I have a 4.5 ac wetland Playa I would be willing to add to.. Otherwise I have a 2ac spot I am replanting back to a native prarie mix I could throw some seed in but no clay soils here so it would have to be the common variety.
The decline in Honeybees is due to a mite that infests the hive during the winter and it ends up killing the whole hive. I will ask the apiarist that I know, maybe they found a way to combat it. I know a few years ago there was no treatment for the mite.
Honey bee die offs are caused by a number of factors including mites and diseases, but yet-unidentified factors may still be involved. Of more concern to me is the reduced populations of native bees like bumble bees. Introducing honey bees (not native to the Americas), has been found to spread diseases to native bees, and honey bees compete with native bees and other native insects for nectar and pollen. Even so, we allow a local bee keeper to house around 10 honey bee hives on our place. We put them far from our vegetable field so they do not compete with the native bees in pollenating our crops. We also have "wild" honey bee hives on our place. Although we are surrounded by row crops, the bee keeper says that his domestic hives on our place are top honey producers. Honey bee apiaries are really a type of high-density confined-livestock operation, and they suffer the same types of disease and parasites that all such operations must deal with.
My son raises bees as polinators and as honey producers. In fact he is loading truck loads of bees this week where they are headed to the Calif almond fields. I can't say how many hives as it veries every year. But it is several tractor trailor loads. After he brings them back home he will rebuild the hives numbers and then send them to other areas that need the polinators. We do have milkweed here on the property ( I don't know what type) as well as many acres of clovers. I see alot of butterfies and bees on the place. He tells me the biggest problem is the roundup type of herbicide along with pesticides is a big problem with our bees. He does deal with mites but has a way to solve those type of problems but watching him I can say that mites and beatles are a problem. I don't get involved in his business but I do get free honey. He works with another company up north when it comes to some of his business. I don't want to say alot about his business because i am not the expert when it comes to the bees.
If anyone wants to send some milkweed seeds i will plant them on our place. But would want to check with the bee keeper first.
Last edited by TGW1; 01/23/2109:47 AM.
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
A couple of years ago I attempted to identify the native plants growing around our pond. With my younger brother's help, we identified dogbane, boneset, joe pye, ironweed, goldenrod, purple aster, white aster and swamp milkweed. During the identification process he strongly recommended allowing the swamp milkweed to propagate for the Monarchs. Now knowing what to look for, sure enough, I was finding a few of the familiar Monarch caterpillars munching the swamp milkweed leaves. And the butterflies extracting nectar from the flowers. So we've had a native growth of the plants for a long time, but I didn't use much discretion when it came to trimming the pond edges. Now I let the swamp milkweed grow and sacrifice it's flora to the Monarchs. My brother also encouraged my propagation of the Joe Pye weed both for aesthetics and for the pollinators.
When the native plants are allowed to grow to 3' and higher, I've found the plants to also act as windbreaks for catching leaves blowing from nearby trees. While I can't prove my theory regarding soil erosion reduction, I suspect that the YI and native plants are reducing the soil wash during heavy downpours. Along with this natural plant barrier, I've started reseeding the yard that's sloped to the pond too. Now if I can just stay on top of the occasional muskrat invasion.... I digress....
So count me in for maintaining and propagating swamp milkweed around the pond. Many small ponds in our area are mowed and maintained right to the water's edge. IMHO, however, I think allowing native plants to grow around the pond has many advantages for the fish, insects and wildlife. Just a matter of personal preference and philosophy. We're blessed to have the pond and if we can manage in a way to help the environment (and native species), it's a win-win.
TGW1 - All crop herbicides are designed to kill weeds while not harming the crop. Why would one implicate one of the safest and least persistent herbicides (glyphosate) as harming bees, unless you think farmers should grow weeds in their fields (which reduces yield requiring even more wildlife habitat to be converted to farmland)? As an entomologist, it always surprises me how superstitious many beekeepers are. Clearly, hauling honey bee hives all over the place to pollenate crops spreads diseases, but this is required for some crops like almonds and is understandable. Insecticides labels have restrictions to protect bees, especially during flowering times. When the global issue of colony collapse in honey bees first appeared, all types of potential causes were theorized. However, when these problems were also occurring in areas far from where pesticide sprays were being made, it became apparent that these chemicals could not be the cause. BTW - All pesticides are specifically evaluated for honey bee toxicity as part of regulatory requirements for approval.
