Wonderful info. I heard a year or two ago that organic beehives were not having problems. The story was about commercial beehives but important to all. Ken
On Tue, Sep 27, 2011 at 6:36 PM, Jama Crawford <j...@frontier.net> wrote: > Friends > > We had incredible bees this year. Our garden devoted a considerable amount > of space to flowers, along the exterior fence and at the heads and tails of > row crops, and along bridges and paths that connected the interior of the > garden. Every little blossom had one, two, or more bees in it. I found > squash blossoms with four bees at once. Although we don't have a hive, the > county extension office said we could have. We also allowed several plants > to bolt and flower, whereas in the past we would had nipped that in the bud, > literally. These included broccoli, cilantro, tatsoi, bok choi, and a few of > last year's root crops which escaped harvest, such as carrots and parsnips. > I expect we had the highest concentration of flowers for 5 miles around. In > turn, we had almost no aphids, even though we were bracing for the worst > year ever, and many other local gardens reported a very bad year of them. We > used some neem oil early in the season, and some garlic spray later on, but > it is also possible that the flowers attracted the right predators, as > several people on this list said they would when I asked for aphid advice in > late spring. > > Anyway, I just wanted to offer a more hopeful picture of bee life, and the > potential role of community gardens to support it. > > Jama Crawford > Shared Harvest Community Garden > Durango Colorado > > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: <jhain...@comcast.net> > To: > <community_garden@list.**communitygarden.org<community_garden@list.communitygarden.org> > > > Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2011 4:45 PM > Subject: [Community_garden] Bees Dying > > > > >> >> A good report but, like most others, it focuses on commercial beekeepers. >> Neighborhood beekeepers are having better luck with their bees, especially >> those, like me, who use no chemicals whatsoever. There's an interesting >> group in California called "The Backwards Beekeepers" who believe in only >> getting their swarms through capture and the use of no chemicals. They've >> done some very entertaining and informative videos on youtube. >> >> >> >> Judy in Michigan >> -------------- next part -------------- >> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... >> URL: <http://list.communitygarden.**org/pipermail/community_** >> garden_list.communitygarden.**org/attachments/20110927/** >> 130e9c75/attachment.html<http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20110927/130e9c75/attachment.html> >> > >> ______________________________**_________________ >> The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of >> ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to >> find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org >> >> To post an e-mail to the list: community_garden@list.** >> communitygarden.org <community_garden@list.communitygarden.org> >> >> To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: >> http://list.communitygarden.**org/mailman/listinfo/** >> community_garden_list.**communitygarden.org<http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org> >> >> > > ______________________________**_________________ > The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of > ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to > find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org > > To post an e-mail to the list: community_garden@list.** > communitygarden.org <community_garden@list.communitygarden.org> > > To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: > http://list.communitygarden.**org/mailman/listinfo/** > community_garden_list.**communitygarden.org<http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org> > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20110927/c2f5783d/attachment.html> _______________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: community_garden@list.communitygarden.org To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org
