strawberries and weeding other
areas before i'd gotten back to that garden. a few of
the lambs quarters were large enough around that i
needed my pruning shears to snip them off and get them
out of the mesh. the largest i snipped off but left the
root down in the ground. it wasn't coming out without
major digging and i didn't want to disturb the soil
that much in that area. of course when going out to
work on a project i usually have a few dozen tasks i
have to do first to get going. one edge had some mint
starting to get going and i'd wanted to dig that out
for a few years so i finally got to it before it
could drop more seeds.
did some trimming of the honeysuckle bushes in the
north hedge which are so heavy with fruit that they
are sagging over the grass. it's a messy job when they
are fruiting. good fun. my garden long-
sleeved shirt is white, looked like i'd been through a
bit of a gun battle in a movie by the time i was done.
also cleared a bit more of the edge along a fence in
the NE corner where the honeysuckles attempted to take
over and crowd out the lilac bush.
most of the gardens are looking great, only a few
bug and critter issues and the live trap has been working
well for dealing with the larger critters. we had a
lone groundhog show up a few days ago and i noticed it
quickly enough nosing around the live trap that had not
been recharged with bait. it also needed to be emptied
of rainwater. i got right out there and put some sun-
flower seeds in it and 20 minutes later the groundhog
was safely captured. one of the trays of bait i used a
flat glass saucer and it managed to break it. luckily,
it didn't cut itself. we've switched to more sturdy
metal now, but i'm hoping that will be the last of the
groundhogs. now that the beans are mostly taller i'm not
as worried about them doing so much damage even if they
do show up again.
we've had fairly regular rains, i have to get out each
day to clean up the birdbaths and put fresh water in them
(seems like the bees are using them more than the birds,
but we still see a few birds in them so i'll keep filling
them), but otherwise i've not had to water much. i'll do
a bit of watering the next few days as the sun is out and
the shallower rooted plants have had an easy life so far
so they're going to need a bit.
the garlic is due to come out. that will keep me busy
for a while along with plenty of more weeding, but on the
whole this season is doing well. it makes a lot of
difference with both hands working.
after i get the north garden straightened out a little
more and some more weeding done perhaps i can get going
on the back strawberry patch project. next week. the
week after... hmm... onions could use some more thinning
and...
songbird


Yesterday, while mowing an area of overgrown grass and weeds,
around the water well, I mowed through a bumble bee nest.
Suddenly, around twenty were swarming me, stinging my legs,
getting in my hair, getting under my shirt and stinging. I was
wearing shorts.

They followed me, one hundred feet to the house. It was terrible.
Those things didn't want to quit. They even went after a cat that
was outside. I never gave much thought to whether bumble bees
would sting, now I know. The venom doesn't seem to be very
potent. It made some puffy places for a few hours, then were
gone this morning.

Be careful around overgrown areas, you never know what might
be living there.
  #3   Report Post  
Old 04-08-2015, 02:51 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by GardenBanter: May 2014
Posts: 851
Default very few bumble bees

On 8/3/2015 9:38 PM, dusty wrote:


