Posted in Uncategorized, Videos | Tagged Grand daughter | 7 Comments »
June 23, 2013…The walk into the woods starts here. The creek usually flows under a wooden plank. For several months, the water has not been flowing, probably due to 2013 being the lowest rainfall on record. To be precise, the water HAS been flowing, but not where you can see it. Close to the point where the path crosses the creek, the creek dives underground.
Looking through the skunk cabbage, a small pool of water can be seen a short distance upstream before the water disappears underground.
June 23, 2013…The water flows to here. It’s weird, you can hear the water flowing, but you can’t see where it goes.
February 17, 2014…After a couple of weeks of on again, off again heavy periods of rain, the ground is saturated and the water is flowing. It’s been over a year. Skunk cabbage is just poking up.
Old snag forms a backdrop to the skunk cabbage
Survey stakes, uh-oh
“East edge of road…?” Oh no…they want to put a road here.
An article about creeks and rivers going underground.
March 17, 2014…Creek still flowing. Skunk cabbage growing well.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged creek goes underground, Disappearing creek, nature photography, nature video, nature vs building | 6 Comments »
Rag Rug is almost done.
Do you ever wonder what to do with old table cloths, jeans, or scraps of material? Recycle them into a very usable rag rug.
First cut the material into strips of cloth about 2.5 inches (6.35 cm) by any length. Use scraps of equal thickness so the rug will be all the same thickness.
Then fold the edges in !/4 inch, (6.35 mm)
Fold that in half to one inch (2.54 cm)
Sew the edges and braid three strands of differing lengths.
Stitch the braids together to form the size of rug you desire. We have used cotton thread in the past but are now trying fishing monofilament. Stitch on the back side of rug only, so it won’t show.
Carmen likes to help
Eddy O. gets his chair back
Posted in Rag Rug, Uncategorized | Tagged recycle jeans, recycle rags, Sustainable living | 8 Comments »
February 13, 2014…This bumble bee (bombus Melanopygus, I believe) was sipping honey when we noticed all the mites on her back. We would like to try to remove them…Does anyone have any ideas of how to accomplish that?
Posted in Bumblebees, Music video, Natural Beekeeping, Videos | Tagged bees on Oregon Coast, bombus melanopygus, bumblebees, macro nature video, mites on a bumblebee, nature photography, pollinators, Wild pollinators | 15 Comments »
July 7, 2013…Spring veggies harvested, soil spaded and leveled, drip watering in place, this bed is ready to plant our winter garden.
When we planted turnips, lettuce and kale in July for our winter garden little did we know we were planting for the bees as well as ourselves.
July 28, 2013…turnips are growing nicely in the center, lettuce and kale are on the sides. Deer netting over pvc hoops.
January 16, 2014…We had eaten most of the turnips and just left a few to go to seed. We never thought the bees would be enjoying them in mid January. What a welcome surprise.
February 9, 2014…My apologies for posting such a fuzzy picture of a bee on the catkins,but it was rather high up. I wanted to show where the pollen was coming from that is going into my log hive.
February 9, 2014…Many colors of pollen can be seen entering the hive. In the video you can see the bright yellow pollen from turnip flowers. It’s possible this shot is from the pussy willows that are just starting to blossom. The darker orange might be from early gorse.
February 10, 2014…Yellow turnip flowers have been flowering since mid January. Pussy willows are starting to blossom already. Second bed is producing greens for our salads. We can eat them 15 minutes after they are picked…can’t get much fresher than that. We cover them with plastic film (partially visible on far side) on nights of sub freezing temps.
Posted in Bee-loving flowers, Drip watering, Natural Beekeeping, Raised beds, Sustainable living, Videos | Tagged bee-loving flowers, bees on catkins, bees on Oregon Coast, bees pollinating turnip flowers, deer netting in raised beds, drip watering, Gardening, macro nature video, natural beekeeping, nature photography, pussy willow trees, raised beds, Sustainable living, Turnip flowers, Turnip flowers for bees, turnips, vegetable growing | 16 Comments »
Last year in June, before the deer discovered it, the bees were on the Meadowfoam everyday.
If you’ve ever watched the bees on a Poached Egg Meadowfoam (Limnanthes Douglasii), you will want to grow some for your bees. Last year I bought 12 plants from my friendly nursery (101 Plants). The bees were on them everyday. Unfortunately, the deer discovered them, and mowed them down. This year I’m happy to say I found a source for seeds. I’m buying 1000 seeds for under $5.00 from Outside Pride in Oregon. With that many seeds, I can scatter them in quite a few areas (fenced in, this time). The bees will love them and so will I.
Another photo taken shortly before the deer decided to sample it last year.
I was under the mistaken impression that Meadowfoam was grown mostly in Oregon and Northern California, but I see the Royal Horticultural Society in Great Britain has a listing for it as a Poached Egg Plant.
