DHSCG meeting Tuesday Dec 1!!!

We will have a strategy meeting with Ms. Wade to discuss DHS CG issues
and need for you to come if at all possible. We'll meet Tuesday Dec 1
at 4PM at the  outdoor classroom at the garden, under the trees below
the fields. Please bring any concerns, hopes, solutions with you.
Bees, tractors, compost, plots, fields, grants, toolshed and so on. 

November 7th workday pictures

Photos from the first of November

Cheap clover seed - it lives!

I put out a few handfuls of the clover I bought last week two days ago - it's looking good so far!



Still have at least 48 pounds of seed left. :o)

Fire ants

I almost stepped in this mound of fire ants at the garden today.


We used to not have these pests in Georgia, but they've slowly made their way here from Alabama and Texas.

Fire ants were introduced to the States sometime during the 1930's by hitching rides on freight ships from South America. Eighty years later, the species is widespread throughout the southeastern US.

A well-known predator of this aggressive stinging and biting ant is the South American Phorid fly.

It's halloween right? Ok... So the phorid fly lays its eggs on the thorax of fire ants. The tiny larvae enters the ant's body and wiggles to the ant's head where it feeds on muscle and nervous tissue. Gives me a headache just thinking about it! Eventually the larvae releases an enzyme that breaks down the membrane attaching the ant's head to its body. Yep - the ant's head falls off! Gross huh? The fly larvae remains in the severed head for another two weeks before emerging.

From South American Biological Control Laboratory:




Needless to say, the phorid fly is a friend to gardeners throughout the southeast.

Here's a short Youtube video about the Phorid fly and it's affinity for fire ant brains:

Honeybee hives are at risk from fire ants, according to the Texas Department of Agriculture.

A few pictures from earlier today

First of all, does anyone know what plant(weed) this is?



Our rye is starting to come in nicely.. this is 10 days after planting:





One of the trees by the outdoor classroom...

Beekeeping demonstration, September 13, 2009

Last month Cassandra and John offered a beekeeping demonstration at DHS Community Garden. This was the first time I'd ever been so close to so many bees (without quickly running away!) They stepped through disassembly and inspection of the bee box (aivery) and answered our many questions.

Without further adieu...



The strap is to prevent the box from coming apart should a strong wind blow it over.





Preparing to disassemble the box:



Using a hive tool to separate the frames.



This hive was very gentle. Cassandra didn't need much if any smoke to calm the bees down as she carefully took apart their 'home'. The bees didn't seem to mind us one bit.


Offering a few pointers on taking apart a hive...


John samples the honey...





Most of the hive are female (workers). A few males (drones) are kept around, and they do not have the capability to sting.


Taking apart the second level...



Honeybees are actually relatively clean insects. They do not use the bathroom in their hives - they wait till they are away from the box, like on my finger. This drone demonstrates:


Honeybee combs are made of beeswax, which is excreted from the underside of worker bees.




This frame weighed quite a bit...




Reassembling the hive:




And finally, topping off the nectar bowl on the top of the hive:


After closing the hive, dozens of bees fanned their wings near the entrances. Honeybees like to keep their house at a steady temperature and humidity, and they control this by moving air in and out of the box.



That's it for now -- if you'd like more photos from the demo please let me know. (I have 40 more).