I have turned out to be quite a naturalist in my old age :). All these hobbies that spun off from my love of gardening. First mushroom hunting and collecting and eating (yummy) to beekeeping to collect their honey and help the environment...yes, that's the order. I honestly think of my eating before I think of the environment...sad but true.
With mushrooms, it's all about finding edibles. I know there are lots of other types, including chaga and reishi that are medicinal..and then there are others that will get you high...and those that will kill you. Thousands of different mushrooms, but I like finding chanterelle, hen of the woods and other fine edibles and use them in any recipe that calls for mushrooms...and some other recipes I've gone looking for.
I finally found fiddleheads 3 years ago..for the first time in my life! I'd been fascinated with finding them for a long time but then I finally researched enough to get information on where to find them...and finally did. At least I now know of two different spots where there are fiddleheads. And now I know what to look for. I look for ferns that have the deep groove in the stem, like celery. It doesn't have any fuzz. And it has a brown paper coating that's generally partially gone. And they grow in damp areas. Saying that, I must laugh. One of my spots for finding fiddleheads turns out to be in my own yard, right next to the driveway, which looks dry enough..but it must have an underground water vein there since, from what I know about fiddleheads, they like bog-type areas.
My other great finds these last few years in the "foraging" category are Ramps, or Wild Leeks. These can be found in the early spring...about the same time as fiddleheads. They are so delicious...a cross between a green onion and garlic. I found a huge patch this year, right near my home so I can easily find as much as I want in the future.
All this foraging is just a good excuse to walk in the woods. And there's something about finding food rather than buying it. I get much more excited to eat the items I find.
I keep thinking of chickens to have my own eggs but this fox keeps coming around so in order to get chickens, I'll need a gun, and I'll need a coop and feed and when could I ever go anywhere if I had to feed chickens every day? I don't know. We'll see if I ever go in that direction.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
No stings this week
On Sunday, I added on a "super" which, if you haven't been following the entire time, is a smaller box..about 6 inches high. It also contains 10 frames. This super, when it's filled, is my honey. All the honey below is for feeding the bees. So they have two deep hives now. One for brood. The next one up is for their honey.
So it's quite exciting to be adding a super at the end of June. Of course, I have nothing to compare it with, but it feels good to me. It took the second box about 3-4 weeks to fill up. It looked packed with honey today and beautiful white comb.
I then took a peek at the bottom hive and pulled out just one frame...trying to limit my time there to 10-15 minutes. I feel like I flew through this inspection and wished I had time to inspect more. Next time, I'll look at the bottom hive first and give that a better inspection and make sure I still have a queen and eggs.
I certainly know the bees have filled the second deep hive because I could barely lift it! For certain, next year, I will go with all the 6" boxes. I'm already thinking of expanding my hives next year. I'd like to keep two going next season.
This shot was taken Sunday after adding the super. The bees are all outside here 1) because I disturbed them (although less than last week) and 2) it was very hot and they were cooling off. I also removed the entrance reducer so they could have the entire space to come in and out of the hive. Notice that the cover doesn't look entirely closed. That's because I propped it open to allow more venting inside the hive. When you see the bees outside like this, they are either very hot or they are about to swarm. I'm not at risk of swarming right now so they were hot. And I gave them more space with the addition of the super.
A side note on candlemaking. Yesterday, I tried my hand at making dipped beeswax candles. I had some leftover beeswax from another project and thought it would be enough to make a few candles. Because I didn't have a vessel tall enough to make longer tapers, I ended up with these 4-5" inch candles...two sets about 3/4" wide. And two sets of 4-5" 3/8" wide size. I was anxious to just try this and see how it would go. I thought I did fine for my first time. But the telling will be when I actually burn them. On the two larger width candles, I used fishing weights to ensure the wick was perfectly straight when hanging. On the two smaller ones, I didn't use the weights because they were all mucked up with wax.
