When I first started pulling the old flower heads off, I noticed seeds were popping out before I even detached them from the stems. Then I tried holding this sea shell underneath and ‘pouring the seeds into it.’ The short video shows how delighted I was with the results.
A small pile of seeds using my pocket knife as a reference.
These seeds are TINY.
A few seeds on the knife blade show how small they are.
To plant, just throw some seeds into one of these planting kits. We start planting under “Grow-Lux” fluorescent lights in February or March. The four squares on the left are Hypericum, pollinated by our bees the previous year and planted from that very fine seed. If your winters aren’t too cold, you can scatter some seeds in some bare ground and see if they come up. If they grow, you’ll enjoy watching all the bees go crazy on the flowers. Note: I’ve been calling this plant a Hidcote Hypericum, but I just read that Hidcote is considered a hybrid, so I could be wrong.
Standing tall, Bee Beard Log hive is doing well since it was revived in August 2014. It swarmed at least once on May 11 of this year, but that swarm moved on without us getting it.
Sept. 23…Lots of good orange pollen being carried into this hive. This hive will go into winter without me intervening in any way.
Sept. 17…These birdhouse bees are doing so well, I’m starting to think that small bee hives are the way to go. This hive has no other openings other than the entrance. I don’t understand how they can survive without much ventilation, but they are doing well, which is a good way to head into their second winter shadow.
Here’s a closer look at the entrance showing how crowded they are.
May 14…Ron got this one. He lives just up the road. I’m happy to report that Ron says they are doing well. They are active and bringing in lots of pollen. They can be seen flying well here…
Sept. 23…I’m down to only one Warre hive now. It’s doing well with lots of pollen coming in. You can see Bee-atrice Log hive ‘shuttered’ in the background. When the wasps were running rampant inside, I had to wrap it up. I’ll clean it out (scorch it) come spring and try to attract another swarm.
Bees head into the Warre loaded with pollen. This hive is heavy. I haven’t taken any honey from it. I think they will make it through the winter without me feeding.
Sept. 23, 2015…Sad to say, the Grand Kids Log hive is not going to make it. The temperature started falling in mid July, and now I see wasps nosing around and drones flying out.The Grand Kids are back.
Sept. 3…Temperature is down to 87F (30C)
Sept. 21…Looking up into the empty combs, I see a lack of bees. Clearly the queen isn’t laying and I’ve seen a few drones exiting. Footnote: This hive must have superceded a queen, because there are not only new bees, but also new comb. This is the only hive I can see from the house…from where I eat actually, and I gotta say, I’m so happy to see the bees flying to and from this hive when I sit down to eat!!!
Steve says his swarm ‘is hanging in there,’ but he’s starting to feed again because they haven’t built up enough comb to get them through the winter.
We are headed into autumn with four hives, which is all I ever really wanted, but I had really hoped that Grand Kids Log hive would be among the survivors. It begs the question…are smaller hives better? I’m beginning to think so. I’ve thought about partitioning off the big log hive, but then there might be air flow issues. The birdhouse bees seem to deal with lack of air flow, so maybe it won’t be an issue. Right now I’ll let nature take it’s course and hope I can attract another swarm in spring.
September 15…Barbara’s Kahili ginger (hedychium gardnerianum) is finally flowering.
I wonder if this is the same ginger plant that I shot when photographing the Poor Man’s Orchids in July 2013? If it is, Barbara has waited over two years to see it flower.
Last month, Philip Strange asked me if I had seen any immature catkins yet. They were forming on the birch trees in the UK. The next day I looked carefully at the tree to find this little one (see arrow) It’s about 1/2″ long (1 cm) If I understand it correctly, the larger catkin will form the female flower next spring. Uh, that’s not quite right…the larger catkin will turn brown THIS year and drop off the tree and the smaller one will grow into next year’s catkin. Philip Strange sent me THIS LINK which explains the difference in male and female River birch catkins. See if you can figure it out as I’ve never seen the longer female catkins.
This is how the tree looks in early September. It’s still has plenty of green leaves.
Sept. 20…Leaves of Betula Nigra are still green in September, but starting to show age.
Sept. 10…The mature River Birch cones are starting to fall.
Sept. 10…I see the ivy is growing back. I wonder if Ollie is going to trim it again.
This has nothing to do with bees, flowers, or gardening, but sometimes I just can’t help myself. This house was being picked up and moved to a location about a mile away. Since it’s on my morning walk and since I’m a curious type, I had to find out how they were going to do it.
August 5…I-beams are in place, house has been jacked up away from foundation. How did they do it?
A look underneath reveals it all. The I-beams are supported by cribs. The hydraulic jacks are centered within the cribs. The jacks are controlled so they can all lift at the same time (or individually).
The house has been moved to new location…intact and ready for plumbing.
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 