Mason Bee Up-date

A look at the mason bee carrying mud and clay back to her nest. Read the annotation and if you know anything about these bees offer an opinion as to wether she is a mason bee or a leaf cutter bee.

Mason Bees have moved into their new home.

In this photo you can see the tube that she filled with brood and then sealed with clay. Quoted from Wikipedia:
In this photo she has backed into a tube which means she is laying an egg.
Mason bee is a common name for species of bees in the genus Osmia, of the family Megachilidae. They are named from their habit of making compartments of mud in their nests, which are made in hollow reeds or holes in wood made by wood boring insects.

Species of the genus include the orchard mason bee, Osmia lignaria, the blueberry bee, O. ribifloris, and the hornfaced bee, O. cornifrons. The former two are native to the Americas and the latter to Japan, although O. lignaria and O. cornifrons have been moved from their native ranges for commercial purposes. The Red mason bee, Osmia rufa, is found across the European continent. There are over 300 species across the Northern Hemisphere, and more than 130 species of mason bees in North America; most occur in the temperate regions, and are active from spring through late summer.

Osmia species are usually metallic green or blue, though many are blackish. Most have black ventral scopae which are difficult to notice unless laden with pollen. They have arolia between their claws unlike Megachile or Anthidium species.

Unlike honey bees (Apis) or bumblebees, Osmia are solitary; every female is fertile and makes her own nest, and there are no worker bees for these species. Solitary bees produce neither honey nor beeswax. They are immune from acarine and Varroa mites, but have their own unique parasites, pests and diseases.
The bees emerge from their cocoons in the spring, with males the first to come out. They remain near the nests waiting for the females. When the females emerge, they mate. The males die, and the females begin provisioning their nests.
Osmia females like to nest in narrow holes or tubes, typically naturally occurring tubular cavities. Most commonly this means hollow twigs, but sometimes abandoned nests of wood-boring beetles or carpenter bees, or even snail shells. They do not excavate their own nests. The material used for the cell can be clay or chewed plant tissue. The palearctic species O. avosetta is one of a few species known for lining the nest burrows with flower petals.[1] A female might inspect several potential nests before settling in.
Females then visit flowers to gather pollen and nectar, and it will take many trips to complete a pollen/nectar provision mass. Once a provision mass is complete, the bee backs into the hole and lays an egg on top of the mass. Then she creates a partition of "mud", which doubles as the back of the next cell. The process continues until she has filled the cavity. Female-destined eggs are laid in the back of the nest, and male eggs towards the front.
Once a bee has finished with a nest, she plugs the entrance to the tube, and then may seek out another nest location.
By the summer, the larva has consumed all of its provisions and begins spinning a cocoon around itself and enters the pupal stage, and the adult matures either in the fall or winter, hibernating inside its insulatory cocoon. Most Osmia species are found in places where the temperature drops below 0°C for long durations, like Canada, and they are well-adapted to cold winters.

Management

Spring mason bees (blue orchard and hornfaced) are increasingly cultivated to improve pollination for early spring fruit flowers. They are used sometimes as an alternative, but more often as an augmentation for European honey bees.
Most mason bees live in holes and are readily attracted to nesting holes; reeds, paper tubes, or nesting trays. Drilled blocks of wood are an option, but do not allow you to harvest the bees, which is vital to control a build up of pests. Blue orchard and hornfaced bees are spring season pollinators and will only sting if squeezed or stepped on. As such, they are beneficial and benign, since they both pollinate the plants and are safe for children and pets.

Beautiful Campobello Island N.B., Canada

Earlier I did a video tour of Campobello but it was in winter and I have finally got around to doing a summer version. It was a windy day and that always raises havoc with my little camcorder so I will apologize right off the bat for the poor sound track. I did do voice overs for the worst of it but there is still some wind noise. This was recorded on a beautiful hot August day but the fog was on it's way in so it was a race to get out ahead of the fog.

Chilled Melon Soup Recipe by Manjula

View full recipe at http://www.manjulaskitchen.com

Ingredients
1/2 medium cantaloupe peeled seeded and cubed this will make 4 cups of cubed cantaloupe
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
6-8 mint leaves
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of black pepper
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Sugar Baby Watermelon Competition 2012 Update

Ten days since the last weighing of my Sugar Baby Watermelon and it now weighs 3 pounds 2 ounces an  increase of 23 ounces so that is an increase of 2.3 ounces per day on average. I had no idea it was growing that fast. According to the seed package it should weigh between 6 and 8 pounds at maturity  if it does reach those weights it is about half grow now.