You really need the weights as you can see from this photo of my new candles. I'll let you know how they burn. I may need to make adjustments to my technique...in fact, I'm certain of it. I saw that someone else used bolts for their weights and that seemed like a good idea. Just tie them on to the bottom of the wick and reuse them over and over again.
I'll add some photos of the now taller hive as well as my cheap patio project soon.
So it's quite exciting to be adding a super at the end of June. Of course, I have nothing to compare it with, but it feels good to me. It took the second box about 3-4 weeks to fill up. It looked packed with honey today and beautiful white comb.
I then took a peek at the bottom hive and pulled out just one frame...trying to limit my time there to 10-15 minutes. I feel like I flew through this inspection and wished I had time to inspect more. Next time, I'll look at the bottom hive first and give that a better inspection and make sure I still have a queen and eggs.
I certainly know the bees have filled the second deep hive because I could barely lift it! For certain, next year, I will go with all the 6" boxes. I'm already thinking of expanding my hives next year. I'd like to keep two going next season.
You really need the weights as you can see from this photo of my new candles. I'll let you know how they burn. I may need to make adjustments to my technique...in fact, I'm certain of it. I saw that someone else used bolts for their weights and that seemed like a good idea. Just tie them on to the bottom of the wick and reuse them over and over again.
I'll add some photos of the now taller hive as well as my cheap patio project soon.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Clover and more clover
Over the years, I've begun to think in terms of low maintenance landscapes. I guess I'm setting myself up for later in life when I may not be able to manage as much maintenance. So anyway, even before I had bees to consider, I planted clover in this lawn. And so if you let it flower and begin to go to seed, then mow it, it will fill in quickly with yet more clover. So, that's what has happened here.
It's taken some getting used to though, if you're accustomed to a nicely manicured lawn, as I have had in the past. But since I stopped using pesticides, which was many years ago now, I've had my share of weeds in my lawns...which is okay with me, as long as it looks neat.
Clover doesn't look quite as neat. I'm looking out my back porch now and everywhere I look, I see blankets of clover in full bloom. Quite beautiful...but not as neat. Mine are the white clover. And a big part of me thinks I need to mow it..to make it neat!
But as I watched the bees go into their hive these last few days, I saw them bringing in white pollen which I'm guessing is from the clover. So even if I decide to mow the lawn later today, I will feel guilty about taking away their dinner. So, if I mow at all, it will be the front yard that needs more clover. And I'll leave alone the rest of the yard that's full of clover so the bees will have plenty to keep them busy and productive.
My land slopes in many spots and the front lawn is one of those spots. I've replanted there a few times but it tends to run off if it rains after I seed it. I tell you, it always seems to pour as soon as I plant seed. So I will mow down the clover in the front that has grown enough and is beginning to seed. Perfect time to encourage reseeding. I don't think it's going to rain too soon so we'll give it a try.
Just a little side note on the clover again. You can see the blanket of clover in the shot below. I'll lose this area of clover unless I dig up the sod and put it elsewhere but I probably won't do that this time. I'm going to cover this approximate 150 sq. ft. section outside my porch with landscape fabric and then cover it with wood chips. And that will become my patio area ...cheaply! I only will need the fabric since I still have a huge pile of wood chips from this spring's tree cutting.
This is where I'll put my little patio area. I'm standing on a step so it looks like this is on a hill...well, it sort of is on a hill. I dug the pond into the hill a little bit...there was no other way if I wanted it close. But it's pretty flat where you see the chairs. I'll add some flat rocks to the top of the pond where you can see those couple of pots so that the kids can get right up close to the water to look at the frogs. Now, I have too many small plants that will be damaged if they do that so I'll move the plants elsewhere to give them an area. Just what I need is another project :).
It's taken some getting used to though, if you're accustomed to a nicely manicured lawn, as I have had in the past. But since I stopped using pesticides, which was many years ago now, I've had my share of weeds in my lawns...which is okay with me, as long as it looks neat.