wrote:
we did see some earlier in the season, but now i'm
not seeing them around much at all. even the smaller
bumble bees are few. that said the squash plant blooms
are still looking to being fertilized and about anything else too.
we have several bee hives put about 50ft from the property in the
field to the NE and those bees are
humming up a storm every day. including using our
birdbaths as drinking fountains. with all our flowers
being out this time of the year the gardens are quite
loud with the bees at work.
it will take me several more sessions to get the
north garden weeded through again. i had put down a
few layers of wire mesh to keep the rabbits, chipmunks,
etc. from digging up some new seedlings and a few remaining crocus
bulbs that were rescued from being
moved from another garden. weeds growing up through
those meshes made that area look like a jungle. i'd
weeded it twice before, but then was off busy planting,
harvesting/processing strawberries and weeding other areas before i'd
gotten back to that garden. a few of the lambs quarters were large
enough around that i needed my pruning shears to snip them off and get
them
out of the mesh. the largest i snipped off but left the
root down in the ground. it wasn't coming out without
major digging and i didn't want to disturb the soil that much in that
area. of course when going out to work on a project i usually have a
few dozen tasks i
have to do first to get going. one edge had some mint
starting to get going and i'd wanted to dig that out
for a few years so i finally got to it before it could drop more seeds.
did some trimming of the honeysuckle bushes in the
north hedge which are so heavy with fruit that they
are sagging over the grass. it's a messy job when they
are fruiting. good fun. my garden long-
sleeved shirt is white, looked like i'd been through a
bit of a gun battle in a movie by the time i was done.
also cleared a bit more of the edge along a fence in
the NE corner where the honeysuckles attempted to take
over and crowd out the lilac bush.
most of the gardens are looking great, only a few
bug and critter issues and the live trap has been working
well for dealing with the larger critters. we had a lone groundhog
show up a few days ago and i noticed it
quickly enough nosing around the live trap that had not
been recharged with bait. it also needed to be emptied
of rainwater. i got right out there and put some sun-
flower seeds in it and 20 minutes later the groundhog
was safely captured. one of the trays of bait i used a
flat glass saucer and it managed to break it. luckily,
it didn't cut itself. we've switched to more sturdy
metal now, but i'm hoping that will be the last of the
groundhogs. now that the beans are mostly taller i'm not
as worried about them doing so much damage even if they
do show up again.
we've had fairly regular rains, i have to get out each
day to clean up the birdbaths and put fresh water in them
(seems like the bees are using them more than the birds,
but we still see a few birds in them so i'll keep filling
them), but otherwise i've not had to water much. i'll do
a bit of watering the next few days as the sun is out and
the shallower rooted plants have had an easy life so far
so they're going to need a bit.
the garlic is due to come out. that will keep me busy
for a while along with plenty of more weeding, but on the whole this
season is doing well. it makes a lot of difference with both hands
working.
after i get the north garden straightened out a little
more and some more weeding done perhaps i can get going
on the back strawberry patch project. next week. the
week after... hmm... onions could use some more thinning
and...
songbird


Yesterday, while mowing an area of overgrown grass and weeds,
around the water well, I mowed through a bumble bee nest.
Suddenly, around twenty were swarming me, stinging my legs,
getting in my hair, getting under my shirt and stinging. I was
wearing shorts.

They followed me, one hundred feet to the house. It was terrible.
Those things didn't want to quit. They even went after a cat that
was outside. I never gave much thought to whether bumble bees
would sting, now I know. The venom doesn't seem to be very
potent. It made some puffy places for a few hours, then were
gone this morning.

Be careful around overgrown areas, you never know what might
be living there.

Heh! Been there, done that, many years ago. Dozer scraped off the top of
a bumble bee nest and I was just standing there. Did the bee dance, got
hit four times in my back, was okay the next day. My friend, who was
next to me, went to the hospital, turned out he was allergic to insect
stings of any kind. You and I were lucky to get over the bumble stings,
he had a problem for awhile.

They are good pollinators though. Haven't seen many this year as a
builder has been bull dozing the woods behind us. We get a few honey
bees and hardly any bumbles or mason bees since the dozers came through.
  #4   Report Post  
Old 04-08-2015, 03:25 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Sep 2012
Posts: 678
Default very few bumble bees

George Shirley wrote:
On 8/3/2015 9:38 PM, dusty wrote:


wrote:
we did see some earlier in the season, but now i'm
not seeing them around much at all. even the smaller
bumble bees are few. that said the squash plant blooms
are still looking to being fertilized and about anything else too.
we have several bee hives put about 50ft from the property in the
field to the NE and those bees are
humming up a storm every day. including using our
birdbaths as drinking fountains. with all our flowers
being out this time of the year the gardens are quite
loud with the bees at work.
it will take me several more sessions to get the
north garden weeded through again. i had put down a
few layers of wire mesh to keep the rabbits, chipmunks,
etc. from digging up some new seedlings and a few remaining crocus
bulbs that were rescued from being
moved from another garden. weeds growing up through
those meshes made that area look like a jungle. i'd
weeded it twice before, but then was off busy planting,
harvesting/processing strawberries and weeding other areas before
i'd gotten back to that garden. a few of the lambs quarters were
large enough around that i needed my pruning shears to snip them
off and get them
out of the mesh. the largest i snipped off but left the
root down in the ground. it wasn't coming out without
major digging and i didn't want to disturb the soil that much in
that area. of course when going out to work on a project i usually
have a few dozen tasks i
have to do first to get going. one edge had some mint
starting to get going and i'd wanted to dig that out
for a few years so i finally got to it before it could drop more
seeds. did some trimming of the honeysuckle bushes in the
north hedge which are so heavy with fruit that they
are sagging over the grass. it's a messy job when they
are fruiting. good fun. my garden long-
sleeved shirt is white, looked like i'd been through a
bit of a gun battle in a movie by the time i was done.
also cleared a bit more of the edge along a fence in
the NE corner where the honeysuckles attempted to take
over and crowd out the lilac bush.
most of the gardens are looking great, only a few
bug and critter issues and the live trap has been working
well for dealing with the larger critters. we had a lone groundhog
show up a few days ago and i noticed it
quickly enough nosing around the live trap that had not
been recharged with bait. it also needed to be emptied
of rainwater. i got right out there and put some sun-
flower seeds in it and 20 minutes later the groundhog
was safely captured. one of the trays of bait i used a
flat glass saucer and it managed to break it. luckily,
it didn't cut itself. we've switched to more sturdy
metal now, but i'm hoping that will be the last of the
groundhogs. now that the beans are mostly taller i'm not
as worried about them doing so much damage even if they
do show up again.
we've had fairly regular rains, i have to get out each
day to clean up the birdbaths and put fresh water in them
(seems like the bees are using them more than the birds,
but we still see a few birds in them so i'll keep filling
them), but otherwise i've not had to water much. i'll do
a bit of watering the next few days as the sun is out and
the shallower rooted plants have had an easy life so far
so they're going to need a bit.
the garlic is due to come out. that will keep me busy
for a while along with plenty of more weeding, but on the whole this
season is doing well. it makes a lot of difference with both hands
working.
after i get the north garden straightened out a little
more and some more weeding done perhaps i can get going
on the back strawberry patch project. next week. the
week after... hmm... onions could use some more thinning
and...
songbird


