So these pictures are actually from last Thursday, and so are not really Live From the NCRS. But I thought they deserved a post. Remember from an earlier post (May 27) I talked about the bee hives that we have at the NCRS to aid primarily our fruit and vegetable pollination. Well I had never paid them a visit until last Thursday. I have not been around hives, and didn't know what to expect. I crept close, and was amazed at the activity. It looked like a sleet storm because you saw streaks of bees going up and down, coming and going. I would be very surprised if there weren't collisions of bees, as I saw no control tower. You can't see that in the picture, but it was pretty amazing to watch. Fortunately I was pollen-free and they left me alone.
The hives have an opening on the bottom for the bees to go in and out. However, one hive had no activity, as seen in the picture below. We learned from the beekeeper that it had lost it's queen. So no queen, no hive.
Here is a picture from the cantaloupe plots, and you can see the hives in the background.
I stood still and listened for some buzzing, and followed this bee as it made it's way from flower to flower.
So I had been gone awhile, and upon my return today, I learned that the sunflowers were flowering. This was taken in the morning looking at the sunflowers looking at the sun. The plots look great and hopefully we will get some useful yield data, again, depending on the birds.
Here is a close-up. I like having the sunflowers on the farm. Maybe it's because I was born in Kansas, you know, the Sunflower State.
Now getting back to the buzzing boyz. Stephanie actually took the picture below. But look, there are two different kinds of bees here. The one on the left is from our hive, I think, but the one on the right is different. I don't know where that hive is. But these sunflowers may be a half mile from the hives. So I will close by saying, buzz on boyz, make the hive happy today.
I stood still and listened for some buzzing, and followed this bee as it made it's way from flower to flower.
So I had been gone awhile, and upon my return today, I learned that the sunflowers were flowering. This was taken in the morning looking at the sunflowers looking at the sun. The plots look great and hopefully we will get some useful yield data, again, depending on the birds.
Here is a close-up. I like having the sunflowers on the farm. Maybe it's because I was born in Kansas, you know, the Sunflower State.
Now getting back to the buzzing boyz. Stephanie actually took the picture below. But look, there are two different kinds of bees here. The one on the left is from our hive, I think, but the one on the right is different. I don't know where that hive is. But these sunflowers may be a half mile from the hives. So I will close by saying, buzz on boyz, make the hive happy today.