The oil from Limnanthes Alba is valuable…According to Oregon Meadowfoam Growers, meadowfoam oil is 20 times more stable than soybean oil, which means it does not deteriorate as readily when exposed to air. A gallon of meadowfoam oil is worth about $200 retail.
February 2, 2014…the salvia is looking strong. Footnote…we replaced some bulbs in the light stand with the full spectrum bulbs this year hoping to lessen the legginess. These look good.
June 28, 2013…Penstemon is a great bumblebee attraction.
June 9, 2013…Honeybees are getting nectar from the Pincushion Flowers (Scabiosa)
Don’t forget the butterflies!
February 3, 2014…received my Butterflyweed seed package today. These bright flowers attract honeybees also.
One of the beekeeping blogs I follow, written by Emma Sarah Tennant, featured a TED talk by Marla Spivak, showing the reasons why bees are disappearing and how we can help them by planting habitat. We are proud to be a small part of a growing movement to help our wild pollinators.
Posted in Bee to Flower relationship, Bee-loving flowers, Natural Beekeeping, Poached Egg Meadowfoam | Tagged Bee on gaillardia, bee pollinating penstemon, bee-loving flowers, bees on Oregon Coast, bumblebee on Penstemon, bumblebees, bumblebees on Penstemon video, butterfly on pincushion flower, butterflyweed, Gardening, Limnanthus alba, Limnanthus Douglasii, macro nature video, meadowfoam, Meadowfoam bees, Oregon Coast bees, Outsidepride.com, penstemon, S, Salvia attracts bees, Scabiosa pollinator, Wild pollinators | 12 Comments »
- January 14, 2013…a beautiful warm day brought the bees out to the heather. I saw very few honeybees, but very many bombus Melanopygus (this one) and also Bombus vosnesenskii (yellow-faced bumbles)
Here you can see the pollen release. When the bee gets the nectar, the pollen shoots out.
As she grooms herself with her front legs, you can see what looks to be a static electricity charge on her bee fuzz…it shows up better on the video.
This short video shows a bumblebee (bombus Melanopygus) sipping nectar from heather in mid January. As she sips, pollen can be seen shooting out. Later she grooms herself. I noticed what looked to be a static electricity charge when her front legs combed her fuzzy head.
I didn’t want to interrupt the music so I added some video of my Bee-atrice log hive which didn’t make it through the sub freezing weather. I looked at a comb which had some capped honey as well as uncapped cells. I replaced the comb in the hopes that this hive will attract a swarm in spring.
It should be raining sideways this month. It’s not. After our cold snap, we’ve been enjoying daytime temperatures in the 50’s and 60’s F. (10’s and 20’s C) When I filmed this it was 71 F. (22 C). Our honeybees love it. They are bringing back yellow and orange pollen. I can’t figure where they’re getting it because the pussy willows aren’t blooming yet, but traffic is heavy as can bee seen on the video.
This is my second winter with bees. They don’t fly when it’s raining of course, but we do get breaks in the rain, the sun pops out and the bees are flying. I feel bad for the beekeepers that must tuck their charges to bed in the autumn and trust they will emerge when the weather warms up sometimes months later. I’m talking about people like Emily Heath among others in cold far away places. 🙂 I guess you could say I’m spoiled to be able to see them active during the winter. I don’t know what will happen in spring. It’s possible we’ll get our rain then…given the choice, I’d rather get it now. In any case the bees are making use of the warm weather.
How are your bees?
Posted in Bee to Flower relationship, Bee-loving flowers, Log hives, Music video, Natural Beekeeping, Videos, Warre Hive | Tagged bees on Oregon Coast, bombus melanopygus, bumblebees on heather, honey bees, Log hive wood carving, Log hives, macro nature video, macro photography, natural beekeeping, natural comb, nature photography, pollen shower, Verticle log hive, Warre hive, Wild pollinators, wood carving | 19 Comments »
This hive swarmed the very next day. Then it went on to throw 5 more swarms that we know about. Today, (mid January, 2014) it’s still our strongest hive with no intervention.
Whenever the subject of making splits, pulling off queen cells, or otherwise trying to prevent the hive from swarming comes up at the bee meeting, I am always reluctant to entertain the idea. To me it just didn’t sound natural. What guarantee would I have that I am selecting the best queen cells. But I can’t argue with the more experienced beekeepers because, well, I’m a new beekeeper with no experience. Recently I came across an article in Simple Bees, written by John Haverson, a British Beekeeper. He presents some compelling reasons why we should let the bees decide for themselves. Swarming Bees Healthy Bees Haverson
Posted in Swarms | Tagged beekeeping, honey bees, honeybee health, natural beekeeping | 4 Comments »
Our bicycles are nothing fancy, but they work to get us to the grocery store or post office, a distance of about three miles round trip.