Yesterday, while mowing an area of overgrown grass and weeds,
around the water well, I mowed through a bumble bee nest.
Suddenly, around twenty were swarming me, stinging my legs,
getting in my hair, getting under my shirt and stinging. I was
wearing shorts.

They followed me, one hundred feet to the house. It was terrible.
Those things didn't want to quit. They even went after a cat that
was outside. I never gave much thought to whether bumble bees
would sting, now I know. The venom doesn't seem to be very
potent. It made some puffy places for a few hours, then were
gone this morning.

Be careful around overgrown areas, you never know what might
be living there.

Heh! Been there, done that, many years ago. Dozer scraped off the top
of a bumble bee nest and I was just standing there. Did the bee
dance, got hit four times in my back, was okay the next day. My
friend, who was next to me, went to the hospital, turned out he was
allergic to insect stings of any kind. You and I were lucky to get
over the bumble stings, he had a problem for awhile.

They are good pollinators though. Haven't seen many this year as a
builder has been bull dozing the woods behind us. We get a few honey
bees and hardly any bumbles or mason bees since the dozers came
through.


Put a hive in your back yard , or contact the local beekeeper's club and ask
if one of the members would like to place a hive - assuming you don't have
HOA restrictions or anything .

--
Snag


  #5   Report Post  
Old 04-08-2015, 05:54 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: May 2014
Posts: 851
Default very few bumble bees

On 8/4/2015 8:25 AM, Terry Coombs wrote:
George Shirley wrote:
On 8/3/2015 9:38 PM, dusty wrote:


wrote:
we did see some earlier in the season, but now i'm
not seeing them around much at all. even the smaller
bumble bees are few. that said the squash plant blooms
are still looking to being fertilized and about anything else too.
we have several bee hives put about 50ft from the property in the
field to the NE and those bees are
humming up a storm every day. including using our
birdbaths as drinking fountains. with all our flowers
being out this time of the year the gardens are quite
loud with the bees at work.
it will take me several more sessions to get the
north garden weeded through again. i had put down a
few layers of wire mesh to keep the rabbits, chipmunks,
etc. from digging up some new seedlings and a few remaining crocus
bulbs that were rescued from being
moved from another garden. weeds growing up through
those meshes made that area look like a jungle. i'd
weeded it twice before, but then was off busy planting,
harvesting/processing strawberries and weeding other areas before
i'd gotten back to that garden. a few of the lambs quarters were
large enough around that i needed my pruning shears to snip them
off and get them
out of the mesh. the largest i snipped off but left the
root down in the ground. it wasn't coming out without
major digging and i didn't want to disturb the soil that much in
that area. of course when going out to work on a project i usually
have a few dozen tasks i
have to do first to get going. one edge had some mint
starting to get going and i'd wanted to dig that out
for a few years so i finally got to it before it could drop more
seeds. did some trimming of the honeysuckle bushes in the
north hedge which are so heavy with fruit that they
are sagging over the grass. it's a messy job when they
are fruiting. good fun. my garden long-
sleeved shirt is white, looked like i'd been through a
bit of a gun battle in a movie by the time i was done.
also cleared a bit more of the edge along a fence in
the NE corner where the honeysuckles attempted to take
over and crowd out the lilac bush.
most of the gardens are looking great, only a few
bug and critter issues and the live trap has been working
well for dealing with the larger critters. we had a lone groundhog
show up a few days ago and i noticed it
quickly enough nosing around the live trap that had not
been recharged with bait. it also needed to be emptied
of rainwater. i got right out there and put some sun-
flower seeds in it and 20 minutes later the groundhog
was safely captured. one of the trays of bait i used a
flat glass saucer and it managed to break it. luckily,
it didn't cut itself. we've switched to more sturdy
metal now, but i'm hoping that will be the last of the
groundhogs. now that the beans are mostly taller i'm not
as worried about them doing so much damage even if they
do show up again.
we've had fairly regular rains, i have to get out each
day to clean up the birdbaths and put fresh water in them
(seems like the bees are using them more than the birds,
but we still see a few birds in them so i'll keep filling
them), but otherwise i've not had to water much. i'll do
a bit of watering the next few days as the sun is out and
the shallower rooted plants have had an easy life so far
so they're going to need a bit.
the garlic is due to come out. that will keep me busy
for a while along with plenty of more weeding, but on the whole this
season is doing well. it makes a lot of difference with both hands
working.
after i get the north garden straightened out a little
more and some more weeding done perhaps i can get going
on the back strawberry patch project. next week. the
week after... hmm... onions could use some more thinning
and...
songbird

