With spring arriving and fruit trees starting to open their buds, it is time to think about pollinators. Among the first to visit my orchard are the mason bees (genus Osmia), often considered the best general pollinators, delivering much more pollen from flower to flower than honey bees. Mason bees are extremely efficient pollinators because […]
pollinators
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Equinoctial To-Do and Native Plants
As we approach the autumnal equinox, there are plenty of things to do in your garden. Sure, the calendar says that summer is coming to an end, but we often get some of the nicest and warmest weather in September and October here on the coast. What things should you think about as the days […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Gardening for Caterpillars?
Here’s some good news for gardeners who are concerned about the environment: We can make an important, positive impact by the plant choices we make in our gardens. How do you choose plants? I remember that when I started gardening, I wanted flowers, flowers and more flowers, lots of color and fragrance. I think for […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Early Spring Pollinators
Spring is on the way. I saw my first trillium bloom of the year, and the daffodils and stone fruit trees are in full bloom. The last few sunny days have brought forth pollinators. I think it’s kind of a chicken-and-egg problem. The flowers get pollinated by bugs. If the flowers aren’t open the insects […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Partial Sun, Chance of Butterflies and Bees
Well, at least we had one sunny day. Along with the rest of us, the insects crawled from their hidey holes in bark crevasses, burrows in the ground and old wood. A couple of days ago I got a brief glimpse of what I suspected was a California tortoiseshell butterfly (Nymphalis californica). Sometimes, for reasons […]
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HumBug: Honeybees are Loveable and Love Plums
Honeybees are everyone’s favorite. After all, they pollinate our crops, make wax and honey, their language is a dance and they are the perfect model of a socialist society. They toil tirelessly gathering nectar and pollen, cleaning and building their home, and tending to the needs of the queen, who in turn produces eggs which […]
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HumBug: Clever Orchids
Today I was discouraged that there were a lot of people down along “my” stretch of the river. They stir up the bugs, making getting good shots difficult. Sure enough, although I saw several dragonflies, none seemed in the mood to pose, so I walked near the outer edge of the riverbed where the trees […]
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HumBug: Mystery Markings
I can’t say how long it’s been since I first noticed many of the honeybees in my backyard appeared to have been marked. Their thoraxes looked white and dusty on top. At first I thought they might have been branded by the owner of their hive. A tiny brush near the entrance to the hive […]
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HumBug: In the Key of Bee
We’ve finally had three days of warmish weather and the garden is abuzz with the sounds of busy bees. If you listen carefully, you can hear each species with its own pitch and rhythm. There is, of course, the familiar drone of the honeybee and the heavy bass of the yellow faced bumble bee (Bombus […]
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HumBug: Beacon Islands on a Dreary Day
It was sunny when I went to get my hiking boots but by the time I got dressed and out the door, it was 49 degrees and drizzling. I went anyway. The path down to the river was dark, the only sounds were the gentle “pok, pok” of water dripping from branches. The burning in […]
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HumBug: Feed Me, Seymour
Once, when I was a kid, my mom sent me out to the garage to get some hamburger from the old chest freezer. When I opened the lid I was nearly bowled over by the smell. Someone had left it unplugged for weeks and the half side of beef had turned nasty. You may wonder what […]
Posted inNews
HumBug: Serendipity
Taking macro photos of insects in the wild is kind of like hunting. If everything goes well you find a subject, get the shot and bag your prey. Unlike deer hunting, you do not need to carry home a dead animal and dress it out in the garage, there is no season and, as of yet, […]