Ticks, Package Bees etc.

 

Deer Tick! These are the ones that spread Lyme Disease. My wife had one on her sweatshirt after we walked a trail and did some bush wacking in our own yard, so we don't know where it came from but it is the first deer tick (larvae) we have seen. Usually, we have Wood Ticks in our woodlands. Note that this tick larvae has just 6 legs. As adults, ticks grow two more legs for a total of 8. But the larvae can do all the bad stuff to you that an adult can do when it bites.

This, I believe, is a wood tick I found crawling on my wrist a couple of days ago. I had been walking along the road so I moved to the shoulder a few times to get out of the way of cars. I also walked next to one of my beehives to refill its sugar water feeder and fed the chickens and gathered their eggs. I did not consider any of it worthy of a tick check afterwards since it did not involve long grasses or much time in the woods. I guess I have to be more vigilant than usual this year.

The garlic mustard is blooming now. If you see it, pull it before it goes to seed so you can stop its progress. Bag and toss the plants instead of composting them (which could aid in spreading them). I hear they make a good pesto! If you can't beat 'em, eat 'em.

These wild strawberries are blooming and looking good. They do not have dark centers in their blossoms which would indicate they had frozen. This spring we have had frequent frost or freezing nights so that is tough on the plants.

 

 

See the eating machine? I walked a trail and noticed a very clean woodchuck hole in the ground. When I returned (it was a linear trail) I saw this woodchuck and it let me take a picture before scampering back underground.

I liked the looks of this plant, but I do not know what it is. It looks like something in the mint family.

Package bees arrived at the end of April. Each package has three pounds of bees (10-12000 bees) and a queen in a cage inside the cluster of bees.

How many bees were in my van? 9 packages x 11,000 bees = about 100,000 bees. What could be more fun than that? But, officer, I have 100,000 bees in my vehicle right now.......

Check out my YouTube videos where I install the package bees into their hives.