Yesterday, while mowing an area of overgrown grass and weeds,
around the water well, I mowed through a bumble bee nest.
Suddenly, around twenty were swarming me, stinging my legs,
getting in my hair, getting under my shirt and stinging. I was
wearing shorts.

They followed me, one hundred feet to the house. It was terrible.
Those things didn't want to quit. They even went after a cat that
was outside. I never gave much thought to whether bumble bees
would sting, now I know. The venom doesn't seem to be very
potent. It made some puffy places for a few hours, then were
gone this morning.

Be careful around overgrown areas, you never know what might
be living there.

Heh! Been there, done that, many years ago. Dozer scraped off the top
of a bumble bee nest and I was just standing there. Did the bee
dance, got hit four times in my back, was okay the next day. My
friend, who was next to me, went to the hospital, turned out he was
allergic to insect stings of any kind. You and I were lucky to get
over the bumble stings, he had a problem for awhile.

They are good pollinators though. Haven't seen many this year as a
builder has been bull dozing the woods behind us. We get a few honey
bees and hardly any bumbles or mason bees since the dozers came
through.


Put a hive in your back yard , or contact the local beekeeper's club and ask
if one of the members would like to place a hive - assuming you don't have
HOA restrictions or anything .

Yup, you guessed it, HOA restrictions here are ridiculous. They were
redone last year and I put in my two bits and got the NO firearms even
in the house tossed. Violates Texas law and the Constitution. No bee
hives is also written in. Obviously someone down the road to this set of
articles was stung by a bee.

We have been depending upon the wild bees back behind us but, as noted,
they are mostly gone now. We had bumbles, honey, mason, and carpenter
bees coming here. I have noticed that bee flies are coming around now so
we still have them and the wasps as pollinators. Have not seen but two
humming birds in three years here. Lots of mocking birds, purple
martins, swallows, and English sparrows though.

If all else fails we go around with a very small paint brush and
pollinate by hand. It is a rather small garden after all. I made buzzing
sounds once and my wife went indoors quickly. G


  #6   Report Post  
Old 08-08-2015, 02:47 AM posted to rec.gardens.edible
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Nov 2014
Posts: 149
Default very few bumble bees

Once upon a time on usenet George Shirley wrote:
On 8/4/2015 8:25 AM, Terry Coombs wrote:
George Shirley wrote:
On 8/3/2015 9:38 PM, dusty wrote:


