Checking Out The Queen

Note the bare hands - the bees, Italian bees, are so gentle that she has decided that the easier working with the frames is easier without gloves (and Photographer me didn't even bother to Veil up)

Carol is checking two things on this opening of the hive - searching for the Queen and seeing how the second tier is filling up - we still have yet to spot the queen but the second tier if filling nicely, and more quickly than we had anticipated, ample evidence that we have a great queen doing her job.

Working ON Winter 2014/15

freshly split wood at the right - this is only semi-split - I split it this far for easy handling and easy seasoning and get back to it later to do the final splitting before I pile it under the roof of the rick.

Neighbor had two large oak trees cut down and were happy to have me come in and  cut them up and clear them out - this is the smaller of the two - about a cord or so including the fresh wood at the back of the wood rick - got started on the second larger tree and after doing the limbs and then cutting the length in chunks, almost through to the ground but not quite, I suddenly found that my Stihl was either running underpowered or the chain had some mysterious illness so have to solve that and get back to the tough job of cutting the final several inches without running the chain into the ground or binding the saw - then the splitting with a maul so that I can load and haul the wood home.

13 August 2013

Warmth

Strangler Vine -

about 18" high new underground shoot rearing it's invasive head

so far it is just being supported but if I don't eradicate it this year then it will be curtains for the treee

more invasive shoot attacking my old rusty homemade cart

Wisteria is found from Maine to Florida, and as far west as Arkansas. There are native, W. frutescens, and non-native types of wisteria, including Japanese wisteria (W. floribunda) and Chinese wisteria (W. sinensis). Wisteria is an ornamental vine with fruit characteristic of the Legume Family (Fabaceae). Growth of the wisteria vine is limited to the height of the plant that it climbs, often growing more than 65 feet in length. Reaching a diameter of up to 15 inches, Japanese wisteria will twine clockwise around its host while Chinese wisteria will twine counter-clockwise.
     Wisteria was introduced to the United States from Japan and China in the 1800’s for use as ornamental plants. Individual wisteria plants can survive for more than 50 years. Wisteria can reproduce by rooting at each node, via stolons, and will produce new shoots if cut back or trimmed. Wisteria is highly aggressive and can displace native species. Sizable trees have been killed by vining wisteria. When these large trees are killed, it opens the forest floor to sunlight, which allows seedlings to grow and flourish.