Surprise at Work

My manager took this picture on her way into work this morning. When I got in she immediately asked me to the side and showed me the image, "Chris, what is this giant moth I found?"

I knew it was a giant silk moth but then I realized which one it was. This is the adult form of the endangered Hickory Horned Devil, Citheronia regalis, also called the Regal Moth... for some reason.

My manager doesn't know it yet but she's getting a free jar of honey.

Bees on Winged Sumac

Yesterday's trek through a poorly guarded construction sight was worth the risk of getting caught. I saw a lot more winged sumac plants that way and I'm happy to say I found lots of bees working the flowers just as I saw two years ago. Last year unfortunately, there was a storm and all of the flower buds were removed from the plants, so no bloom. What wasn't there two years ago though was the great diversity I saw.


It's hard to find a cluster of flowers on this plant that doesn't have at least 2 bees working it. The vast majority of these though were all Honey Bees, Apis mellifera. There were no digger bees, potter wasps, scoliid wasps, leaf cutter bees, hunting wasps, and so on. There were some Bumblebees but not a whole lot.







The closest thing I saw to a digger or leaf cutter bee.


Some sort of fly. I've seen one of these in my yard earlier today.

The only thing I can think of for this drop off of native bees was the time of day I took these photos. I remember from two years ago that after 4:00pm there were almost no bees working these plants at all. I took them around 3:00pm. So I'm going to try and go again around 12:00 noon and see if I can get anything better. Unfortunately there are going to be construction workers around so this might not be the best year to do it. My Ninjutsu isn't what it used to be.

Winged Sumac

Rhus copallinum, Winged Sumac, is a showy roadside shrub/tree at this time of year. Leaves are small, clustered and have a glossy shine that make it stand out in the forest. Those lime green bunches you see are actually the flowers.


Though it can grow to be a about 25 foot high, it's more commonly found as a shrub growing along the forest edge. This is a plant that really takes over after a forest fire but those don't happen as often.


The common name refers to leaves that grow right along the stems.


This is not the easiest plant to photograph and have the images turn out well. Being at the forest edge leaves a lot of dark backgrounds, and the shiny leaves show up bright white. On top of that I'm trying macro photography with bees flying around.


This is probably one of the better shots I took, though the focus is more on the leaf then the bee and that's not what I was going for. I'll post more pictures tomorrow.

Waiting to Harvest Honey

Normally I'd be harvesting honey at this time but a lingering storm and clover coverage are preventing me from that. It isn't raining, the bees are actively flying in and out of the hive, but the simple fact there's cloud coverage over head prevents me from opening the hive. Mind you I could easily open the hive and take honey from them but bees tend to be way more aggressive on cloudy days. Older bees have a better idea of how things should work and are the aggressive factor, they're also the foraging bees. On a cloudy day there are way more of them in the hive. Where as on a bright and sunny day most of these would be out getting nectar or busy stocking the cells with it.

The older bees of the hive also stand in the way of beekeepers re-queening a hive. Some beekeepers like to control the genetics of their bees which can be a smart move if you're in the ideal environment for that bee. Something the South Jersey Beekeepers Association is trying to do is create their own stock of queen bees. This is ideal for club members because rather than importing a honey bee bread from the south, they're getting something that's adept to local conditions. Weather and climate are just two factors to consider. Bees bread down south expect a more mild winter.

Though the weather is currently preventing me from harvesting honey, it allows the bees to work some major crops coming into bloom right now. Behind where I work I saw the Winged Sumac, Rhus compallinum, had just started blooming. Even with only a dozen tiny flowers open of several hundred they were already mobbed with bees. I hope to photograph them if Friday is clear enough.

Joe Pye Weed is another great nectar source but I don't see it around enough. I have a Hollow Stem Joe Pye Weed, Eupatorium fistulosum, planted in the yard and it is one of the better focal points. When the afternoon shade hit it I notice a light medicinal fragrance emanating around it. A very nice plant to have. An odd thing to note though is that some wildlife will dig it up, I'm not sure why though.

