The Oil Drum | DrumBeat: June 24, 2009

135 comments on DrumBeat: June 24, 2009

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Ignorant on June 24, 2009 - 9:17am

For anyone who's interested in gardening, a patch of flowering milkweed and wild asters are REALLY great for attracting loads of native bees. Also, stepping out and getting overwhelmed by the milkweed flower's fragrance and seeing the bees buzzing around is a real waker-upper in the morning.

I've noticed that milkweed is grown in public parks in Canada, but is considered a noxious weed in the US.

As a kid I used to hang out (when my parents visited the guy) with a bee keeper. In my whole life I only got stung by a bee only once, and that was when I stuck my hand in a place where I shouldn't have.

Just rambling on today....

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Odysseus on June 24, 2009 - 10:45am

My favorite bee-friendly plant is borage. Bees simply love the blue flowers on it. I planted it several years ago and now get so many volunteer plants each season that I have to thin them. The flowers are delicious for humans too and the leaves as well if cooked right - nice cucumber taste. My chickens also love munching on the plants. The seeds are a concentrated source of GLA fatty acids. Borage is worth planting if you have a bare corner of the yard. No maintenance needed.

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whaleoil on June 24, 2009 - 11:25am

Milkweed is a constant battle in my garden in the Adirondacks. ZERO honeybees in garden or clover in field. Some bumblebees, they seem to be immune so far. Wasps and hornets also very few in number.

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jteehan on June 24, 2009 - 11:49am

Good morning. It's good to ramble.

For whatever reason, the central coast of California is abuzz with bees. I personally prefer not to get stung, and my daughter who is disabled couldn't defend herself if attacked, so I'm usually somewhat panicky about bees.

However, as a new backyard farmer, seeing the bees continuously buzzing the plants has had a tremendous impact on my understanding of bees and my attitude towards them. Especially in light of all the reports I've read about the bees disappearing.

So I make sure my daughter is appropriately protected, and I make an effort to increase my personal spine support and now regard the bees as guest.

One question for those of you in the know. Are wasps (and I don't mean angry republicans) good for plants as well?

Thanks. I hope everybody enjoys a nice early summer day. Unemployment is not all bad.

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ET on June 24, 2009 - 12:17pm

Wasps AFAIK are predators and usually good for a garden. Yellow-jackets, for example, feast on cabbage loopers.

EDIT: Actually, I believe the wasps lay their eggs on or in their caterpillar prey, and the larvae do the feasting.

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absitively on June 24, 2009 - 1:27pm

Some types of adult wasps also eat cabbage worms directly. A cole crop plant under attack by worms emits compounds that attract wasps..

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boby on June 24, 2009 - 12:24pm

A couple of tips concerning bees from a beekeeper. Bees that are foraging on plants will not "attack" a person unless aggressive behavior is shown toward them. They will become aggressive at the hive if the hive itself is in danger. Bees will be attracted to carbon dioxide emitted from an animal or if a person is wearing a strong perfume. The worst thing you can do is to swing wildly at a bee. This is viewed as aggressive behavior by the bee. If a bee buzzes near your face, hold your breath and be still. Beekeepers generally just ignore them; you get used to them buzzing around. If one is going to sting you, she won't fool around buzzing your head first. Remember, a honey bee only has one sting and she dies after using it.
Wasps are good for garden plants due to the fact they are carnivorous and consume huge quantities of insect pests that ravage gardens. I have seen people put coffee cans on metal fenceposts around the garden to attract wasp nests for this reason. Bummer if you back into a post while mowing the yard though.

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oldfarmermac on June 24, 2009 - 1:12pm

New Farmers,
Domestic honey bees are generally so peaceful that you can work in thier midst for years w/o getting stung by the one in a million bee with an attitude,but do NOT disturb the hive unless you know what you are doing.An accidental lick on the backswing of your scythe,or a loud racket like a lawn mower to close does occasionally elicit a sting.

But peaceable as honey bees are,I have been stung many times by them,most often by wrapping my hand around a ripe apple or peach to pick it with an unseen bee feeding on it.Can't blame THAT bee.

Yellow jackets and all other local colony dwelling wasps wasps of my acquaintance are VERY aggressive if you disturb the nest-which is VERY easy to do accidentally,AS MOST ARE IN LOW HANGING WEEDS OR UNDER GROUND.A jacket nest entrance is usually only around an inch in diameter,even if the colony is a very vigorous one.

Although they are useful predators we usually destroy yellow jacket colonies located w/i ten feet or so of any area we work regularly-but they are so common here you won't miss even a dozen colonies locally.

If you do disturb a colony,just move away as quickly as you reasonably can.If they follow you,which does happen,it won't often be more than maybe a hundred feet.

If necessary,turn at right angles to your escape path after well away,which will help throw them off.