Digging Spuds and looking at Squash

Royal Collection: Queen Elizabeth II in Coronation Robes, Sir Herbert Ja...

Royal Collection Curator of Paintings Jennifer Scott talks about Sir Herbert James Gunn's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II in Coronation Robes, on display in the Garter Throne Room at Windsor Castle.

Windsor Castle is open to visitors throughout the year: www.royalcollection.org.uk/visit/windsorcastle

August 6th in the Hoop House

A look at the corn, tomatoes, melons , figs, peppers and artickoke in the hoop house

Follow-up to Pickled Radish

I fermented the Radish in the Japanese Pickle Press for 5 days then I thoroughly rinsed them under cold water and packed them in mason jars with a sweet pickle that I use for pickled eggs, Ingredients:
2 cups white  vinegar
2 cups water
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Good result a sweet pickle with the tang of the vinegar and a lot less salt.

Sugar Baby Melon Contest

A friendly competition between Freidasgarden and myself to see who can grow the largest Sugar Baby Melon. If you are growing Sugar Babies please feel free to join us. Have a look at Freida's video and subscribe to both of our channels so you can follow the progress.

Chinese Radish in the Japanese Pickle -Tsukemono Press

Harvested all of my Chinese/Daikon Radish and made my first batch of pickles in my new Japanese Pickle Press.

Melons July 23, 2012

Bragging about my melon crop.

Som Sabadell flashmob

On the 130th anniversary of the founding of Banco Sabadell we wanted to pay homage to our city by means of the campaign "Som Sabadell" (We are Sabadell) . This is the flashmob that we arranged as a final culmination with the participation of 100 people from the Vallès Symphony Orchestra, the Lieder, Amics de l'Òpera and Coral Belles Arts choirs.

En el 130º aniversario de la creación de Banco Sabadell hemos querido rendir un homenaje a nuestra ciudad con la campaña "Som Sabadell". Esta es la flashmob que realizamos como colofón final con la participación de más de 100 personas de la Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès y los coros Lieder y Amics de l'Òpera y la Coral Belles Arts.

My little berry pickers

July 17, 2012 Chinese Radish or Turnip

Harvesting one of the giant Chinese Radish also called a Turnip, on the way to the hoop house I stop to show you and endangered species wild flower blooming for the first time in my garden.

Canada Lilly - Lilium Canadense

Canada Lilly - Lilium Canadense, originally uploaded by Campobello Island.

I'm so excited I've been waiting 4 or 5 years for this plant to bloom from a one year old seedling that I ordered from a company in Quebec. Just one bloom this year and only 2 feet tall but as it continues to develop in future years it will get much taller and have more blossoms. An endangered native species I'm so pleased to have one and hope to save seed from it to grow more.From Wikipedia : Lilium canadense, commonly called either the Canada Lily, Wild Yellow-Lily, or the Meadow Lily, is a native of eastern North America. Flowers emerge in June, and are nodding, yellow, orange or red, with spots. The plant has become less common in urban and suburban areas due to heavy browsing by the white-tailed deer• Habitat: moist meadows, wood margins • Height: 2-5 feet • Flower size: 2-3 inches wide • Flower color: yellow, orange, or red • Flowering time: June to July • Origin: nativeFound in N.B., N.S., Ont., Que.; Ala., Conn., Del., D.C., Ga., Ky., Maine, Md., Mass., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Pa., R.I., S.C., Tenn., Vt., Va., W.Va. [1]This plant is on the endangered species list of COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada).[2]The flower buds and roots were once gathered and eaten by North American Indians.

My New Rocket Stove

I finally broke down and bought a Rocket Stove, I've wanted one for years and have watched dozens of youTube videos with people demonstrating them, so there isn't anything new here I just though I would make this video as some of my subscribers might not have seen one and hopefully will find this little demonstration interesting.

July 11, 2012 Potatoes Irish Cobbler and Norland

Bragging about my potato plants. Great looking plants and fingers crossed for a good harvest.

July 5th succession sowing and a visit to the hoop house.

Starting some cool weather crops for transplant into the hoop house later this summer as replacements for the summer crops as they finish. Transplanting the wild New Brunswick river grapes that I started from cuttings. A look around the hoop house at corn, peppers, strawberries, eggplant and tomatoes which are all performing well right now. Also a look at my Amazon Jungle Peanuts which are in bloom.

Evening quality time with the girls

Out enjoying the evening watching the hens while they free range. You also get a look at lucky who has done a lot of growing sine she/he hatched April 17th.