Wild Honeybees

As I've mentioned in my last couple of postings, the end of Summer is approaching as the days get shorter and the local wild honeybees are taking advantage of the fields of goldenrod in the neighborhood.



There has been a lot of news lately about Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) that has wiped out an estimated 10 million beehives, but the wild honeybees in our neighborhood are doing quite well.

Earlier this Summer I had a swarm of wild honeybees land in a tree on the driveway to our barn. This swarn started a small colony in the tree which is only 100 feet from my garden.

During the Summer I continued to notice a constant "buzz" in the woods next to our cabin and tracked down a second bee tree in the neighborhood. This is a much larger colony with hundreds of bees coming/going through the one entrance. A view looking up the tree to the entrance. 



A more straight on shot of the small entrance to the hive. I needed a ladder to get this shot and was close enough to smell the honey.



Just a few weeks ago, I was checking some of the pipeline reclamation work through our woods and found this third bee tree. At first I thought this was a small colony  of honeybees due to the few bees at the entrance. Upon later inspection of this bee tree I discovered at least 3 different entrances to the hive, which covered a distance of 15 to 20 feet, with the main entrance at the top, 35 feet off the ground.

A view of wild honeybees at the smaller, lower entrance to the hive.

Fall Wildflowers - New England Aster

I'm starting to see more signs of Fall as I walk around in the woods and fields. The New England Asters announce the end of Summer is near..

Fall Fungus

As the warm days of summer cool down and the rainy days of fall return, the colorful fungus of fall start to appear. I haven't spent as much time walking through the fields and woods as I would like, but I did come across this bright colored fungus popping out of the cracks in the bark on some rotting wood.

Another Porcupine

Yesterday I noticed some gnaw marks on the cabin decking and placed a "keep-alive" trap next to the deck. This morning I found (hopefully) the cause of the gnaw marks, a porcupine. We have lived in this neighborhood for over 40 years and during that time I can count my porcupine encounters on one hand. This is my second porcupine this year.



Some porcupine quills left under the trap.



This porcupine was lucky and qualified for a relocation program. Later in the day, the porcupine was released on one of our other wooded properties a few miles away.

Katydid

While working at our barn this weekend, I noticed what appeared to be a green leaf on some duct tape. The leaf turned out to be a large katydid that had walked onto the duct tape and got stuck.



As I tried to free the katydid from the tape it would make a loud chirp. The katydid gets its name from the chirp that sounds like “Katy did, Katy didn’t.” Usually katydids are heard, but not seen.

Chokecherry Jam

The weather conditions must have been just right this year for chokecherries because a bush near our barn was loaded with the small fruits. The chokecherry fruit is bitter when eaten directly from the bush but makes a very tasty jam (when sugar is added). I've been watching this bush for the last couple of weeks to determine the "peak of ripeness" for making chokecherry jam. This past weekend was time to pick. Within a half hour, Mary and I had picked enough chokecherries from this one bush for two batches of jam.



We used the following recipe from Cooks.com to make our jam.

Chokecherry Jam Cooks.com 2 qts. chokecherries 2 c. water 8 c. sugar 1/2 c. liquid Certo Clean and wash chokecherries. Add water and bring to boil. Simmer until cherries pop and flesh comes easily off from pits. Strain through sieve washing chokecherries thoroughly. Rinse leftover pits and skins with water. Add some rinsed water to strained juice to make 1 quart liquid. Combine liquid and sugar. Stir thoroughly bringing juice to boil. Add liquid Certo and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Cook at full boil for 60 seconds. Skim off foam. Pour into hot sterilized jars. Seal with melted paraffin wax or cool and freeze. Store in cool dark dry place. Yield: 7 to 8 cups.

Time to make hay

After weeks of continuous daily rain storms, the weather has changed and Jason Abell was able to start making hay in the neighborhood.



With a week of very hot and dry weather Jason has put a big dent in this years hay baling.

Visiting Wildlife

As I said in an earlier posting this month, "I never know what will stop by to visit me while I'm at our barn property". Today's visitors were a family of young raccoons that were exploring around the mobile home. There were at least 3 raccoons and I was able to get within 10 feet of them.



Also found playing at the barn was this pair of young bunnies.

Big Bugs

While I was spreading  mulch (two year old wood chips) in my garden I noticed a very large brown beetle in the mulch. This beetle was over an inch long and I soon discovered over two dozen of these beetles.



This beetle is the grapevine beetle, Pelidnota punctata, also known as Spotted June Beetle. Beetle eggs are laid in rotten wood or tree stumps,  where they hatch into larvae. Larvae then dig their way into the soil, where they feed on rotted wood. Pupal chambers (photo on right) are built shallowly underground. The adults emerge in June or July.

Porcupines

I never know what will stop by to visit me while I'm at our barn property. I was working in my vegetable garden when I noticed a young porcupine taking a leisurely stroll on the driveway. I quickly retrieved my camera from the truck and it soon became a foot race with the camera shy porcupine.



Porcupines are not known as long distance runners and this one selected climbing a nearby tree as better option than a foot race.

Chipmunks

A family of chipmunks has moved in at our barn and this little guy has been busy collecting walnuts that fell from the trees last fall.

Trapping Pigs

With the natural gas activity in our area, the term "trapping a pig" takes on a different meaning. We have two natural gas gathering pipelines intersecting on our property  and part of the routine pipeline maintenance involves sending a "pig" through the pipeline to push out condensate (water, sludge and other liguids). The pig is inserted into the pipeline via a "pig launcher" at a valve assembly and the pressure of the gas flow moves the pig along a section of the pipeline until it reaches a "pig trap". The arrival of the pig is signaled by a red pop-up disk on the trap.

Natural gas continues to flow through the pipeline after the pig is caught in the trap. The pig is removed from the trap by opening/closing valves to force the natural gas to by-pass the trap. With the valve to the pig trap closed, a vent valve is opened to reduce the gas pressure (1,100 PSI) in the trap.


Once the gas pressure in the trap is released, a door on the trap can be opened and the pig(s) removed.

Share the Road With a Turtle

After this spring's cool/cold weather, the Eastern Painter Turtles (Chrysemys picta picta) are coming out of ponds to lay eggs. One of the major hazards for the turtles is crossing roads. Watch for turtles in the road and give them a chance/hand to cross the road.

We've been traveling

If you follow this blog you may have noticed the updates being a little sparse, we've been traveling again. Check out our latest travel blog.

Allergy Season

Spring is now here and allergy season is in full bloom. The main cause of allergies this time of year is tree pollen which leaves a coating of yellow dust on cars.

A close-up view of a willow tree flower show the source of some of the yellow pollen.