I hear about somebody sensitive to bee sting dying in this general area just about every year,so if you are sensitive,get your doctor to prescribe the adrenalin injection kit or whatever she prefers and carry it religiously when gardening .

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airdale on June 24, 2009 - 5:27pm

OFM,

Bee stings do not seem to bother me but a mason bee or funny bumble bee stung my right hand and it took a week for the swelling to go down. They were in the ground next to an old grape vine that came back from the dead and I was pulling weeds next to.

What ever it was had some white on its body and slightly smaller than a full grown bumble bee.

As a kid we used to capture bumblebees in a certain flower. Just fold it up with them inside...maybe..it was hollyhocks..yes it was. Big flower and bumblebees all over it. Take it too a girl cousin and hand it too her..then run like hell.

Airdale

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sgage on June 24, 2009 - 5:34pm

We used to do the same thing with foxgloves - a short tubular flower. You could easily pinch it shut and feel the bumblebee buzzing inside.

Another anecdotal data point: here in Central NH, not a single honeybee have I seen this year. And yet the fruit set on my apples is phenomenal. I'm afraid it's going to be like 2 years ago, when I actually had a couple of branches break on my Macoun tree from the weight of the fruit!

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oldfarmermac on June 24, 2009 - 5:54pm

Yeah Airdale,
you NEVER FORGET WHEN ANYTIHG THAT LOOKS LIKE A BUMBLE BEE STINGS.Been there only a couple of times-two more than enough.

About the swarm-It's a real pity that you weren't able to get that on film,but it may have been pre-camcorder days.

Local beekeepers have lost about half thier hives but we have plenty of wild bees locally,and some are superb fruit pollinators.That probably accounts for the other comments about fruit set w/o seeing any honey bees.Can't remember thier name but only a couple of the little buggers can pollinate a small orchard-one visit per blossom is enough.

But they are solitary.Research is ongoing to see if ways can be found to enhance thier numbers.

I've helped work bees a few times without getting dressed for it and gotten away w/o getting stung,but you can't count on it.

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boby on June 24, 2009 - 9:55pm

Probably was a bumblebee; they nest in the ground in old mouse holes. According to what I have read, they vary in size from year to year according to the quality of forage.
Hit a nest couple years back while brush hogging and one got me in the earhole a couple times. Bumblebees have smooth stingers and can sting multiple times. Thought someone had shoved a red hot poker in there.
I didn't have much chance to outrun them on my old Massey in grandma low,thankfully there was the only the one to get me.

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airdale on June 24, 2009 - 5:23pm

My experience with honey bees is this after raiding a naturally downed bee tree. A big oak with a very large hive.

A friend had came to me to ask me to sharpen his chainsaw. He told me he was going to save a bee hive in a blown down oak tree a few miles away..I told him I would sharpen it for free but I was going to go help him with the bees.

So we did. And he cut with the chainsaw right thru the trunk and right thru the middle of a lot of comb.Yet the bees were fairly docile.

I smoked my pants and shirt and squatted right beside him as he transferred lots of comb into his frame he brought along with a super of some kind.

It was about a three hour job. What I observed was that you do NOT want to wear dark colored clothes for this resembles a bear...bees enemy and they sorta do not like those colors. I was ok in that regard.

The bees would do their thing and load up on honey so not prone to sting. Every once in a while one would circle my head round and round doing the crazy bee song....buzzing very loud..this meant he was telling me to be careful...and I never never swung at them as my friend cautioned.

After a while I noticed some stingers left behind on my shirt sleeve. Had never seen a bee on my sleeves but there they were.

Later another guy drove up,one I knew and who the guy stealing the hive was getting the bees for since he had no hives and wanted one.

Funny but soon as he got near the bees went right at him and tried to tell him to back off. At 15 feet they started to sting him. He was a sorta asshole kinda guy and then started swinging at them even as we yelled to him to not do that.

I was still squatting right over the opening in the trunk and judging the honey and comb. It was really black and my friend said not really edible.

Later we seen the queen. Everywhere the queen walked about 5 minutes later a bunch of bees would follow her trail unerringly. He picked her up and put her in the super he brought and after a bit some bees went there. He then set that box near the open trunk, gathered up his frame and hung it in the box/super...left for the night.

Next day the whole hive was in it. My friend did not wear a veil nor did I. I just set and watched and handled a few. Very docile. I think they can almost understand what you are about. I never got stung. Not once.

That day I learned a lot about bees. These looked to be Italians that had went feral.

Next year a hive was swarming and came down into my driveway a lit on a yellow pine branch about 5 feet off the ground. I walked out and watched them form up from about 2 feet away. They were loaded with honey and not in a position to sting unless I became a threat.

I told my little nephew to come out and watch but he wouldn't come near and my wife was up at the loghouse almost screaming at us to get away,get away....I remained with the bees and brought them a bucket of water for the night.

