Strawberries, Blueberries and Huckleberries

Technically, the month for strawberries has passed in the garden - though there are a few lagging behind to ripen as the season continues.  If we're lucky, and the heat-wave subsides, these 'everbearing' plants will flower again (maybe two more times), and we will enjoy more fruit in the future.  For the time being, our attentions have turned to the blueberries which have been ripening since the beginning of July.  We try to pick the ripe berries at least once a day from our established bushes, to discourage predation by all of the birds looking for a tasty treat.  I just scared off several Stellar Jays having brunch... By the end of the season, we will be so tired of these daily pickings that the time will come to just let the birds have a little feast.  We still treat Nugget to a few of her favourite tidbits - our chicken loves her blueberries, and will jump to carefully nip them from between our fingers.

Yesterday morning, I went out to one of my favourite picking spots to hunt for wild huckleberries.  They're much harder to pick, averaging roughly 1/2 hour of picking for each 1/2 pint of jam that I make, but it's become a bit of a tradition for me.

 

Several times throughout the day, I checked on the hive to make sure that there was no sign of the robber bees - we physically moved the hive after the robbers returned the second day after they found the hive. The distance of a mere 10 feet and some tall plantings seems to have caused enough confusion to discourage predation. Two of the three entrance holes are blocked, and will stay that way in the near future.  I've observed guard bees pacing in and out of the remaining entrance, wary of intruders. We will do a hive inspection on Sunday to verify if our new queen is laying, and if the brood from Jen's hive has begun to emerge.  

 

In the garden, the barley, shallots and garlic are nearly ready for harvest. We had the last of our first -sown lettuce greens with dinner last night, and had blueberries with a bit of ice cream to top off our meal.  The tomatoes are in bloom, but I have yet to see any fruit development (very late this year). Cucumbers and zucchini are beginning to form, as well as the fruits on our winter squash vines.  The pole and bush beans have peaked in their growth, and are starting to set flowers for pollination. More pole beans are just breaking the ground to replace the pea plants I pulled on the weekend. Cilantro plants are busy flowering, so it looks like we will have a good crop of coriander seed - and I have successive plantings of the herb, so we are still enjoying fresh salsa, even if the tomatoes are from the store. The heat caused the oriental greens to bolt, and I've decided to let the planting essentially re-seed itself in place for the cooler months.  The first planting of basil is hitting a foot in height, and I should be harvesting this weekend to make basil/almond pesto (it keeps wonderfully in the freezer). Also on the to-do list is using up some of the parsley for home-made tabouli. 

 

While I was giving some of our plants a bit of extra water, this dragonfly fearlessly landed a foot away from me, and stayed to let me take pictures.

 

Robbery in Progress

I went outside today to check on the chickens and rabbits in the hot afternoon, and went to investigate when I heard buzzing from the direction of the hive (you don't normally hear them, unless you've got the top open).  At first glance, it looked like there was a massive backup at the entrance holes, but knowing that our colony is currently fairly small, and knowing that there have been fewer numbers heading out to forage over the past few days, I took a closer look.  What I saw was a few larger bees wrestling at the entrance holes with some of our girls. The foreigners were trying to get in, while their compatriots hovered nearby, waiting for their chance to zip past the bees guarding the entrance.  In large part, our foraging Carnolians seemed to be ignoring the interlopers, trying to get around them and continue about their business. I'm not sure how many 'guard' bees are at work in the hive these days with their limited numbers.

I plugged the holes with twigs as my first reaction - trying to limit the amount of movement in and out of the hive.  The robbers stayed close by, and I ran to get my veil and gloves, while dialing my beekeeping friend.  You can see the robbers below - the much larger bees with long, dark abdomens were considerably bigger that our fuzzy little girls.

Veil and gloves on, I tried to secure the entrances to allow for passage of our smaller bees, while limiting how many of the robbers could get in - all of the bees ignored me.  I was hoping that blocking the passages would make it easier for the colony to fight back and prevent ingress.  The sheer numbers of robbers was disconcerting, and I had no idea what was happening inside the hive (robbers will kill workers and even the queen of a hive they are stealing from).  I couldn't open the hive to observe, since that would only allow more robbers a chance to get in, but could see that the queen cage was resting on the floor of the hive, possibly knocked off during the struggle inside. The cage was dutifully being attended from outside by 10 or more worker bees, doing their job regardless of the situation.  Twice while I watched and considered my options, the sheer volume of robbers trying to force their way in dislodged the smaller sticks I was using to reduce the space. 

I decided this wasn't going to be pretty, headed back to the workshop, grabbed the staple gun, and cut myself a piece of screening material.  I quickly removed the sticks, and secured the screen over all three holes, stapling it down to prevent any movement at all. Robbers were trapped inside, and our foragers were unable to return home.

I checked back on the hive at intervals, and found that the robbers had lost interest about 45 minutes after I placed the screen - now there were about 30 of our bees desperately trying to get out of the hive, bunched up under the fabric.  I pulled half of the screening off, freeing one entryway completely, while making it difficult to access the second entrance.  Several of our girls took up position at the edge of the open hole, fanning pheromones, I assume, to tell their foraging sisters that they could now access the hive.

Relieved and worried, I opened the hive to access the queen's cage - and found her unharmed and alive, covered in a protective coating of bees.  The candy plug is almost gone, and I feel fairly confident that the hive has accepted her and was protecting her during the invasion.

I'll keep a close eye on the hive tomorrow - and probably for several days!