Summersweet, Clethra alnifolia, has also started blooming. Recently I found a "nursery" selling this plant. It was more like the side of someone's house they decided to turn into a garden store. I was walking on planks of wood and looking at plants laid out on skiffs. He had a huge selection of plants. The owner had clearly been doing this for the better half of what had to be a 90 year life. I picture him doing cuttings and rooting hormone all of them over winter. The cash register looked like it belonged in a museum. He had a better selection of plants than most garden centers I've been to ten times the size. I also bought a Rudbeckia with flowers the size of my hand.

I already own several Clethra alnifolia but they only had a ploom or two of flowers buds. He was actually selling the cultivor 16 Candles which has a lot more flowers and doesn't get as big. They produce a heavenly fragrance randomly, I think when wet and in the shade but I'm not sure. It's potent, and can be smelled from far away when all the flowers are blooming. I find it intoxicating and so do the bees.

Considering all three of these plants are such rich sources of nectar I might simply not bother harvesting until they're all past their peak. I've always said someone should bottle the fragrance Clethra alnifolia hopefully botteling the nectar will work just as well.

Marigolds to "Attract" Pollinators?

All of my relatives seem to believe this odd gardening concept. Firstly, they're growing mostly tomatoes, squash, corn, radishes, onions, and peppers. And to attract pollinators they were told to plant a flat of marigolds because "pollinators are attracted to the color." Considering I'm the beekeeper of the family, with a pollinator garden, I wondered why the hell they didn't ask me.

The concept sounds simple enough. Bees, flies and such see bright colors and go see what's going on. They buzz down and find useless marigolds with a 250 flower petal count making the reproductive parts useless, and supposidly go to the flowers on your crops instead. I'm exaggerating on how many flower petals marigolds have but they're just so useless. Like many roses bred to be pretty they have way to many flower petals for the most of the flowers to be any good. They're bred for color, fragrance, or sterility.

If this were such a renown method of getting good pollination, then why don't farmers just plant marigolds as a year round cover crop? The answer actually lies in how flowers work.


Insects see differently than humans do. They see more colors in the ultraviolet spectrum. So when we look at a flower, such as the mint plant above, we see a blue violet color with a dark patch in the middle. But to insects, that bright patch in the middle of the flower is actually glowing intensely.


What looks like an ordinary yellow Black Eye'd Susan actually has a lot more going on than just the yellow. See here.

The reason why farmers don't plant a flowering cover crops is because they have plenty of flowers doing the job for them. Their plants were grown for fruit production, not to have frilly flowers.

Having some knowledge about what you're growing can also be key. Going back to what my relatives are growing for a moment: tomatoes, corn, and peppers are all wind pollinating. You'll have good pollination as long as you have 6 or so plants (at least 10 in the case of corn) growing within a few feet of one another. You may still see bees pollinating them but it's not necessary. Squash and all Melons should also be planted in bulk. They produce male and female flowers, so the more plants you have the more likely the right sex of flower will be open at the right time. Radishes, and onions don't actually need to pollinate to grow. When they do flower though, they have no trouble getting pollinators to them. They're actually a good honey crop and bees work them happily.

So as long as your garden is large enough with plenty of flowers you shouldn't need any added plants to attract them. If you're going to plant anything I would suggest Liatris or a low growing Sunflower, 4' or less. The colors would be great together as they're both the same height. And they work with the flowers to your main summer crops. They have the added benefit of producing bird seed to help keep the slugs and caterpillars off your plants. Phacelia is also a good annual to choose, but it blooms earlier. I will put this method to practice next year.

Found a Tomato Hornworm

Well apparently I didn't need to buy them at the store, see my earlier Post. Today I was around the actual tomato garden where I have some heirloom varieties planted. And we have cardboard laid down because torpedo grass has taken over the bed and it's imposable to be rid of. So suddenly I notice one of the plants was slightly nibbled, then I herd something hit the cardboard below. I look down and immediately recognize it as caterpillar dung. After a moment my eyes homed in on a Tomato Hornworm. I took some pictures but they're still on my camera.

What's odd about this is it's just a single caterpillar. It's hard to believe that out of 6 healthy tomato plants only one would make it. And it's fairly developed too, nearing it's last instar. There isn't enough damage at all to account for several caterpillars. So I'm wondering if my neighbor has tomatoes growing on the other side of the fence. Maybe she tossed one my way or it otherwise found it's way on my side... Oh well.

Hopefully I'll get a few hummingbird moths out of this in the end.