Clover doesn't look quite as neat. I'm looking out my back porch now and everywhere I look, I see blankets of clover in full bloom. Quite beautiful...but not as neat. Mine are the white clover. And a big part of me thinks I need to mow it..to make it neat!
But as I watched the bees go into their hive these last few days, I saw them bringing in white pollen which I'm guessing is from the clover. So even if I decide to mow the lawn later today, I will feel guilty about taking away their dinner. So, if I mow at all, it will be the front yard that needs more clover. And I'll leave alone the rest of the yard that's full of clover so the bees will have plenty to keep them busy and productive.
My land slopes in many spots and the front lawn is one of those spots. I've replanted there a few times but it tends to run off if it rains after I seed it. I tell you, it always seems to pour as soon as I plant seed. So I will mow down the clover in the front that has grown enough and is beginning to seed. Perfect time to encourage reseeding. I don't think it's going to rain too soon so we'll give it a try.
Just a little side note on the clover again. You can see the blanket of clover in the shot below. I'll lose this area of clover unless I dig up the sod and put it elsewhere but I probably won't do that this time. I'm going to cover this approximate 150 sq. ft. section outside my porch with landscape fabric and then cover it with wood chips. And that will become my patio area ...cheaply! I only will need the fabric since I still have a huge pile of wood chips from this spring's tree cutting.
This is where I'll put my little patio area. I'm standing on a step so it looks like this is on a hill...well, it sort of is on a hill. I dug the pond into the hill a little bit...there was no other way if I wanted it close. But it's pretty flat where you see the chairs. I'll add some flat rocks to the top of the pond where you can see those couple of pots so that the kids can get right up close to the water to look at the frogs. Now, I have too many small plants that will be damaged if they do that so I'll move the plants elsewhere to give them an area. Just what I need is another project :).
Monday, June 18, 2012
So what if I got stung?
Yesterday I really must have upset the bees because I got stung four times and I'm probably lucky to have been stung only four times. The bees were really swarming around me and each time I lifted a frame, especially those heavy ones, I would hear them roar (as much as bees can roar) and they came right at me!
I felt the one on my leg but it turns out that I have three on my right leg. And one on my left arm. I had on blue jeans but they were threatened enough to get me right through my legs. I'm not sure why they were so agitated but I think I should figure out another method for checking the bees. I'm taking too long.
I'm supposed to be there 10-15 minutes maximum. I'm there for 30-45 minutes to check every frame. I am thinking that I should not pull out every single frame anymore. It's the only way to limit my time in the hive. And I've been in the hive once a week. Perhaps I could give a bit more time in between and go in every 10 days. I think I may try that, except for replenishing their water. And perhaps adding a super.
I realized I hadn't counted out how many frames were filled in the top deep hive...but many were filled or almost filled with honey! I realized that I should be adding a super soon and I think that by next weekend, they will need one.
And that makes me think that the reason the bees are so feisty right now is that they are protecting their honey. And I did see eggs this week in the lower deep hive box so that's where all the babies are being produced. It looks like we have many new baby bees and they are now filling up the brood chamber again, down below in the lower box. The upper box appeared to be just comb and honey...a wonderful sight, actually! If things keep up like this, I should get some honey for myself this year and it's exciting to watch this...even with the stings.
As I hefted off the upper box...that's when the bees got the most upset...I realized that my next box should be all the smaller medium hive boxes because the deep hives are very heavy when they are laden with honey! I was able to lift it now, but will I be able to do that in 10 years? Or on a bad day when I'm not feeling very strong? My next kit will be all smaller boxes to make it easier on my back. I will use the deep hive box at the bottom since it doesn't need to be lifted. But all other boxes, in the future, will be the shallow ones. Especially since I do this with no helper.
