What have you done today in the Garden?

Did a lot of weeding to plant some more cosmos. I pulled up a verbena bonerences by mistake, grass was growing around it, but I quickly put it back in and it's ok. Had some very heavy rain at 2.30pm so they've had a good watering in.

 

Here’s. The way it goes, Pacnor— the worksters would make another queen if only there were eggs. Without a queen to lay them though, there were no eggs. In fact there weren’t any larvae either, the brood cells were already sealed.

So when I gave them a piece of cone with eggs in it from a colleague’s colony, they will now raise the larvae when they hatch out of the little eggs. If a larve will become a queen or not is determined by the worksters. They make selections and feed the chosen ones extra queens’ jelly for an additional few days. Regular brood gets it for about three days, the queen larvae gets it for five or so days. Clear as mud?

It is too bad that the queen has disappeared, but it happens. Here you can see a frame with the large queen cells sprinkled around the centre of the frame. This was taken a few years ago.


The work waiting for me really isn’t very much, it is more of a waiting game. Waiting and listening for the sound of new piping queens.

 

Yumm…. Found some bees in the garden today they buzzz so fast can’t get a pic today. But caught this bumblebee resting in the grass..

 

Played golf this morning, but came off after 7 holes as it was chucking it down. Rained even heavier this afternoon, so no gardening.
When I was in the kitchen I noticed 'arry up by the side door of the garage. By the time I found my camera and made my way ro the French windows, he must have reached the the top of the steps down to the patio next to the garage and turned right (to avoid a puddle) and was at the top of the steps between the two planters, ready to make his way to the dining room. This was about ten to nine, so he must have been on patrol down the bottom of the garden, before having his chicken dinner.

Looking a bit like Stewart Granger with his grey side whiskers.

 

The rain came and left 4-5\8th inches so I mucked in and tied a few tomato branches up but that was it. Oh boy- the humidity! Hard to describe that much water and this much heat. Tropical! Welcome to the southern transition zone!

 

Is that four and five eights, or four to five eighths? Four inches sounds like major flood to me.

I grew up near Hannibal Missouri. Back then we slept outside during the summer, on hammocks. The mosquitoes were well fed, needless to say. When you feed them that much, you have to tie down the smaller children so the giant mosquitoes don't carry them off. It made for productive fishing in those swampy backwaters.

 

@harrylee I like the look of your raised planters. I'd like to know how they work out for you.

@Sjoerd your strawberries look incredible!!! I wish you luck with your developing queen bee.
RE my compost bins, i used to tend them, etc. They all have jumping worms now. I can't use the compost. So now they are just a place to put trimmings.

@Doghouse Riley that conduit is good idea.

 

Almost 5 inches. A proper frog strangler rain. More tonight- Yippee!

 

That's incredible!

 

I told my wife those poor folks out west need this water.

 

Dirtmechanic, feel free to send your excess rain to us!
I picked tomatoes, then watered the vegetables. It's so warm here that even with the air conditioning we aren't very hungry for dinner, so tonight we are having a salad of chopped tomatoes, red onions, and black olives drizzled with olive oil and a light sprinkle of sea salt.

 

Nothing today it's raining

 

Yeah Logan, brag, brag, brag. Rub it in--you got it, we don't!

 

Not doing much today, as I'm watching the tennis. Though I have started on 'arrys winter house. I'n glueing a thick piece of polystyrene to the base to give it a bit of insulation. I've some left-over polymer roofing felt from when I changed that on the shed. I'll staple some to the sides for more protection and insulation tomorrow.
I won't be changing the houses over until September, it'll give the smell of glue and roofing felt time to dissipate a bit.
I don't like handling him, but in the exchange I'll take the opportunity to attempt to determine the sex, if it'll let me.

Last night he turned up at around 9.00 pm. ate some of his dinner, than ten minutes later went back to bed! Probably because it was light.

But he was on patrol down at the bottom of the garden around 11.00pm.

 

Tree trimming…in a break from the rain. Now gotta move it all to the burn pile.

Any Volunteers?