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geofflambert -> RE: OT Things to ponder (9/3/2016 11:33:31 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: wdolson
Additionally mosquitoes are nocturnal, spraying for them during the day is not going to be effective.
On a tangential note, I was watering in the greenhouse the other day and thinking about the citrus trees that were in full bloom and covered with bees. I suspect there is a wild honeybee colony or two in the neighborhood, but if someone is raising bees I wonder what they are going to think when they get citrus honey. Washington State is not known for its citrus for a reason.
No shortage of bees around here. I cultivate mason bees in the spring to pollinate my fruit trees, the honey bees come out in legions when the temps reach the 50s, and they love the rosemary bushes which bloom in February and March. This year we discovered a bumble bee nest under the deck. We were cleaning out under there, but decided to leave them alone when the nest was uncovered.
I like to encourage bees, though the citrus trees have also turned into a praying mantis feeder. I've seen a big female in there off and on when watering the last couple of weeks. She's usually hunkered down which is what they do when they aren't hungry, and this time of year a female needs to be very well fed to not be hungry. I buy praying mantis egg cases every year and put them out as they hatch. They spread out across the neighborhood and I notice none of the neighbors use pesticides.
The Chinese praying mantises don't breed well here though. The warm season is too short. I hatch them in ziplocks in the house and put them out. There is no shortage of prey in the spring, it's just they aren't adapted to this climate and they don't get the "hatch" trigger until they are exposed to several days of above 70F temps which usually doesn't happen here until late June, but I can get them to hatch in late March/April indoors.
Bill
I'm going to go tangentially to your tangent. [:'(] Many years ago Francis Ford Coppola got his hands on some pasta making machinery that was brass. Everything at the time and now, I believe, is stainless steel. The brass machinery would cause the pasta to fracture in such a way that the end product would carry more sauce.
I got some of his pasta and it was amazing. But I got something else too. He also sold some olive oil made from olives that grew near citrus groves. The bees somehow transferred something to the olives, when you opened a can of his olive oil you could smell the oranges. That was the best olive oil I ever had, by far. Unfortunately he is in his dotage now and these unique products are no longer available.
He also produced some wine but I'm entering my dotage [:D] and don't remember what it was like.
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