I will plant as many as you want to send. I can plant them all around my pond, and I have access to a swampy in the Spring, dry in the late summer 7 acre field that I can plant them in too, if they will do well there.
Rah, Thanks for the info. As i said i don't get involved in his business. I just supply some land for the bees. I can say only what i have been told by him and i know he is very active in our local bee keepers association. And I believe most of the bee keepers might disagree when it comes to herbicides, pesticides and bee colonies when it comes to if they harm the colonies. Hay, they make a living with bees and see what goes on. I agree that herbicides are nice to have when growing because they keep the weeds in control.. My deer food plots are not near as productive as they were when i used the herbicides that I no longer use. It's not worth the problem it causes in the family when i use them. Another thing when it comes the the food plots is the deer also eat the new growth weeds.
The way i see it is if it were not for the bee keepers the number of hives would be alot lower. I see him building new hives all the time. The number will double to tripple most years. Hed is also a producer of new queens that go out to the bee keepers every year.
Last edited by TGW1; 01/24/2107:05 AM.
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
I've got a couple good acres of naturally occuring milkweed around my cabin. I make it a point to keep as much of it in place as possible. I did have to mow some out to make appropriate yard and firebreak space. Even after that, I've got ample monarchs on my place all summer long.
My place is a whitetail hunting property above all else. Pond is in the works though too. I run the whole place as a natural ecosystem. Since I've re-established clovers and wild flowers, started managing the timber and have been digging water holes, my bee, butterfly, and moth population has gone through the roof.
I think we overcomplicate this stuff. If we'd just stop most of the things we're doing and add a couple simple improvements, I think nature would heal itself. Whether or not specific inputs kill things doesn't matter. You can leave the actual organism unharmed, but if every single thing that organism depends on is destroyed, well that's just the same thing in my book.
Is there a way to do personal mesages on this forum? If not add me on facebook Devon Garbus (im the only one) And sned me your address for seed packets
Im going to ask a lot of questions, but only because I'm clueless
I think its the same one just stolen from the site i'm buying the seeds from!
Had some more responses this AM so I sent a few more out.
Thanks for teh responses guys! I wasn't sure about posting my affection for butterflies/pollinators here glad to see yall are interested in protecting endangered pollinators.
Im going to ask a lot of questions, but only because I'm clueless
Any and all who would like to increase their interest in, and further their understanding of pollinators, please check out Dr. Kirsten Traynor's new quarterly journal "2Million Blossoms", subtitled "protect our pollinators". There are nearly 20 articles in the current addition (Winter 2021).
Both digital and print subscriptions are available. The in-depth articles are well researched, and written by some of the "names" in entomological study. @RAH, we're waiting to see a piece penned by you.
Here are some links: 2MillionBlossoms.com/subscribe facebook.com/2MBlossoms instagram.com/2MillionBlossoms twitter.com/2MBlossoms
Enjoy. I scour the print version with nearly as much focus and enthusiasm as I do our PondBoss magazine.
4CornersPuddle - I did publish a dozen peer-reviewed papers in 2020, and four more in 2021 so far, but in different areas of study. I am a big advocate of wildlife habitat conservation and restoration facilitated by higher agricultural production on less land. We have lived this mantra on our land, and I have lived the latter professionally as well. Pond and wetland construction/restoration are critical parts of these efforts, and the expertise offered by members of this forum has been much appreciated. In addition to helping pollinators, A prairie or pond edge in full bloom is very pretty too! Need to look carefully to see the bumble bees. How many do you see in each pic?
Last edited by RAH; 01/28/2107:23 AM. Reason: addition
My articles are not really on conservation, but rather on the advantages of sustainable intensification of agriculture to enable wildlife conservation. They largely are on the safety assessment of GE crops and how they benefit human and environmental health.
Last edited by RAH; 02/01/2108:05 AM. Reason: deleted links
Thank you Citydad. My seeds came in the mail today. I received 2 packages and will give one to my neighbor. She loves all the butterflies and that type of thing.