Next morning I walked out to check and they were coming apart..it was a huge ball of bees but starting to become airborne. As they finally all resolved into one huge swirling mass I walked into the middle of them..about 5 feet to 8 feet off the ground and they started to move across my meadow...I walked in the cloud with them to the woodline and at that point they shot upwards to tree top level and moved rapidly off over the nearby woods.

Apparently scouts had been out and located a good tree for the hive.I felt a sudden loss at that time as they exited stage right and were soon gone,,the sound of a full swarm in motion slowly faded away...it was exciting and welll spiritual if you must know.

I remember it vividly to this very day. Haven't seen another swarm since then. And now the bees around here are almost all gone. I hope not for good.

I had planned to start construction on a 'nuc hive' this spring..garden says otherwise but I hope to soon. There is something about bees that gets in your head. At least mine.

Airdale-I wrote this as I saw it and remember it..it sounds like a fairy tale as I reread it...full of nature and little gradspeak...sorry but nature doesn't do much scholarly dissertations.
What you see is what you get.

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greenish on June 24, 2009 - 10:56pm

I got the chance to step into a swarm and walk with it once for a ways, and I felt the same, it was a privilege and a spiritual thing. By my standards anyhow.

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WNC Observer on June 25, 2009 - 9:25am

Some of my bees decided they didn't like their home last year, and I happened to be home and saw it. They all flew around the hive for a while making quite a commotion, then all up to a treetop into a ball for about half an hour or so, then they broke up and headed off to who knows where. I didn't have an extra hive ready to capture a swarm, so I was just as glad that they didn't hang around anywhere close by! ;-)

Surprisingly, the hive they left behind continued on just fine. I worried about their re-queening themselves for a couple of weeks, but finally I started seeing new brood, and they rebounded in population very quickly. Still going strong this year.

Maybe the colony knew that the old queen wasn't quite up to snuff, and she got the hint and left gracefully while she could!

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airdale on June 25, 2009 - 9:32am

What I read WNC is that when they begin making queen cells that the time for a swarm is approaching.

There is a guy who made an electronic device to detect changes in the frequencies of sounds within the hive..a certain frequency is a clue that the wings are doing what they have to do to get ready for a swarm..their whole activity changes, like they quit storing honey or fanning it to reduce the moisture or something similiar...

Intended to save the plans and build one but got sidetracked.A fairly simple circuit as I recall.

Airdale

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beingtime on June 24, 2009 - 1:42pm

What makes honey bees so valuable as pollinators is that they tend to pollinate true to type. That is, worker bees (the sterile females) working on one flower (sweet clover, for example, or alfalfa--honey bees cannot reach the nectar in red clover, which is why bumble bees are usually the ones working that) work only the alfalfa or whatever it is. When a flow in their plant stops (at certain times of the day), they tend to rest in the hive, rather than switching to another plant. The effect of this is to maximize pollen from one plant (sunflowers, e.g.) being transferred to another plant of the same species. Consequently, there is fertilization of the plants and not mixing of pollen from different species of plants.

If you watch bumble bees or wasps and hornets, they tend to fly about from one flower to another. Not so useful for pollinating.

This is definitely a drive-by "discussion" of honey bee pollination! :o)

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airdale on June 24, 2009 - 5:31pm

Beingtime, you are absolutey correct.

They will work the locust flow and nothing else then switch..this enables a good beekeeper to sell you Tulip Popular honey or locust honey or sourwood honey or run of the mill clover honey...They pull the frames are just the right time and thereby capture just one flow...

Tupelo being top grade, then sourwood, then on down to finally clover.

I prefer that dark tulip popular honey above all else but right now you are just not going to get any. Its not there anymore. Those days are gone.

Airdale

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oldfarmermac on June 24, 2009 - 6:03pm

Airdale,I'll trade you a few cases of poplar for the same of sourwood and meet you halfway any time.

So our problems are reversed in relation to these two kinds of trees.

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Escape Artist on June 24, 2009 - 3:40pm

My wife once put Reemay on a garden in early spring, accidentally trapping a wasp underneath. We noticed that it killed all of the slugs, and also seemed to be pollinating the flowers. We've often thought about deliberately repeating the experiment, but we've never taken the trouble of actually catching a wasp.

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Sterling925 on June 24, 2009 - 3:12pm

Milkweed (Asclepias sp.) Are not considered a noxious weed in the US by butterfly and habitat gardeners. In addition to bees, many butterflies are attracted to Asclepias. Some Asclepias are infact of awesome beauty. Right now in the US from the east coast to Kansas you'll see the beautiful Orange Butterfly Weed along the roads and highways, Ascelpias tuberosa, covered with insects and butterflies. The Monarch butterfly is particularly well associated with these marvelous plants.