After checking the honeybees this week, I was dismayed at how little honey they had made for themselves this summer.
Looking at the number of honey combs that were filled, it became evident to me that probably only a third of the hives would yield enough honey for me to safely harvest.
Honeybees collect flower nectar and pollen through the summer and process it into honey which gets stored onto combs so that they have enough to eat during our long, cold winters. Any surplus is then collected by the beekeeper.
I talked with another beekeeper who said he noticed the same thing in his apiary and others were reporting similar findings. He even thought that some of his bees were consuming some of the honey that the bees were supposed to be saving for this winter. We concluded that this summer had less than ideal flower growing and bee foraging conditions.
The season started out promising then some areas were hit by dry weather conditions. When it did rain, the storms were usually widely scattered. The timing of the rains may not have coincided with the flowers’ water needs for optimum nectar production. At times, we had rain when flowers were blooming. Since bees do not fly in the rain, they were unable to get out and collect nectar.
So what do we do? Some beekeepers are feeding sugar syrup to their weakest hives hoping that the bees will store some for winter use. Others have already harvested their honey after deciding which hives were the most productive. The rest are hoping that the bees will be able to collect enough nectar and pollen from the Goldenrods which are in full bloom right now. Of course that all depends upon the weather. We may end up having higher than normal bee losses this winter because of this summer’s weather conditions.
If you keep a colony or two of bees, now would be a good time to check your hives, assess their condition and make a decision on whether or not your bees need some extra help this fall.
September 22, 2010
Less Than Ideal Summer for Honeybees
September 9, 2010
Start Planning For Frost
These cool nights are a reminder to me to start looking for my frost covering that I use in the garden each fall.
You may think it is too early to start thinking about frost but keep in mind that in some locations away from the urban areas, frost is entirely possible. For example for our readers in Lapeer, there is a ten percent probability of the temperature reaching 32F on September 5th. In Monroe there is a ten percent probability of it reaching 36F by September 27th.
I’m keeping this in mind as I go through my stuff this fall and will start to gather my garden covers and put them some place where I can get to them.
I may be a little early but this year when the really cold temperatures arrive, I’ll be ready for it.
Bob
August 31, 2010
New Threat to Walnut Trees
Another potential disease problem is over the horizon threatening our local trees. This time it is the Black Walnuts that are at risk.
A fungal infection called Thousand Cankers has been killing Black Walnut trees in the western part of the United States for several years. It has been confined to nine states in the Rocky Mountain area and westward until July of this year. Its range seemed to be associated with a different walnut called the Arizona Walnut. Black Walnut is not native to that particular area but was brought in and planted by arborists, landscapers and others.
This summer it was confirmed that the disease had spread to at least one location in the Eastern USA, Knoxville Tennessee. Scientists now believe that it may have been present there for a number of years without anyone knowing about it.
At this time Thousand Canker disease is NOT present in Michigan.
The disease is caused by a fungus which is carried by a very tiny beetle called The Walnut Twig Beetle. Despite its name the Twig Beetle attacks larger branches or even the trunk of Black Walnut Trees by tunneling under the bark. They leave small “galleries” or tunnels in the wood caused by the beetle larvae feeding there.
When the larvae mature into adults they emerge from the branches out of small holes chewed through the bark. The fungus then infects the damaged area and causes a small lesion or “canker”. These cankers spread very fast and merge together eventually moving from the outer bark into the cambium layer. Each branch has a tremendous number of cankers which is how the disease got its name.
The cankers themselves are often difficult to see and identify. A special lab test is needed for positive identification.
There is no cure or control for either the Twig Beetle or Thousand Cankers, plant pathologists are working on that though.
In the meanwhile we can help slow down the spread of this problem by not moving firewood just like we do to prevent Emerald Ash Borer from spreading.
There is no federal quarantine on moving wood products but the State of Michigan has issued its own quarantine against shipping articles made of wood from certain western states.
The USDA Forest Service has a good publication on this problem.
As I mentioned earlier, Thousand Cankers is not present in Michigan at this time. Keep in mind that there are a lot of other things that can cause a tree to show signs of die-back other than this disease.
Bob
August 17, 2010
Parasitized Tomato Hornworm
There seems to be an abundance of Hornworms in the garden this year. A couple of posts ago I discussed picking the pests off of the plants by hand as one way of controlling them.
This morning while picking even more Hornworms off the tomatoes, I came across one that I though you should see. It had been parasitized by a small insect known as a braconid wasp.
These tiny wasps fly around the garden looking for likely victims. When they find a suitable host, they sting the caterpillar and lay their eggs inside its body. The eggs hatch and the larvae feed on the innards the worm. As the wasp larvae near the pupation stage, they chew through the caterpillar’s skin and spin small white cocoons made of silk which remain stuck on the surface of their host. The cocoons are sometimes mistaken for eggs by some gardeners.
This Hornworm has 3 or 4 dozen cocoons on its back. Each cocoon contains one wasp that will emerge and begin hunting more caterpillars to parasitize.
Days later the new fully-developed adult wasps will emerge from the cocoons and fly off to find new caterpillars to parasitize. Needless to say the caterpillar does not survive the procedure, which is good news for us gardeners.
The adult flying wasp does get hungry but does not eat caterpillars instead it feeds on nectar from flowers
If you find a caterpillar with these cocoons on its body, leave it undisturbed where you found it so that you will have dozens more helpers in the battle against the Tomato Hornworm.
Bob
August 16, 2010
Blackberry Jam
We”ll be finishing up the last of our wild blackberry jam this week… making it not eating it.
One batch of blackberry jam.
Our blackberries have been producing quite well for a number of weeks now. We only have a few plants but as long as we keep picking them, it seems like they keep on producing.
You need to pick this many berries for one batch of jam which will give you ten half-pint jars.
In our little corner of the township we have been experiencing a mini-drought, so the berries are not as large as they usually are. Even so, we’ll have nearly 50 half-pints of blackberry jam made up to give out as Christmas presents this year.
If you or someone you know is out of work and out of money and is worrying about what they’ll give for Christmas to all of the extended family members, I suggest you think about making some jam or jelly to give away as gifts. It really doesn’t take much of an investment in cash, it just takes some time.
Perhaps you don’t have berry plants of your own, ask around maybe somebody has a berry patch that they will let you pick from. There are also pick-your-own farms within reasonable driving distance from anywhere in Michigan.
Blackberries are winding down in our part of the state but blueberries are still going strong and we have raspberries and grapes to look forward to as well.
Never made jam or jelly before? It’s pretty easy to do all you need is fruit, sugar, pectin and a few jars from the grocery store. Then just follow the simple directions that comes along with every box of fruit pectin.
Even if money is tight, by making jelly or jam, you’ll have much of your Christmas list taken care of early this year.
Bob and Judy