Riding a bicycle for errands is a “win, win, win!” We don’t pollute, we don’t use gasoline, and we get some exercise…gets the cardiovascular circulation going. Of course we use the bicycle to get groceries and other items like crab shells and coffee grounds, too. Occasionally I’ll even deliver print jobs from a printer I know. A few years ago someone on NPR said he was trying to cut down on his carbon footprint by not driving at least one day a week. We thought that was a great idea, so in 2006 we set out to get at least 51 days without using a car.
The following are the totals of “Car-free days” per year and rainfall totals.
2006 59/365=16.2% No rainfall report.
2007 76/365=20.8% No rainfall report.
2008 134/366=36.6% No rainfall report.
2009 144/365=39.5% Total rainfall 49.27 inches (1251 mm) Avg. rainfall 64.41 inches.
2010 153/365=41.9% Total rainfall 66.1 inches (1679 mm) Avg. rainfall 64.43 inches.
2011 186/365=50.1% Total rainfall 39.16 inches (994 mm) Avg. rainfall 64.91 inches.
2012 162/366=44.3% Total rainfall 54.89 inches (1394 mm) Avg. rainfall 64.57 inches.
2013 149/365=40.8% Total rainfall 29.5 inches (749 mm) Avg. rainfall 64.57 inches. (Footnote: 2013 is driest year on record)
2014 183/365=50%. HOORAY!! 50% Car-free days, and that’s with 18″ more rainfall this year. Total rainfall is 47.58 inches (1233 mm) Avg. rainfall is 64.57 inches.
2015 180/365=49.3%. I couldn’t quite get my 50% car-free days. Rainfall for 2015 is 44.89 inches (1140 mm)
As you can see 2011 was our best year at 50.1%. That works out to be 3.5 car-free days a week. Rainfall was comparatively low that year, so it was easier to get around. The next year I started beekeeping so the numbers have dropped a bit since I started attending bee meetings, hanging bait hives, and chasing down swarms.
I’m proud of my home-made bicycle sign. I figure if I can make drivers smile, they won’t run over me. I’ve gotten many comments on this sign, but the best one was from a man who said he dialed the number and his wife answered. 🙂
Lumber loaded on bicycle trailer, barely clears ground.
I can’t remember what this lumber was for, but my little Burley Flat Bed trailer was able to get it (and me) home in one piece.
The point of car-free days is to try to limit our carbon footprint. We live in a small town so it’s easy for us to bicycle. If we lived in a large city with public transportation, we would use it. We feel that it’s important to cut down on our energy usage (and pollution) as much as possible.
Just for the record I want to add the totals from my little solar system…
12-31-13…..5139 Total Kilowatt hours produced from start up in June 2009
12-31-12…..3915 Total Kilowatt hours produced from start up in June 2009
1224 Kilowatt hours produced Jan. 1, 2013 to Dec. 31, 2013
12-31-13…..188.1 Total kilo-amp hours produced from start up in June 2009
12-31-12…..143.2 Total kilo-amp hours produced from start up in June 2009
44.9 Kilo-amp hours produce Jan. 1, 2013 to Dec. 31, 2013
1-1-14…..Zero’d out the meter today.
12-31-14…..45.6 Kilo-amp hours produced Jan. 1, 2014 to Dec. 31, 2014
12-31-15…..48.6 Kilo-amp hours produced Jan. 1, 2015 to Dec. 31, 2015
12-31-15…..1,320 Kilo wt hours produced Jan. 1, 2015 to Dec. 31, 2015
12-31-15…..Note to Pat…Did NOT zero out meter…Didn’t remember code. 😦
Posted in Burley bicycle trailer, Solar, Sustainable living, Uncategorized | Tagged bicycle trailer, bicycle transportation, Car-free days, Solar electricity, Sustainable living | 11 Comments »
December 27…Bees in Bee Beard Log Hive have found a pollen source late in the year. Natural comb can be seen in the rear. In the video, the bees can be seen entering the hive and moving downward in front of the comb.
December 27…Warre Hive is being fed with a dry sugar mix consisting of green tea, chamomile tea, nettle leaf extract oil, cane sugar, and a few other little gems. The sugar was placed on a 2″ x 2″ frame and positioned between the brood box and the quilt box, then sealed with red tape. I’m not real excited about feeding sugar to the bees. It’s possible that I won’t do that next year, but that’s what I said last year too. It’s the only hive that is being fed this year.
December 27…Even this little hive was flying today. The pink insulation is meant to cut the cold wind, but it still lets the hive breathe through the quilt box on top.
This short video shows the bees bringing in gobs of orange pollen.
Posted in Hives, Log hives, Natural Beekeeping, Videos, Warre Hive | Tagged beekeeping, bees on Oregon Coast, honey bees, Honeybees packing pollen, Log hive wood carving, Log hives, natural beekeeping, pollinators, Warre hive, Wild pollinators | 6 Comments »
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 