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The beauty of pollination

Dotch

By Dotch
in Lawn & Garden

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RebelSS Grand Master

RebelSS

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That's a great vid, Dotch. I do all I can to encourage bees, we all know we're in dire straits with the declining pop of them. My Autumn Sedums out front turn dark red in the Fall, and are normally covered with bumbles and honeybees for weeks. The last two years I've noticed fewer and fewer bees. Lat Fall hardly any.  My apple tree is also loaded with them when the blossoms pop about now, far fewer bees now than in years past. Without them, we have no crops. Plant a bee-friendly yard and don't use pesticides!!!

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LindellProStaf Veteran

LindellProStaf

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Awesome video Dotch.  I thought oh no 4 minutes, that is a long one.  Couldn't believe it got over so fast.  Once I was in a pasture and the monarchs were like that view of millions of them.  I will never forget it.  We let the milkweed grow around our place now for them.  I do have a dilemma every fall though.  We have a couple of hummingbird feeders in front of the windows of our house so we can watch them.  The beekeeper puts some hives across the road from us on the edge of a farmers field.  Glad he does it.  But in the late summer the bees find the hummingbird feeder and just take it over and the hummers just can't get in without the bees chasing them away.  I keep my small shop vac out there when I am watching Vikes games and I go out during breaks in action and turn on the vac and the bees get sucked in.  Works great.  They are not even afraid of it.  I feel bad doing it but just trying protect the hummers.  

I helped a beekeeper extract honey from his hives one year.  I got stung so many times that I got used to it and it was no big deal.  They thought it was funny as heck.  That was one of the most interesting things I ever did.  They told me a lot about bees that I didn't know.  Fascinating subject.   

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RebelSS Grand Master

RebelSS

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13 minutes ago, LindellProStaf said:

I have two of them and the bees take them over big time.  20 or 30 bees at each feeder...  I suck them up and in a day more bees are there again.

Huh...I'll be danged. Maybe if you put up a sign telling them to keep away.....:crazy:

bees-do-not-enter-sign-s-9039.png

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Dotch Grand Master

Dotch

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I debated posting that video for some of the reasons that are illustrated here. For everything we do on this planet, there are trade-offs.Use of pesticides is but one. Are there fewer bees today? Of certain types probably although the data on individual species is in any given area is somewhat limited. In our little sphere of influence at the ranch, one could argue pollinators in general are doing rather nicely. More bumblebees pollinating vine crops in particular the last two growing seasons along with numerous others types of bees. We cheat however. The wildflowers in the CRP as it has become more established are a magnet for all kinds of bees as are our plantings of annuals, not to mention the fruit and berry trees when they flower. There is a lot of milkweed here too so monarchs are following the trend across southern MN of being on the increase. Even as I type here I see the plum thicket is about to explode into bloom so there will be bees having a picnic. Fortunately too, many of the flowering annuals we plant are dual purpose, enjoyed by both the bees and hummingbirds so we have little problem with bees competing at our nectar feeders. Pesticides are used although they are applied only on an as needed basis so their impact is limited. 30+ years of working in IPM helps. By all means, please do plant flowers for bees and other pollinators. Every little bit helps. Just keep in mind that there's more to it than providing a food source for them. If you're not seeing them right away, it's a process that will take time not to mention cooperation from others and Mother Nature as well. 

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smurfy Grand Master

smurfy

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On 4/23/2016 at 9:30 AM, RebelSS said:

LPS...don't suck up the bees!!!  Put another feeder out on perimeter for the bees, lower to ground. Hummers will come in to the other one....

Are you sure those are the good bees? Around my feeders there wasps and hornet's. I use bee traps to harvest them.

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SkunkedAgain Grand Master

SkunkedAgain

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Sorry to bring this back on track....but great video. Reminds me of those Planet Earth videos with Sigourney Weaver.

Is there a special trick for planting milkweed? Someone gave me an envelope with seeds in it, but thought that I recently read that they need to be soaked immediately.

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smurfy Grand Master

smurfy

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12 minutes ago, SkunkedAgain said:

Sorry to bring this back on track....but great video. Reminds me of those Planet Earth videos with Sigourney Weaver.

Is there a special trick for planting milkweed? Someone gave me an envelope with seeds in it, but thought that I recently read that they need to be soaked immediately.

I recently have a love affair with the butterfly milkweed. my experience with them if you don't order them from a nursery already started and plan on starting from seed which I did was keep them outside during the winter. something about the freeze/thaw cycle?????????????  I use a small Styrofoam cup with starter soil. put a seed in and cover with more soil and water. these particular milkweed plants have a long root system. so once planted your chance of transplanting is slim to none!!!!!

that's my experience anyway!!!

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RebelSS Grand Master

RebelSS

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The problem is, when I was a kid, there were empty fields and lots everywhere, with lots of milkweed growing. We'd collect the pods by the handfuls, or break them open to see the seeds drift. Remember all  the butterflies when you were a kid? No such thing as empty lots or fields nowadays, except on privately owned land. That's why meadowlands and prairie fields are so vitally important today... 

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Dotch Grand Master

Dotch

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1 hour ago, SkunkedAgain said:

Sorry to bring this back on track....but great video. Reminds me of those Planet Earth videos with Sigourney Weaver.

Is there a special trick for planting milkweed? Someone gave me an envelope with seeds in it, but thought that I recently read that they need to be soaked immediately.

I can't say for sure how effective their methodology is as the milkweed just showed up in one of our beds. Oxeye showed up about the same time. We had transplanted purple coneflower into it prior to that so we just sorta shrugged and let the thing go. Between the oxeye and milkweed they've pretty well taken over. Butterflies and bees love it. :)

http://www.monarchwatch.org/milkweed/prop.htm

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