Posts Tagged ‘nature photography’
Garden Colors
Posted in Bee to Flower relationship, Bee Video, Bee-loving flowers, Bumblebees, Butterflies, tagged bee-loving flowers, beekeeping, Bees on hypericum, bees on Oregon Coast, bees pollinating turnip flowers, Bombus vosnesenskii, bumblebees, Carmen the cat, drip watering, echium, Gazania, honey bees, Mustard flowers, nature photography, Painted Lady butterfly, Pink echium towers, pollinators, solar cooking, Yellow-faced Bumble Bee on October 7, 2017| 13 Comments »
Foxy Garden
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Deer, doe, fawn, nature photography, red fox on August 7, 2017| 12 Comments »
I wasn’t surprised by the deer. We had been bribing the deer with little gifts of spent pea vines and leafed out fruit tree suckers. It was the ‘blur in the background’ that caught my attention. It wasn’t the first time we had seen the fox.
The fox was probably cleaning up the dropped plums. My wife wonders if foxes can eat cats. It looks big enough.
Speaking of deer…
Masons in the Meadowfoam
Posted in Bee to Flower relationship, Bee-loving flowers, Gardening, Natural Beekeeping, Videos, tagged German Wasp, Mason bee nesting blocks, mason bees, natural beekeeping, nature photography, pollinators, Potter wasp, Vespula Germanica, Wild pollinators on June 9, 2016| 21 Comments »
End of Summer Bee Hive Status
Posted in Bee Video, Hives, Log hives, Natural Beekeeping, Swarms, Tree hive, Videos, Warre Hive, tagged beekeeping, bees on Oregon Coast, Grand Kids Log Hive, Log hive wood carving, Log hives, natural beekeeping, natural comb, nature photography, Steve Montana, Swarms, Verticle log hive, Warre hive, Wild pollinators, wood carving on September 25, 2015| 8 Comments »
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.
Bees are Buzzing, Garden is Growing, Deer are ‘Devouring’
Posted in Bee Video, Bee-loving flowers, Birds Foot Trefoil, Birds Foot Trefoil pollination video, Bumblebees, Butterflies, Hugelkulture, Log hives, Macro bee video, Music video, Natural Beekeeping, Tower of Jewels, Videos, tagged Acanthus Mollis, African Blue Basil, Bear Breeches, Bee pollinating Bird's Foot Trefoil, bee-loving flowers, beekeeping, Bees and Hidcote Hypericum, Bees and St. John's Wort, Bees on blackberries, Bombus vosnesenskii, Circus Marcus, Crow squawking, Deer eating plum, Deer netting, deer netting in raised beds, echium, Free Music Archive, Gardening, honey bees, hugelkulture, iPhone video, Log hive wood carving, macro nature video, natural beekeeping, nature photography, Nepeta, Oyster Plant, Swallowtail butterfly, Tower of Jewels, Walker's Low on July 9, 2015| 14 Comments »
Mary’s Swarm Lands in the Backyard Birdhouse
Posted in Bee to Flower relationship, Bee-loving flowers, Natural Beekeeping, Poached Egg Meadowfoam, Swarms, Videos, Warre Hive, tagged bee-loving flowers, beekeeping, bees on Oregon Coast, honey bees, macro nature video, Mary Schamehorn, Mayor of Bandon, natural beekeeping, nature photography, poached egg meadowfoam, swarm, Warre hive, Wild pollinators on May 16, 2014| 10 Comments »
…that’s when she called me.
Okay, I’ve got to move the birdhouse out of the bee garden because, well, we’ve got to be able to weed and water without the bees buzzing us. After two days, I pre-dug a post hole, waited til night and ‘posted’ the birdhouse among the ferns about 20 feet away. (Something most beekeepers would tell you NOT to do because the bees might not be able to find their way back to the hive.) I stuffed tissue paper into the entrance hole so the bees would notice something was different. They would have to make orientation flights all over again. I’m thinking that maybe the Warre was too close to the birdhouse…if I move it away, maybe they will want it more. My wife said I was crazy to think that. I says, ‘maybe,’ but we’ve got to get it out of the way.
Mayor Mary’s side of the story… (Scroll towards the bottom til you see the birdhouse swarm)
The Creek Runs Through It
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged creek goes underground, Disappearing creek, nature photography, nature video, nature vs building on February 19, 2014| 6 Comments »
Even Bumblebees Get Mites, (Lots of Them)
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 on February 13, 2014| 15 Comments »
Bees Enjoy Winter Turnip Flowers (and more)
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 on February 12, 2014| 16 Comments »
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.
Bees Welcome the Mid-January Warm Weather
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 on January 17, 2014| 19 Comments »
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?