ethin's doings

ethin gardener Plant Breeder and Graphic Designer in Cache Valley Utah, USDA Zone 4b Posts: 214	ethin's doings Apr 26, 2015 21:51:46 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by ethin on Apr 26, 2015 21:51:46 GMT -5 Thanks khoomeizhi.

ethin gardener Plant Breeder and Graphic Designer in Cache Valley Utah, USDA Zone 4b Posts: 214	ethin's doings May 13, 2015 17:21:11 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by ethin on May 13, 2015 17:21:11 GMT -5 I found this thing in the garden, could it be a queen bee or is it just a drone, its about twice the size of a worker bee. As far as I know the are no swarms camped out near by.

flowerweaver master gardener Posts: 967	ethin's doings May 13, 2015 19:10:56 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by flowerweaver on May 13, 2015 19:10:56 GMT -5 It looks like a drone, they have large eyes and are much bigger than anyone else in the hive. Also, they don't have stingers.
	Drip irrigated gardening in the arid southwest on a beautiful pile of alluvial rocks where the hill country meets the desert. It's a food desert, too: a 3 hour round trip to the grocery store.

ethin gardener Plant Breeder and Graphic Designer in Cache Valley Utah, USDA Zone 4b Posts: 214	ethin's doings May 13, 2015 23:33:22 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by ethin on May 13, 2015 23:33:22 GMT -5 I wouldn't think that drones would get too far from the hive (I wonder if there is a hive in the neighborhood.), or do they do there thing and then fly off into the sun set.

Joseph Lofthouse
Homegrown Guru

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ethin's doings May 14, 2015 0:25:45 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Joseph Lofthouse on May 14, 2015 0:25:45 GMT -5

There's lots of honey bee hives all over town, and bees travel up to a couple miles from their hive. The drones are pretty active right now because the swarming season has begun and so young queens are making their mating flights.

I captured a swarm last week in the cemetery of my village.

Silt/clay, high-altitude, super-arid, sun-drenched, irrigated-desert garden. Cold radiant-cooled nights. ~100 frost free days. Grow most of my own locally adapted landrace seed. GDD10C ~1300. Buy my book or subscribe to my newsletter at Lofthouse.com.

ethin gardener Plant Breeder and Graphic Designer in Cache Valley Utah, USDA Zone 4b Posts: 214	ethin's doings May 20, 2015 0:10:23 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by ethin on May 20, 2015 0:10:23 GMT -5 finished up most of the direct-sow stuff yesterday, waiting for the temps to go up some more so I can plant limas and cow-peas. The few veg, herb, and ornamental starts left in the sun-room are also waiting for warmer temps.

ethin gardener Plant Breeder and Graphic Designer in Cache Valley Utah, USDA Zone 4b Posts: 214	ethin's doings May 28, 2015 16:08:20 GMT -5 Joseph Lofthouse likes this Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by ethin on May 28, 2015 16:08:20 GMT -5 Just had quite a nasty storm cell plow through, not sure how the veggies fared but the flowers around the house where pulverized. Just an hour before it was 70 and sunny.

Joseph Lofthouse
Homegrown Guru

Posts: 5,486

ethin's doings May 28, 2015 17:17:52 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Joseph Lofthouse on May 28, 2015 17:17:52 GMT -5

May 28, 2015 16:08:20 GMT -5 ethin said:

Just had quite a nasty storm cell plow through, {...} Just an hour before it was 70 and sunny.

Thanks ethin... I took photos to upload of the same storm cell, but your photos are better quality. I had just pulled into the field and was going to plant tomatoes... Too muddy now to want to be anywhere near a field. Yay!!!! Rain day!!! Lots and lots of rain days this spring. And tomorrow I get a mud day, even though it's also pick for market day.

Silt/clay, high-altitude, super-arid, sun-drenched, irrigated-desert garden. Cold radiant-cooled nights. ~100 frost free days. Grow most of my own locally adapted landrace seed. GDD10C ~1300. Buy my book or subscribe to my newsletter at Lofthouse.com.

philagardener master gardener Posts: 1,491	ethin's doings May 28, 2015 17:18:44 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by philagardener on May 28, 2015 17:18:44 GMT -5 Ouch! Hail like that is no fun at all. :<(
	Gardening near Philadelphia PA, USDA Zone 7a/6

ethin gardener Plant Breeder and Graphic Designer in Cache Valley Utah, USDA Zone 4b Posts: 214	ethin's doings Jul 18, 2015 23:46:43 GMT -5 Joseph Lofthouse, templeton, and 2 more like this Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by ethin on Jul 18, 2015 23:46:43 GMT -5 Pic time... New garden plot v v v. Older one is too weedy for pics. Crowded squash blossoms Seed carrot patch

Joseph Lofthouse Homegrown Guru Posts: 5,486	ethin's doings Jul 19, 2015 1:45:39 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jul 19, 2015 1:45:39 GMT -5 Jul 18, 2015 23:46:43 GMT -5 ethin said: Older one is too weedy for pics. Sounds like my garden!!!
	Silt/clay, high-altitude, super-arid, sun-drenched, irrigated-desert garden. Cold radiant-cooled nights. ~100 frost free days. Grow most of my own locally adapted landrace seed. GDD10C ~1300. Buy my book or subscribe to my newsletter at Lofthouse.com.

flowerweaver
master gardener

Posts: 967

ethin's doings Jul 20, 2015 9:09:20 GMT -5

Quote

Post by flowerweaver on Jul 20, 2015 9:09:20 GMT -5

Garden looks good! Glad something survived the storm.

To answer about drones, each hive only has a few males and they live a charmed life inside the hive being hand-fed and groomed daily by the female worker bees. Their entire purpose is to leave the hive during mating season and mate with another hive's queen. The successful drone is killed in the act when they part, leaving too many entrails behind. The unsuccessful drones return to the hive, where they are cast out. Since they know nothing about caring for themselves, they soon perish. Undoubtedly workers in corporations are sometimes referred to as drones, because they are expendable.

Drip irrigated gardening in the arid southwest on a beautiful pile of alluvial rocks where the hill country meets the desert. It's a food desert, too: a 3 hour round trip to the grocery store.

richardw master gardener Posts: 3,382	ethin's doings Jul 20, 2015 16:29:42 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by richardw on Jul 20, 2015 16:29:42 GMT -5 oh its so nice looking at a summer garden, (as one looks out at a frost covered car)gardens looking good ethin
	Gardening in free draining loam soil in the South Island NZ www.sentinelsgroup.co.nz/

ethin gardener Plant Breeder and Graphic Designer in Cache Valley Utah, USDA Zone 4b Posts: 214	ethin's doings Jul 30, 2015 22:27:13 GMT -5 philagardener and kazedwards like this Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by ethin on Jul 30, 2015 22:27:13 GMT -5 The largest Broccoli head I've ever grown, tasted almost like store bought, a bit stronger flavored. Just for reference my foot is 10.5".

ethin
gardener

Plant Breeder and Graphic Designer in Cache Valley Utah, USDA Zone 4b

Posts: 214

ethin's doings Aug 19, 2015 14:40:46 GMT -5

Quote

Post by ethin on Aug 19, 2015 14:40:46 GMT -5

A few pics...

Picked this watermelon back on the 11th, it's a Golden Midget (no false advertising there). Picked 3 more on the 13th, they were a bit smaller. They all had pretty good flavor and mature seeds even though they ripened early because the vines where dying.

Had a naturally occurring cross show up in my snap beans, the mother (top image) was a bush "yellow wax" snap bean, and the F1 offspring (bottom pic) is a dry poll bean.