SunflWOWers

My first Lemon Queen Sunflower bloomed earlier today and I though I'd take the time to do a survey for The Great Sunflower Project.


Of course in my garden it didn't take very long. Almost everything has a constant flow of assorted bees working it. What should have been a 30 minute survey ended after 10 minutes, as that's how long it took for 5 different bees to visit one flower.

You should note that Lemon Queen Sunflowers are NOT photographed here in this post. That variety of sunflower has pale yellow flower petals with a very dark brown almost black center. They're not as colorful as the Great American Hybrid and Mammoth Sunflowers that I have planted. Skyscraper is another good one.


A native digger bee collecting pollen.




It didn't take long for this bee to become covered in pollen. In an attempt to get clean she took off and started hovering infront of the flower.


I was toying with the idea of planting all along our patio or deck. They are ideal for creating a screen between you and the bird feeder.


They're not only good at producing seeds. A number of Lepidoptera also use them as a host plant.

Regardless of why you plant them though Sunflowers are easily the most inexpensive garden plant. For $1 you'll get 10 to 50 seeds depending on what variety. And in only a year those tiny seeds turn into some of the most spectacular plants. Seeds can be saved after they flower for the following year, it's a natural bird food, some varieties can even be eaten. They're also being considered for use in biofuel. It is a mystery why more people don't plant them.

Verbena hastata

Blue vervain, which is only blue in the shade and pink when viewed in the sun, is one of the odder perennials I feel I took a chance with this year. I bought them at Prairie Nursery which I actually like, I love their selection of plants, and will be buying from them again. However, take a look at the picture they have for this plant CLICK HERE.

That is almost false advertising. They have purple plants, probably more Verbena hastata, adding color to the background. When you look at my picture though you see it for what it is. A tall, 6 foot, plant with short lived purple flowers slowly reaching up. It's not impressive in any way. I enjoy it though becasue the bees are all over it! But I have to say it's not a focal point by any means. It needs a companion of some sort. And finding something 6 feet tall with a complimentary color that blooms at the same time might be tricky. Maybe a Hyssop or Joe Pye Weed? But Joe Pye Weed is a focus point in itself that doesn't need a companion.

Just a gardening issue I haven't solved yet.

Japanese Beetles

Popillia japonica is a major pest for most gardens. I actually found one in my yard nibbling at the leaves to my young Eastern Redbud, Cercis canadensis. Thankfully they're only active over the summer and early fall, late June to August. For the rest of the year the're found in grub form in the lawn. They mostly eat the roots of grasses but other plants will do just as well. Grass is the most noticeable because heavy infestations of them can create brown patches in laws during drought. Adults feed on the leaves to hundreds of plants and makes them unsightly. Not much feeds on them in the adult stage but grubs are eaten by rodents, but shrews rarely burrow through lawn areas.

Rather than spreading insecticides all over the lawn annually, the solution to this problem would be simply reduce your lawn. There may not be any noticeable difference in their population for some years but you'll be helping the environment, even by laying down a patio. The gas millage on your lawn mower is far worse than that of your car.

Wow Coneflowers

I never thought Coneflowers were all that pretty until I saw how they looked when mass planted. It's one thing to have all pink in one area and that does look good from a distance. But the addiction of the yellow, and maybe orange coneflowers really makes them more interesting. Because all coneflowers have the color orange in the flower part it helps draw the eye in by planting complimentary colors. Next to these I have a yellow flowering Coreopsis that helps this effect.


There are also some marigolds planted, which I usually ignore completely. This year though I bought a few seed packets just to put to rest what visits the flowers. Sure you see a Honey Bee working one but I assure you that was a 1 in a 1000 shot. The Coreopsis, Coneflowers and Liatris behind it get all the attention.

Liatris that flower at the same time as the coneflowers (the short Liatris) might be a good companion plant.The color is right anyhow. Unfortunately my luck with coneflowers isn't that good. Most of the ones I planted last year only produced 4 flowers where as ones bought and planted this year are already up to 8 per plant with more to come. Drainage seems to be the factor.

I'm glad they've flowered so well this year. Pollinators seem to only bother with them when they have a lot of flowers. I'll very likely seen gold finches landing on them to eat the seeds. And I can't wait.