Vanishing Animals

The Mini Page in Monday's News and Observer was about Mysterious Disappearances -Vanishing Animals. The case of the vanishing honeybees was the main focus of the article. Experts believe the varroa mite, pesticides, global warming, many viruses hitting at once and modern beekeeping practices may be adding to the problems honey bees are experiencing.

Experts say honeybees help us grow about one-third of our food. We cannot grow many crops without them, including nuts, berries, fruits and many veggies, such as cucumbers, pumpkins and broccoli. Almonds depend on honeybees for pollination. In California, almond growers need 1.3 million colonies of bees - that's over half of all the honeybees in the US.

Some experts believe moving the colonies around the country just wear out the bees. In our area, some beekeepers move their hives but not me -- those girls are fine just were they are. I've never been a mover and neither are my bees.

Barnstorming

This is my next "big" project. Painting a quilt pattern on a large board and hanging it on my barn. In Sunday's N&O there's an article in the Arts & Living Section about the nearly 300 blocks that are on barns in Ashe, Avery, Madison, Mitchell, Yancey and Watagua counties.

This is the Rising Star pattern with a sawtooth border located in Creston, NC.

http://www.newsobserver.com/life/story/144564.html

Quilting Bee Quilts

Saturday was our quilting bee meeting and we had lots of "Show and Tell".

Lily and Missy

Two of my little girls - doing what they do best - sleeping!

And Buddy's sleeping in the pantry in the bottled water box - don't ask why - I'll just tell you he's into everything and anything possible.

Roxy is around but she doesn't like having her photo taken - she's still a little miffed that we have those kittens.

To Be a Bee

Q: Can honeybees see colors?

A: Honeybees can sense colors ranging from yellow and green to blue and ultraviolet. They can also detect an ultraviolet-yellow combination named "bee purple". The bees can't see red - it would appear black to them.

Low Country

I've been in the Low Country and I'll just tell you - it was wonderful. The weather was almost perfect - the "no see um's" were a little irritating but other than that - wonderful!

Bee Alarm Pheromone - Bananas

You know when you're stung by a bee, they send out a "little alarm signal" to the other bees basically saying "go get that person".

Did you know the alarm pheromone smells a bit like a banana!

FYI - I learned this little tidbit from a bug professor at NCSU during a very, very dull bug slide presentation.