Honey Bees

"Alfred Dürer, 1514: Eros, Venus and the bees. "Eros stung by a bee, when he inhaled the pleasant fragrance of a rose, went crying to take refuge in the arms of Venus," Dear mother, I die, have mercy on me, a flying snake bit me painfully cheek " Anacreontic singing, 6th c. av. AD " from Launceston Beekeepers blog.


"Anacreontics are verses in a meter used by the Greek poet Anacreon in his poems dealing with love and wine" (wikipedia)


While on the topic of Greek mythology and bees, or honey, "MELISSEUS was the rustic Daimon (Spirit) of honey and the art of beekeeping... closely identified with the Euboian Aristaios, who was also the reputed discoverer of honey...Melisseus may also be related to the Titan-god Astraios (the starry one), for the amber-coloured (êlektron or soukinos) honey-sap (melissa) which bees were believed to collect from flowers and trees was often described as star-fallen (astron). from theoi.com

The herb Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) has a lemon scent which is thought to attract bees. Lemongrass oil is used to attract swarming bees to new hives, and a bee phermone is reminiscent of lemon.  Lemon balm grows like a weed for me.  I've been trying to control it in my yard for a decade.  Now I'll replant some near the beehive, when I get that far. Pic from Wikipedia entry for lemon balm.

Ning and his Chickens

The sex-linked pullets are growing fast. I'm convinced they'll be bigger than Turkeys. Maybe ostriches.

Kitchen Garden / Raised Beds

Today I built a raised bed for late winter seed planting.  Prep for Spring keeps me in a good mood.

It's easier to build the raised bed on a flat surface, in a sheltered location.  So I built it in a shed.  The wood is already cut, I planned ahead.  So it's like putting together a kit.  Except I made the kit.

This time I stapled chicken wire to the bottom to protect the bed from moles, but I did not apply cardboard to the bottom.  I've used cardboard ot prevent growth of perennial weeds up through the bed.  I don't think that's required with this depth.  The lining, to protect the wood a bit / slow degradation due to the enriched organic soil, is made from big woven-plastic dog food bags.  Rugged.  Free. Reused.

Filled a bit more than half way with soil I dug in Nov or Dec, and yard waste compost I bought then as well.  Not too muddy.  Next weekend I can mix a little better, and add soil/compost mix to the top.  Will use better quality leaf compost for the top portion.

I also added 5 pounds of coffee grounds.  Feed the soil.  The soil will feed the plants.

This will have a little time to settle, then  ready for radishes, brassicas, spinach, scallions.  Cold weather vegetables.

The garlic is frozen.  Taking a photo is good for reference for next year.  It always looks dead at this time, then revives in a month or two.

Hard to see here, but this is the Ixia experiment.  I noticed they grew a few inches. The question now:  Will they survive freezing.  Maybe.  Maybe not.

Seed Testing. Progress Report.

Very happy with this project.  I'm learning which seeds to plant when Spring arrives.  Also learning refinements on how to test them.

Batch prepared Jan 8.  So 4 days from starting.  The tomatoes have not sprouted.  Neither has the cilantro.  All, or almost all, of the Butternut Squash, Champion Radish, and Tevera bean have sprouted.

More stated Jan 8.  Nearly all of the seeds have sprouted - Black Seeded Simpson lettuce, Basil, Hailstone radish, Okra North/South, and early Cucumber.  The mesclun is a mix, some have sprouted, some not.

I composted these, to start another batch.  Except I ate the radish sprouts.

I'm very pleased with this method.  It's easy to set up, easy to see what sprouted, and quick.  So I did it again with more seeds.  This is Signet Marigold, 2006; Cayenne Pepper 2008, Tyee Spinach 2009, a Red Chinese Radish from 2003, Hungarian Yellow Wax Pepper 2006, and Red Icicle Radish, date not legible but starting 200 so probably 2009 or 2008.  That 2003 Radish is a long shot.

This is what I'm doing now.  Draw the lines and label the paper towel with ballppoint pen.  Lay on a piece of wax paper the same size.  Add some seeds of each variety.  Moisten the paper towel around the seeds, using a spoon to add water.  That holds the seeds in place.

Then fold over the paper towel, moisten so the entire towel is moist but not dripping wet.  Also fold over the wax paper.  The wax paper makes the paper towel easy to place into zip lock bag.  Place in zip lock bag.

Holding up to light, the seeds are easily viewed.  Sprouts show well, for seeds with vigorous or sturdy sprouts, like radishes, squash, beans, cucumbers.

Now they go onto the heating mat.  When I checked last year, it ran about 80 or 85 degrees F.

Varmint Continues to Chew Fig Trees.

Petite negri.  Chewed bark.  Branches snipped of completely.

The only new damage to any trees or shrubs, is the figs.  And that's every small fig plant.  None was totally spared.

So now I've placed chicken wire screening around each of them.  It won't stop the damage that's already happened, but maybe it'll make life more difficult for the guilty varmint.

Sal's Fig.  Some chewing damage to bark.  Buds chewed off.  I think it will come back OK with minimal damage.  Now covered with chicken wire.  Some side bark is chewed, but I think it will survive.

Petite negri with chicken wire.  Mice could get through it, but I don't think it's mice.  I don't think mice could carry away the twigs that are missing.

King fig.  It's really a clean snip.  No twig nearby.  It was only a foot tall anyway, but dammit.  Lower buds should give a comeback in Spring.

King and Petite negri are duplicates.  I can start more if needed.

I read that animals don't like fig plants due to the toxic latex sap.   So why are they going after the fig plants, and only the fig plants?

Earlier this fall, the flowers were eaten off a Red Twig Dogwood.  They were at about 3 foot height, clean cut as with these King fig plants.  That's why I think it's the damn deer.