Over the years I've developed a fairly well-oiled backyard-beekeeper honey processing operation. That hasn't come without a few disasters along the way. There are lots of places for things to get messy, starting with removing the honey from the bees, and ending with putting the label on the last jar. In between, there is potential [...]
Author: Gary Rondeau
Debt Distraction
It's time for some perspective on all the talk about too much debt and the need to balance budgets that seems to have gripped our political discourse recently. Debt was not always the pariah that it has become, and for good reason. Most of us often need some way to time-shift our spending and earning, which is [...]
Squash Growing Conditions
This year the squash got the best sunny spot in my garden, at least some of them did. I like squash and they take space, so I tend to put hills wherever they might do well. Besides the sunny patch, I have a few hills in a shady spot and one hill in a raised bed. You [...]
More Squash Practice – Differentiating Squash Species
Despite my patterned planting method to help identify the seedlings coming from seeds I plant, I still have trouble with confusing squash volunteers showing up in the hills. This year I clearly noticed the interlopers only after blossoms were starting to set fruit. However, I could have picked up the problems earlier if I had [...]
Royal Tribulations
Part of the fun of beekeeping is that there is always a story to tell. Often the story line doesn't go as planned and the beekeeper (that's me!) has to come up with a new plan on the spot. My spring splits this year were a case in point. Over the winter I lost one [...]
Metallic Green Sweat Bee – Agapostemon-melliventris
I had an opportunity to get a good look at one of our native pollinators during our camp-out last weekend. Fellow campers discovered the nest of this colorful little ground bee in the lawn at the campground. The bees were coming and going from a small hole in the ground. The bees seemed to like [...]
Sustainable bean poles
How do gardeners make meaningful the concept of "sustainability"? Purchased soil mixes and organic blended fertilizers and a raised bed kit can make a wonderful instant garden, but manufactured growing space misses the big circle. The land provides for us; we give back nourishment to the land. For this circle to be sustainable, we have [...]
Coping with Cool in the Garden
For the second year in a row we are dealing with a cool wet spring. Last year I tried to plant my squash "by the calendar" and suffered very poor germination and a slow start for the plants. I ended up replanting twice before finally getting everything to germinate. This year the ground was too wet [...]
Nosema Ceranae
Parasites and their hosts live a delicate dance. If the parasite kills the host, it may lose its habitat and perish as well, so most parasite-host relationships develop such that the parasite is a nuisance, but not life threatening to the host. The problem we have with our bees at the moment, is that the most troublesome parasites [...]
CCD onset or Chilly Bees? Nosema!
The bees continue to keep me guessing. A couple of weeks ago I placed the thymol pads on my bees to knock down the mites. The bees never really enjoy this, and often engage in significant hive ventilation such that the entire hive emits the dull roar of fanning bees. Both of my hives [...]
Squash Practice 