welcome, and thank you for joining me on my farm and studio in southern lancaster county, pennsylvania
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Thursday, April 15, 2010

the buzz

The bumbles have arrived!

Inside this cardboard box is a sealed plastic insert that contains the bees. Upon arrival, all I had to do was lift out the insert, remove the lid from their sugar water feeder, replace the insert, and slide open that little blue door to let them out. Easy, do-able, and not very nervous-making. No special bee suit or equipment needed.

The bumbles are here in the greenhouse to pollinate the tomatoes, peppers, summer squash and lima beans. They aren't absolutely necessary, but supposedly the vegetables will be larger and more prolific because of them. However, since this is my first year growing in a greenhouse and I'm adding bees right away, there will be nothing to compare it to at the end of the season and I won't really know if they helped or not. But, they came highly recommended and so here we are. Coexisting. Hopefully peaceably.

I think that probably only my sister is able to comprehend how huge this is. Because you should have seen us as kids, hearts racing, adrenaline pumping, running for the house, flailing our arms and screaming whenever a bee chanced our way.

1 comment:

Teri said...

I guess I missed that you were getting bumbles too. I love bumbles! I love watching them on flower heads and I've been known to "pet" their little fuzzies. My husband, on the other hand, does not share this fondness and brought me one he found in his office and (gasp)killed. Poor little guy - (the bee, not dh). All he wanted was to find his way outside.
Good luck at the Herb Festival - I look foward to hearing how you did. The seedlings look great btw.