Winter Bee Hive Maintanance

Winter Bee Hive Maintenance Tips

Baxter St. Gardener 12/13/2014

http://2sassytravelers-baxtergardener.blogspot.com/

Well I was talking with Ms. Wiggins of Bluebird Gardens Quilts and Gifts, about seeing deadbees at the entrance to the hive.  She told me this die off is normal for the winter time.

She also told me to remove the entrance reducer and sweep out the dead bees that are inside hive on the screen of the hive bottom.  She said that when she first started keeping bees she found that the entrances to her hives were totally blocked by the bodies of dead bees that had died off during the winter.

              

I purchased a flat, .69¢ yard stick.

I marked one end of the yard stick and cut it off to making a point. 

Cut out the poi

Mark angle to cut out your point

I removed the entrance reducer

I slid the yard stick in along one side of the hive bottom, on top of the screen, to the back of the hive bottom……

...slowly sweeping the dead bees out of the bottom of the hive.  I repeated this step on the other side of the hive bottom.

 Using this .69¢ yard stick trick worked well for this winter maintenance job.

The ¼ inch hardware cloth you see on the front of the hive body is a device Mr. Mike

Credit of Mark Twain Bee Keepers Club, fabricated for me.   The openings of the hardware cloth are big enough for my bees to come and go, but small enough so wasps can’t get through.  It also serves as a mouse guard.

Removing Squash Bug Eggs

Removing

Squash Bug (Anasa tristis) Eggs

07/2014 Baxter St. Gardener

The other day I was out in the garden crushing Squash Bug eggs with my fingers and my Leatherman pliers.  That night I had a thought, “What if I were to use Duck-Tape to lift these eggs off the plant???” 

The next day I thought I would give this idea a try. I tore off about a 2 inch by 2 inch (5 cm X 5 cm) square of Duck-tape to try this.

I firmly placed the Duck-tape over the Squash Bug eggs and lifted the eggs off the plant.I found that removing the eggs off flat surfaces, like the tops of the squash leaves and stems were easy. 

Lifting the eggs off the underside of the leaves, in the crevasses along the vanes, was a little more difficult. To remove the eggs in the crevasses I found I needed to fold the tape and press it in the crevasses to lift them off.

I have done this a couple of times now and found that I don’t damage the leaves as much removing the eggs this way.  When I am finished, I just fold over the tape with the eggs stuck to it, and throw it all away.

No hatching eggs, less future Squash Bug problems and no insecticides!

Buying Riding Lawn Mower Blades

Riding Mower Blades

(October 2012)

The other day I went to purchase new mower blades for my Craftsman riding mower. My mower has a 48” deck with three blades.

The “Craftsman 48 inch Premium Bagging Blades” from Sears (71 24679) were $24.99 apiece ($24.99 X 3 blades = $74.97).

Lowes sells a Husqvarna 3-Pack of 48-inch Bagging Mower Blades (HU22027) for $41.98.

From everything I can see the blades are identical in size and thickness.  Both sets of blades had the number 180054 stamped on them, and the MFR/Part # only differs by one digit HOP F341 (Sears) vs HOP F361 (Husq). 

So, with a cost savings of $32.99 ($74.97 - $41.98 = $32.99), you know where I will be buying my mower blades.

Building A Wheelchair Accessible Raised Garden Bed

Building A Wheelchair Accessible Raised Garden Bed

Well today was the day we built the wheelchair accessible raised bed at the Salem Community Garden.  This was truly a community effort.  Thomas Logging donated 9 - 7”X 9”X 9’ oak timbers, Todd Kinerk  of Kinerk Saw Mill delivered the timbers and donated the 10” spikes, Parker’s Ready Mix of  Salem donated 2 yards of gravel and Paul Camden donated and delivered the top soil. Todd suggested placing the bed on the parking lot’s asphalt.  He said this way there will not be an issue of the ground being too soft to traverse with a wheelchair.

Our finished bed measured 21” high, 42” wide and 108” long, with the actual plantable area measuring 7.5 feet long by 39 inches wide.

At 42” wide, this raised bed is wider than the 36” that is recommended for wheelchair accessible raised bed.  But by using 9” wide oak timbers there is a very wide and comfortable sitting surface.  And at only 21” high, if a person is able, it should be an easy transition from a wheelchair to sit on the edge of the bed.

Now construction the Raised bed.

These oak timbers weigh about 250 lbs. each, so we needed to build the raised bed exactly where we wanted it! Moving it after the fact was not an option. 

                              

We then proceeded to cut the timbers to build the first course, 2 – timbers were cut 108” long and 1 – timber we cut out 2 – 39” pieces.

We then laid out the timbers in a ”running” fashion forming up the first course.

For the next course, we cut the timbers the same lengths as the first course. We then laid the timbers out insuring they overlapped the joint of the course below it.

  

We then drilled 3 pilot holes to drive our 10” spikes through.  The spike ties the second course to the first course.

For the last course, we repeated what we had done for the first two courses, insuring again that we overlapped the joints. 

We used the gravel to fill the bottom of the bed to a depth of about 7” to 9”.

We covered the gravel with tar paper.  This was done to provide a cushion between the gravel and the 2  layers of 3.5mm plastic that we added  next.

With the plastic, we doubled lined the bottom of the bed and stapled  the plastic up the sides. We hoped  the plastic would help hold moister, so the bed would not dry out as fast.  We puncture holes in the bottom so the plastic would not act like a tub and hold water.  The holes should allow the excess water to drain out.

