I’ve become a beekeeper!
Actually, I’ve become more of like a slum lord for a family of bees. Because they are squatting in my Moby siding.
I tried to get a picture of them coming and going, but they are plentiful, but fast and I really don’t want to get stung. So I tried, but it was about as easy to catch one of the little guys in a photo as it is get a close up of Gypsy. So I gave up.
And Jessy is too chicken to use her fancy camera and get me a good shot. Shesh.
I’m going to probably have to call a bee guy to come and nab them. I’d love to have like a real hive, that would be fun, but I’m not so sure that the park would like that. We have a crazy amount of bees and bumblebees and stuff at the Moby right now… they LOVE all our flowers and gardens and such.
The big bumble bees are really mellow and you stand still, you can get really close and get some great shots of them. Everything loves all the sunflowers, so that is cool.
The hostas and coneflower are blooming really nicely… They are all 75% off plants I got at the end of the last year, well, except for my hostas… they have been with me since the Perrysburg house and have moved twice! But that’s another story…. But most of the stuff I got at the end of the year has come back and it’s just so pretty.
I was scouting out more for the kitty garden and up front of the Moby, but they are only 50% off… so I will wait just a little longer… Ain’t nothing better than a wilty perennial for $1.25…. hahaha.
This is one weird situation we have going on… up front on our big rock and our little stone bunny. This hussy of a HUGE wasp thing has started a red light district, right out in front of our house! She sits on top of the bunny’s head and waits… seductively buzzing her wings and pretty soon, along comes a gent and they fly up and do this crazy little buzzy dance of love and then he flies off and settles down on the bunny to wait for another!!!
This has been going on now for over a week! Honestly, what are the neighbors going to say!!!
I’m not sure what she is, but she is HUGE. Impressively big actually and kind of freaks us out, because the bunny and the rock are right by the van’s parking spot. I have been watching this blantant display of sexuality going on when I am out… wondering if she’s made a den or hive or whatever near the rock, but I never see her leave the bunny head! It’s the weirdest thing.
Oh my gosh… I figgered out what she is! A Digger Wasp!
One of the largest insects in Iowa is a “digger wasp” called the cicada killer wasp. Cicada killer wasps may be up to 2 inches long. They are black with yellow markings on the thorax and abdomen and they have rusty-orange colored wings.
The cicada killer wasp is a solitary wasp; that is, each female lives independently rather than in colonies, though many may choose to nest in close proximity. Each female produces offspring and does not depend on other members of a colony to share in the raising of young or the maintaining of a nest.
Cicada killer wasps are active in July and August. The female digs one of more tunnels in soft soil (often flower beds or gardens) usually along an edge such as where the driveway or sidewalk meets the flower bed or lawn or where the flower bed meets the turf. These edges are landmarks that help the female find her way back to the burrow. Tunnels are about the size of a quarter and may extend 24 inches or more into the ground. The female flies to nearby trees to capture an annual cicada that she stings to paralyze and then labors to carry back to the burrow. One or two paralyzed cicadas are placed in each cell at the end of the tunnel and a single egg is deposited before the female closes the cell and flies away, never to return. The eggs hatch into legless larvae that feed on the cicadas and develop into wasps that emerge the following summer.
The cicada killer, like other solitary wasps, has the capability to sting, but won’t unless handled or threatened. Only female wasps have the ability to sting. Stings inflicted by solitary wasps are usually not severe but reaction varies with each individual.
Wasps are generally beneficial and a nest in an out of the way location where it is not likely to be disturbed should be left alone. On the other hand, nests in high-traffic areas may warrant treatment. You can destroy cicada killers and other digger wasps by applying an insecticide dust (e.g., Sevin or permethrin) into the burrow entrance during the night. Cover the nest opening with a shovelful of soil and reapply in two or three days if necessary.
Hmmmm…. well, she’s fine since she has been leaving us alone and all. Guess she’s got a burrow somewhere… Pretty weird stuff.
Guess what I almost stepped on today while I was out picking up yet another mole body from the wanton killing spree that has been taking place in our yard….
Yep, I kinda screamed.
Well, I just don’t often see snakes in my yard. Especially snakes with a belly full of mole.
This was a garter snake, and he was pretty much freaked out by me as I was of him…. and of course, I had my handy dandy camera in my pocket… and I called the girls over who were kinda excited and kinda freaked at the same time.
He was a good 18 – 20 inches long and about the diameter of quarter, maybe… especially in the middle… since it was pretty apparent that he had a little indigestion from a huge snack. We really have bad mole tunnels EVERYWHERE… My neighbor behind me with the big acreage and house and all, he came over to visit today and he said he’s put out traps and has caught quite a few…. they are tearing up his yard something bad this year.
The kitties have been harvesting them as well, we’ve had about 4 or 5 little victims out on the patio or near the shed. I’m not fond of housecats wrecking havoc with the wildlife at all… trust me. But I’m not tooo upset that they are giving the little guys a run for their money. My neighbor, he saw a hognose snake near his woodpile and it was defiantly fat from hunting the little guys…
A master of deceit, the completely harmless hognose can put on an act that will frighten the bravest of people. When first alarmed, this bluffer coils, flattens its head and neck to form a cobra-like hood, inflates its body, hisses fiercely, and strikes violently. The strike–usually made with the mouth closed–almost always falls short of the target. This act is so convincing that it often leads to the snake’s being killed by its would-be victim. These antics have earned the hognose such names as puff adder, blow snake, and hissing viper.
Well, I guess I’m doing something right…. we’re creating a wildlife sanctuary as well as a urban homestead. Birds, snakes, moles, bees, wasps, possum and lots of feral kitties…. oh yeah, an bunnies. Lots of bunnies. Wild place here!
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