After my work with the bees, instead of mowing the lawn, I went hiking with my mushroom basket and walked a trail at the Piscah State Forest in West Chesterfield, NH. This is apparently the largest state forest in NH and it's 7 miles from my house to my favorite trail head. I saw nothing on the way, except for a few Platterful mushrooms which I picked One was especially fresh. But on the way back, I saw this beautiful yellow color off to my right and it was this Chicken of the Woods mushrooms which, when cooked, has a texture very much like chicken. This isn't my image because I didn't take one. Mine were actually growing on a small tree root right on the ground...and another one was nearby but that one had already passed it's fresh state.
My Chicken mushrooms were thicker then these above being over an inch thick. So I sliced them, rather than chopping them, and sauteed them until browned on either side. Then froze them. What I will do is have them in a wrap with lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, sliced avocado, cheese, and these mushrooms that taste like chicken. I want my vegetarian daughter to taste these! She liked Hen of the Woods mushrooms when I found them last year and made tacos from them.
Now, back to the bees. They built a lot of comb right under the top hive feeder that I scraped off and saved. I will use this comb later on to make candles. I'm so excited to do that.
I realized I had old beeswax that I bought for a soap-making project several years ago so I am going to use that to practice making hand-dipped candles. Hopefully the wick will arrive this week so I can get started on this project.
I felt the one on my leg but it turns out that I have three on my right leg. And one on my left arm. I had on blue jeans but they were threatened enough to get me right through my legs. I'm not sure why they were so agitated but I think I should figure out another method for checking the bees. I'm taking too long.
I'm supposed to be there 10-15 minutes maximum. I'm there for 30-45 minutes to check every frame. I am thinking that I should not pull out every single frame anymore. It's the only way to limit my time in the hive. And I've been in the hive once a week. Perhaps I could give a bit more time in between and go in every 10 days. I think I may try that, except for replenishing their water. And perhaps adding a super.
I realized I hadn't counted out how many frames were filled in the top deep hive...but many were filled or almost filled with honey! I realized that I should be adding a super soon and I think that by next weekend, they will need one.
And that makes me think that the reason the bees are so feisty right now is that they are protecting their honey. And I did see eggs this week in the lower deep hive box so that's where all the babies are being produced. It looks like we have many new baby bees and they are now filling up the brood chamber again, down below in the lower box. The upper box appeared to be just comb and honey...a wonderful sight, actually! If things keep up like this, I should get some honey for myself this year and it's exciting to watch this...even with the stings.
As I hefted off the upper box...that's when the bees got the most upset...I realized that my next box should be all the smaller medium hive boxes because the deep hives are very heavy when they are laden with honey! I was able to lift it now, but will I be able to do that in 10 years? Or on a bad day when I'm not feeling very strong? My next kit will be all smaller boxes to make it easier on my back. I will use the deep hive box at the bottom since it doesn't need to be lifted. But all other boxes, in the future, will be the shallow ones. Especially since I do this with no helper.
After my work with the bees, instead of mowing the lawn, I went hiking with my mushroom basket and walked a trail at the Piscah State Forest in West Chesterfield, NH. This is apparently the largest state forest in NH and it's 7 miles from my house to my favorite trail head. I saw nothing on the way, except for a few Platterful mushrooms which I picked One was especially fresh. But on the way back, I saw this beautiful yellow color off to my right and it was this Chicken of the Woods mushrooms which, when cooked, has a texture very much like chicken. This isn't my image because I didn't take one. Mine were actually growing on a small tree root right on the ground...and another one was nearby but that one had already passed it's fresh state.
My Chicken mushrooms were thicker then these above being over an inch thick. So I sliced them, rather than chopping them, and sauteed them until browned on either side. Then froze them. What I will do is have them in a wrap with lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, sliced avocado, cheese, and these mushrooms that taste like chicken. I want my vegetarian daughter to taste these! She liked Hen of the Woods mushrooms when I found them last year and made tacos from them.
Now, back to the bees. They built a lot of comb right under the top hive feeder that I scraped off and saved. I will use this comb later on to make candles. I'm so excited to do that.