wrote:
we did see some earlier in the season, but now i'm
not seeing them around much at all. even the smaller
bumble bees are few. that said the squash plant blooms
are still looking to being fertilized and about anything else too.
we have several bee hives put about 50ft from the property in
the field to the NE and those bees are
humming up a storm every day. including using our
birdbaths as drinking fountains. with all our flowers
being out this time of the year the gardens are quite
loud with the bees at work.
it will take me several more sessions to get the
north garden weeded through again. i had put down a
few layers of wire mesh to keep the rabbits, chipmunks,
etc. from digging up some new seedlings and a few remaining crocus
bulbs that were rescued from being
moved from another garden. weeds growing up through
those meshes made that area look like a jungle. i'd
weeded it twice before, but then was off busy planting,
harvesting/processing strawberries and weeding other areas before
i'd gotten back to that garden. a few of the lambs quarters were
large enough around that i needed my pruning shears to snip them
off and get them
out of the mesh. the largest i snipped off but left the
root down in the ground. it wasn't coming out without
major digging and i didn't want to disturb the soil that much in
that area. of course when going out to work on a project i
usually have a few dozen tasks i
have to do first to get going. one edge had some mint
starting to get going and i'd wanted to dig that out
for a few years so i finally got to it before it could drop more
seeds. did some trimming of the honeysuckle bushes in the
north hedge which are so heavy with fruit that they
are sagging over the grass. it's a messy job when they
are fruiting. good fun. my garden long-
sleeved shirt is white, looked like i'd been through a
bit of a gun battle in a movie by the time i was done.
also cleared a bit more of the edge along a fence in
the NE corner where the honeysuckles attempted to take
over and crowd out the lilac bush.
most of the gardens are looking great, only a few
bug and critter issues and the live trap has been working
well for dealing with the larger critters. we had a lone
groundhog show up a few days ago and i noticed it
quickly enough nosing around the live trap that had not
been recharged with bait. it also needed to be emptied
of rainwater. i got right out there and put some sun-
flower seeds in it and 20 minutes later the groundhog
was safely captured. one of the trays of bait i used a
flat glass saucer and it managed to break it. luckily,
it didn't cut itself. we've switched to more sturdy
metal now, but i'm hoping that will be the last of the
groundhogs. now that the beans are mostly taller i'm not
as worried about them doing so much damage even if they
do show up again.
we've had fairly regular rains, i have to get out each
day to clean up the birdbaths and put fresh water in them
(seems like the bees are using them more than the birds,
but we still see a few birds in them so i'll keep filling
them), but otherwise i've not had to water much. i'll do
a bit of watering the next few days as the sun is out and
the shallower rooted plants have had an easy life so far
so they're going to need a bit.
the garlic is due to come out. that will keep me busy
for a while along with plenty of more weeding, but on the whole
this season is doing well. it makes a lot of difference with
both hands working.
after i get the north garden straightened out a little
more and some more weeding done perhaps i can get going
on the back strawberry patch project. next week. the
week after... hmm... onions could use some more thinning
and...
songbird

Yesterday, while mowing an area of overgrown grass and weeds,
around the water well, I mowed through a bumble bee nest.
Suddenly, around twenty were swarming me, stinging my legs,
getting in my hair, getting under my shirt and stinging. I was
wearing shorts.

They followed me, one hundred feet to the house. It was terrible.
Those things didn't want to quit. They even went after a cat that
was outside. I never gave much thought to whether bumble bees
would sting, now I know. The venom doesn't seem to be very
potent. It made some puffy places for a few hours, then were
gone this morning.

Be careful around overgrown areas, you never know what might
be living there.
Heh! Been there, done that, many years ago. Dozer scraped off the
top of a bumble bee nest and I was just standing there. Did the bee
dance, got hit four times in my back, was okay the next day. My
friend, who was next to me, went to the hospital, turned out he was
allergic to insect stings of any kind. You and I were lucky to get
over the bumble stings, he had a problem for awhile.

They are good pollinators though. Haven't seen many this year as a
builder has been bull dozing the woods behind us. We get a few honey
bees and hardly any bumbles or mason bees since the dozers came
through.


Put a hive in your back yard , or contact the local beekeeper's club
and ask if one of the members would like to place a hive - assuming
you don't have HOA restrictions or anything .

Yup, you guessed it, HOA restrictions here are ridiculous. They were
redone last year and I put in my two bits and got the NO firearms even
in the house tossed. Violates Texas law and the Constitution. No bee
hives is also written in. Obviously someone down the road to this set
of articles was stung by a bee.

We have been depending upon the wild bees back behind us but, as
noted, they are mostly gone now. We had bumbles, honey, mason, and
carpenter bees coming here. I have noticed that bee flies are coming
around now so we still have them and the wasps as pollinators. Have
not seen but two humming birds in three years here. Lots of mocking
birds, purple martins, swallows, and English sparrows though.

If all else fails we go around with a very small paint brush and
pollinate by hand. It is a rather small garden after all. I made
buzzing sounds once and my wife went indoors quickly. G


I've done that before - used a small, very slightly damp artists paint brush
and had reasonable success but it was difficult. The bees do it so
effortlessly.

So the HOA restrictions rule out honey bee hives yes? What about 'pet'
bumbles?
--
Shaun.

"Humans will have advanced a long, long way when religious belief has a cozy
little classification in the DSM*."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1)
(*Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)


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