Finally we added the top soil and trimmed the plastic back.

Materials List:                                                           Tools Used:

  9 – 7” X 9” X 9’ untreated timbers                           Chain Saw

24 – 10” spikes                                                          Sledge Hammer

  2 – Cu Yds 1”-2” gravel                                          Carpenters Square

         2 - 4 – Cu Yds Top Soil                                               Shovels

  1 – 3’ X 8’ Tar Paper                                              Staple Gun

  2 –  14’ X 10’ 3mm - 4mm plastic                           Drill & ¼” Auger Bit

                                                                                 Measuring tape

Saving Bell Pepper Seeds

Saving Bell Pepper Seeds

I was making coleslaw for our Friday Night Lenten Fish Fry.  As I was cutting up the bell peppers and throwing the seeds, ribs and tops in to the compost bin it occurred to me “Why not save the pepper seeds to plant in my garden?”  I saved the seeds from a red, yellow and an orange bell pepper.

I collected 279, 237 and 333 seeds from the bell peppers.  So I calculated that on average, a seed saver could collect about 283 seeds from just one bell pepper.

Trivia question, - What is the difference between a GREEN bell pepper ($0.78 each) and a RED bell pepper ($1.68 each)?  The red peppers are ripe and cost 2 to 3 time as much as the green pepper.  All green bell peppers will turn red, yellow or orange if left on the plant to ripen.

I laid the seeds out on a paper plate to dry for several days. About once a day I stirred and turned the seeds over to insure they were drying evenly. 

 After a few days (when I was sure the seeds were thoroughly dry) I labeled a paper envelope to store the seeds in.

The germination test. 

I placed 10 seeds on a damp paper towel, folding the paper towel over the top of the seeds and placed the moist paper towel and seeds in a sealed zip-loc bag. 

After about 10 days I found 6 germinating seeds.  So doing the math, 6 germinated seeds ÷ 10 tested seeds = 0.6 or a 60% germination rate. 

So from the purchase of one $1.68 red bell pepper I was able to harvest over 200 seeds.  With a 60% germination rate I have the potential of growing 120 pepper plants.  And I still got to make my coleslaw.

I will plant the seeds to see if I really do get red, yellow and orange bell peppers.

Now, bell peppers are self pollinating. I am betting on the fact that these peppers were grown in a large farming operation and will give me true yellow, red and orange peppers plants. 

New Hardness Zone Map

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has produced a new “USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map” (PHZM).  Most of the info I am presenting here I gleaned off  USDA websites.  When you log on to the USDA website -  http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/ , you first want to select "Interactive Map".  You will be asked to enter the security question, this is called a “Captcha”. 

You will enter the Captcha.  Remember these are case sensitive. Next ckick "Validate" to access the Interactive Hardiness Zone Map. Next enter the zip code for your area of interest and click "Find".  At the “Choose Base Map” pull down, select “Satellite”. To see the satellite view, slide the “Zone Color Transparency” from “0” to “100”.  Using the "Zoom Level" on the left, zoom in on the map as tight as you can.  Move your mouse/pointer over your property/garden area and Click on your location and your data will Pop up.

This data, the “Plant Hardness Zone Values”, will give you your Hardness Zone, Avg. Temp., Range of Temp. and Latitude & Longitude

If you slide the Zone Color Transparency from “100” back to “0” you will be able to see the color depiction of your area.

If you select “About” it will give you topics such as “Maps & Gardening” and “Map Making”.  The hardiness zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum temperature during a 30-year period, not the lowest temperature that has ever occurred.

The USDA web site says USDA will not produce posters/maps of the Hardiness Zones.  State, regional, and national images of the map can be downloaded and printed in a variety of sizes and resolutions.

With the addition of  Zones 12 and 13 the new map now has 13 zones. The zones are still divided by 10˚F graduations but are further broken down to A and B subdivisions (these are divided by 5˚F increments). 

Compared to the old 1990 map many zone boundaries have shifted.  This is mostly a result of using temperature data from a larger period of time (1974-1986 vs 1976-2005) and using more reporting stations to report the temperature.

Cutting back the Pampas Grass for next summer's growth

Well it is February 19 and here in the Ozarks of Missouri it is 48°F (9°C).  So today I am cutting back the Pampas Grass.  This is a project I should have taken care of in the fall as a part of preparing my rural property for the fall fire season. 

Things you will need: Medium weight rope, Twine, Scissors

and a Chain Saw.

 

The first thing I do is to tie the grass into a tight bundle with the medium weight rope

Next I take the twine and re-tie the bundle of grass.  You may want to tie the bundle in a few places. This will help you with keeping the grass in a bundle and not fall apart should you mistakenly cut the twine when cutting with the saw.  Remove the rope. 

 

Using your chain saw, cut the bundle of grass off.   Leaving about 8 - 12 inches of stubble.  

Some people will burn off the “stump” of stubble, but I will need to wait until the winds are correct before I burn.

Finished!!!
Photos taken by Sarah 

Earlier I talked about doing this project in fall as a part of preparing my rural property for the fall fire season here in the Ozarks.  If you live near forested lands or in rural areas where your neighbors burn off their forest or pastures you will want to make sure you clear away things like Pampas Grass and dead leaves from around our home.  Go on-line to http://www.firewise.org/ to learn more about building a “Defensible Space” around your home so you don’t lose your home to a wild land fire.