I realized I had old beeswax that I bought for a soap-making project several years ago so I am going to use that to practice making hand-dipped candles. Hopefully the wick will arrive this week so I can get started on this project.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Ready to mow around the electric fence
Today's the day that I plan to mow around the electric fence and inside the fenced area around the beehive. They won't like it, I'm sure, so I will wear long pants and my hat and veil...and gloves. I mowed before the bees came in early May so it's been close to 6 weeks since it was mowed. You can imagine it's getting long.
I've mowed around the outside of the fence a couple of times, but today I will remove each side, and put it off to the side, mow it, then put it all back in place and hook it back up to the battery.
While I'm in there and all veiled up, I will open the top to see how the sugar water is faring. I just made more this morning so I'll add more if needed. Otherwise I'll wait until Sunday when I will do my thorough inspection and add the sugar water then.
Last weekend, we had another bee class with the folks from Imaginethathoney in Swanzy, NH. They showed us how to sort of "jump start" a new deep hive box, if the bees haven't really started building out the frames in the new box. Mine hadn't last week...plus, if you remember, I didn't really see eggs last week which had me concerned. She showed us how you can take a few frames from another box (in my case, my first box) and add to the new box in the middle. That will help the bees find their way to the new box and begin building it. I will try this technique if I need to when I do my inspection this weekend.
Plis, I saw three peanut like appendages up at the top of a frame which means the bees are in the process of making a new queen. I asked Jodie at Imagine that honey what they were and that was her answer. I asked what to do with them and she told me to leave them alone and they'll make a new queen because mine is probably not performing well enough...or it's possible I killed it by mistake. Out of the three appendages, only one will survive. The strong queen will kill the others. IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE!!
So I'm anxious to take a look this week.
The other thing on my list this week is to begin giving the bees a "sugar and grease" pattie which controls tracheal mites holistically. As the bees feed on the patties, they are coated with grease which makes the mites slip off the bees and they can't reproduce. I read this in the Beekeeping for Dummies book and I prefer a holistic approach so am going to put in one of the patties I made. The recipe is:
1 1/2 lbs of solid vegetable shortening like Crisco
4 pounds of granulated sugar
1/2 pound honey (not store bought but a natural, local honey)
Optional (1/3 cup mineral salt) - I didn't use this
Mix all together until smooth and well mixed and form into hamburger-like patties. They then be frozen and you take one out each time you need. One patty will last the bees 2-3 months.
I've mowed around the outside of the fence a couple of times, but today I will remove each side, and put it off to the side, mow it, then put it all back in place and hook it back up to the battery.
While I'm in there and all veiled up, I will open the top to see how the sugar water is faring. I just made more this morning so I'll add more if needed. Otherwise I'll wait until Sunday when I will do my thorough inspection and add the sugar water then.
Last weekend, we had another bee class with the folks from Imaginethathoney in Swanzy, NH. They showed us how to sort of "jump start" a new deep hive box, if the bees haven't really started building out the frames in the new box. Mine hadn't last week...plus, if you remember, I didn't really see eggs last week which had me concerned. She showed us how you can take a few frames from another box (in my case, my first box) and add to the new box in the middle. That will help the bees find their way to the new box and begin building it. I will try this technique if I need to when I do my inspection this weekend.
Plis, I saw three peanut like appendages up at the top of a frame which means the bees are in the process of making a new queen. I asked Jodie at Imagine that honey what they were and that was her answer. I asked what to do with them and she told me to leave them alone and they'll make a new queen because mine is probably not performing well enough...or it's possible I killed it by mistake. Out of the three appendages, only one will survive. The strong queen will kill the others. IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE!!
So I'm anxious to take a look this week.
