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Green Hive Fungus
Green as in bad, not socially responsible. I pulled off an empty deep I had on my hive and evaluated the frames to find a plethora of green fungus on each frame. After looking over each frame I scraped them clean of comb. Since this hive box and it’s parts are second hand, many of […]
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One More Pollinator
Sometimes the honey bee doesn’t make it back to the hive before becoming too cold and succumbing to the elements. This is a short film showing that many of these seemingly ‘dead’ bees are indeed still viable for the beekeeper as pollinators. However, since the life-span of the honey bee is between 6-weeks and 6-months […]
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Seeking The Queen-Bee
The sun peeked out this afternoon after a solid week of rain and we decided to open up the hive and see how the bees are adjusting to the move. By external observations I’m seeing the bees return with pollen, previously orange, I found this lady with white pollen. I wonder where she was playing? Unfortunately, after […]
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Berkeley Mushroom Hunt (Our Introduction to Mycology)
Today we explored the science of mycology – or fungi. Photos from the walk Our very first Berkeley mushroom hunt has led to a few things: A high amount of contact with poison oak with our feet, Several instances of collateral damage to the local Banana Slug population, An overwhelming ‘earthy’ smell throughout our house, The purchase […]
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Bees Detecting and Responding to the Tracheal Mite
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The Life Cycle of the Honey Bee & Varroa Mite
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Bees!
Check our photo album for first days. Our New BEES! This one’s named Kira… and so is this one… We’ve acquired the beginnings of our beekeeping adventure, including the adoption of a small, yet ‘strong’ colony. Here’s the story & what we’ve got: 2 deeps, 2 supers, inner-cover, telescoping top, screened bottom, ‘waste-tray’, stand, strap, 20 […]
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July 2nd
I was directed to read about the Fourth of July, America’s Independence Day on Wikipedia, and thusly, Kira and I got in the car on the 2nd in order to properly celebrate our Nation’s independence day in full. July two, three, and four. Leaving at 1 PM on Friday, our plan was fool-proof enough and I […]
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Hiking Illilouette Creek, Yosemite, CA
Another enjoyable summer hike. This time, up the Illilouette creek in Yosemite National Park with Tripp, Karen, and Kira. Weather was good, and warmer than I packed for.  Crowds were equally better than I’d expected.  And most enjoyably, the water level was wonderfully high making for fun river crossings and some recreational fishing.  I suppose my […]
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Neighborhood Fishing
A while back we set out on a plan to enhance our neighborhood, now that it was finally spring time.  I’d say we accomplished our goal, 60%.  That’s more than half.  There’s still hope, but then again, winters are harsh here.  I who knows.  Perhaps turtles will find a new home beneath the public waters.