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Dear All, June 6, 2007
With all of the gloom and doom about Honey Bees I decided to check
the yard after reading the e-mail; just before noon; sunny and warm but
with brisk wind (Beaufort 4) so not optimum bee weather.
In four minutes I counted 18 bees; 6 on a patch of Bugle (_Ajuga
reptans_) in shade and 12 on a patch of Ground Ivy (_Glechoma hederacea
var.) in the sun. Bugle makes a very attractive lawn flower, by the way,
if mowing is infrequent enough for them to develop good growth;
persisted about 40 years and still going strong in sometimes mowed lawn
but still within 15' of the original planting.
They appear to be collecting nectar only,. because I could see no
yellow pollen accumulations on hind legs. [Shortly after 1:00 a.m. in
relatively calm air there were fewer Honey Bees so perhaps busy
elsewhere, but small numbers of two kinds of wild bees on Forget-me-not.
Also I noticed Honey Bees working recently mowed Ground Ivy that had
only 1-3 flowers so the good feeding may be elsewhere; e.g. Hawthorn,
Choke Cherry; Dogwood.]
I have seen the usual number of Bumble Bees this year but none today
so they are likely feeding elsewhere.
Paper wasps have been around as well.
You really have to work hard to get one of these docile animals to
sting, so killing them is without justification. People should be
encouraged to live with them. I usually come face-to-face with them,
literally, when removing wooden shutters or painting where shutters had
been and have been stung only twice that I recall; while scraping wall
paint above some nests with chest about 1' from them and while replacing
the crosspieces of a wooden shutter. The latter entails unclinching 4
bent nails, driving them back, pulling them out, nailing the new
crosspieces in place and clinching the nails. They had been very patient
and I had just about finished the repair when the shutter slipped and
fell onto the truck bed. Even a Paper Wasp can take only so much.
Perhaps because I brushed them off quickly, reaction to the sting was
slight.
Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville
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