The other thing on my list this week is to begin giving the bees a "sugar and grease" pattie which controls tracheal mites holistically. As the bees feed on the patties, they are coated with grease which makes the mites slip off the bees and they can't reproduce. I read this in the Beekeeping for Dummies book and I prefer a holistic approach so am going to put in one of the patties I made. The recipe is:
1 1/2 lbs of solid vegetable shortening like Crisco
4 pounds of granulated sugar
1/2 pound honey (not store bought but a natural, local honey)
Optional (1/3 cup mineral salt) - I didn't use this
Mix all together until smooth and well mixed and form into hamburger-like patties. They then be frozen and you take one out each time you need. One patty will last the bees 2-3 months.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Ready for some sun
Just about everything is planted now. I grew a lot of perennial flowers including some wildflowers. I have this hill off my back lawn where I have thrown seed for the last few years. Nothing came up because it all gets washed away. So I tried another tactic this year, since my greenhouse is back in operation. I grew a few flats of wildflowers like monarda, poppies, anemone, black eyed susans, and some others. And daisies are on my lawn growing naturally so I transplanted those to the hill as well.
I made sure to mow a few times earlier this spring, hoping to build up the soil so that it won't wash away. Now it's knee high, almost, and I don't want to mow it again because then I'd harm my newly planted wildflowers. I just hope the tall grass doesn't shade them out. But that's what happens in fields...the wildflowers find their way to the top of the other grasses and survive nicely. So I have hope for my hill but it'll take patience.
I actually want to start more seeds now for planting in the fall. Between the two plantings, it seems like next year would begin to give me some color...and the bees another source of pollen and nectar. I know goldenrod will come up later on and I have always liked it and often pick it early to dry. It's great in dried flower arrangements.
You can see the hill between the fence and the birdhouse. That's the hill I am trying to plant with wildflowers. This clump of daisies will be moved down onto the hill after they finish flowering.
But look at the fence! I'm having a banner year for roses. The ones on the left are from my mother's rose bush and I've taken a piece of it wherever I move. It's doing very well. These are old-fashioned roses with a deep rose scent.
The ones on the right are Cecile Brunner roses that I fell in love with several years ago. They are a small rose, perfectly shaped and have a musky rose scent. Both are highly scented so my house is smelling really good right now with roses everywhere. Same with outside...when you least expect it, you get a whiff of something wonderful. The Cecile Brunner rose doesn't take well to winters so I learned how to prepare them. Sink 3-4 stakes around the plant and then wrap burlap around the stakes so the plant is surrounded by the burlap. Then add leaves to fill up the burlap container. The warmth of the leaves protect the plant from winter cold and wind. It's worked for me two years in a row.
How I love this time of year.
I made sure to mow a few times earlier this spring, hoping to build up the soil so that it won't wash away. Now it's knee high, almost, and I don't want to mow it again because then I'd harm my newly planted wildflowers. I just hope the tall grass doesn't shade them out. But that's what happens in fields...the wildflowers find their way to the top of the other grasses and survive nicely. So I have hope for my hill but it'll take patience.
I actually want to start more seeds now for planting in the fall. Between the two plantings, it seems like next year would begin to give me some color...and the bees another source of pollen and nectar. I know goldenrod will come up later on and I have always liked it and often pick it early to dry. It's great in dried flower arrangements.
You can see the hill between the fence and the birdhouse. That's the hill I am trying to plant with wildflowers. This clump of daisies will be moved down onto the hill after they finish flowering.
But look at the fence! I'm having a banner year for roses. The ones on the left are from my mother's rose bush and I've taken a piece of it wherever I move. It's doing very well. These are old-fashioned roses with a deep rose scent.
The ones on the right are Cecile Brunner roses that I fell in love with several years ago. They are a small rose, perfectly shaped and have a musky rose scent. Both are highly scented so my house is smelling really good right now with roses everywhere. Same with outside...when you least expect it, you get a whiff of something wonderful. The Cecile Brunner rose doesn't take well to winters so I learned how to prepare them. Sink 3-4 stakes around the plant and then wrap burlap around the stakes so the plant is surrounded by the burlap. Then add leaves to fill up the burlap container. The warmth of the leaves protect the plant from winter cold and wind. It's worked for me two years in a row.
How I love this time of year.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Managing the yard while waiting for honey
Right now, there's not a lot to talk about with the bees. We are just letting them produce more bees, gather pollen and nectar, and enjoy the great outdoors! Well, as for the outdoors part, we're in a rainy spell here in southern Vermont so the bees are inside a lot. I made more syrup for them yet again so will replenish their supply in another day or two. On Friday, I replenished their syrup, and today is Sunday so I think Monday or Tuesday, I should check and plan to refill. I'm trying to do every three days (or so) now. In a note yesterday from imaginethathoney in Swanzy, the folks giving the beekeeping class, mentioned how, in bad weather, how important it is to feed the bees because they don't go out to gather on rainy days. So that's about all I need to do with the bees at this point.
So I'm concentrating on enhancing the yard and putting in flowers and maintain those that I have.
I have a concern about my pond too that I need to fix. I was going to brag how pretty it looks right now, with the water lilies in bloom and they're beginning to really cover the pond. But then I noticed while it was pouring out for hours at a time that the pond was losing water. I had seen that lately so kept refilling it with the hose every 3-4 days, but this was losing it faster. I stopped the pump and saw that I'm not losing water from the pond. So that narrows it down to the upper pond that is also used as a filter.
I did some adjustments there the other day so perhaps I made it worse. I'll need to remove the rocks and look at the liner that maybe bent over to allow water to escape. See the rocks that are closest to you in the picture above? under the grass-like plant the hole goes down a couple of feet and it's filled with pea stone to a few inches beneath the water's surface. Then the hole overflows down a 3 foot incline covered with stone (edpm lined) and covered with larger rocks. This forms a natural filtering system, like a mountain stream filters the water. And the pond was crystal clear until just recently when the leak worsened.
I've been adding shrubs and plants around the pond this year and hope to get a few more evergreen plants there too so that it can still look interesting in the winter. Right now, it houses many, many frogs and maybe a snake or two. I've seen a mole run out from under the rocks a few times as well. Fortunately no bees are trying to drink from this water, or they would drown. That's why I keep water over near the hives, providing them with a safe drinking area.
Or it could be that it's leaking where I had patched together two pieces of liner and it may be leaking at that seam. It's possible I need to buy another EDPM liner so that I don't need to patch it, I would try to put it right over what I currently have. But I hope it doesn't come to that. That is a project looming in my future...within a day or two, I can tackle that I hope.
So I'm concentrating on enhancing the yard and putting in flowers and maintain those that I have.
I have a concern about my pond too that I need to fix. I was going to brag how pretty it looks right now, with the water lilies in bloom and they're beginning to really cover the pond. But then I noticed while it was pouring out for hours at a time that the pond was losing water. I had seen that lately so kept refilling it with the hose every 3-4 days, but this was losing it faster. I stopped the pump and saw that I'm not losing water from the pond. So that narrows it down to the upper pond that is also used as a filter.
I did some adjustments there the other day so perhaps I made it worse. I'll need to remove the rocks and look at the liner that maybe bent over to allow water to escape. See the rocks that are closest to you in the picture above? under the grass-like plant the hole goes down a couple of feet and it's filled with pea stone to a few inches beneath the water's surface. Then the hole overflows down a 3 foot incline covered with stone (edpm lined) and covered with larger rocks. This forms a natural filtering system, like a mountain stream filters the water. And the pond was crystal clear until just recently when the leak worsened.
I've been adding shrubs and plants around the pond this year and hope to get a few more evergreen plants there too so that it can still look interesting in the winter. Right now, it houses many, many frogs and maybe a snake or two. I've seen a mole run out from under the rocks a few times as well. Fortunately no bees are trying to drink from this water, or they would drown. That's why I keep water over near the hives, providing them with a safe drinking area.
Or it could be that it's leaking where I had patched together two pieces of liner and it may be leaking at that seam. It's possible I need to buy another EDPM liner so that I don't need to patch it, I would try to put it right over what I currently have. But I hope it doesn't come to that. That is a project looming in my future...within a day or two, I can tackle that I hope.
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