modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
> On Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:41:46 -0500, Becca > wrote:
>
>
>> modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
>>
>>> On Wed, 15 Apr 2009 08:54:21 -0700 (PDT), Lynn from Fargo Ografmorffig
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> Bees are soooooooo critical to agriculture. ND is a big honey
>>>> producing state. Most of the honey is clover honey at least in the
>>>> fall. Our bees are trucked to warmer climes in winter. IIRC we won't
>>>> get Africanized bees because it's too cold here in the spring and the
>>>> fall.
>>>> Lynn in Fargo
>>>>
>>>>
>>> The bees survived their journey to the garden, but it became apparent
>>> yesterday that I'd placed the hive to close to the garden.
>>>
>>> So at dusk this evening, I moved them again -- this time about a
>>> hundred yards away from the garden. Hive-haulin' modom, out there on
>>> the prairie schlepping bees across the fields.
>>>
>>> I still need to figure out a water source for them, but it'll come.
>>>
>>>
>> The bees will drink water that adheres to the plants in the garden. Really.
>>
>>
>> Becca
>>
>
> Yabut I'm in Texas, remember. Water doesn't grow on trees here. In
> fact that's one of the garden's most pressing issues at the moment:
> how do we irrigate responsibly?
>

We used a drip system to help save water. If it rained, the system was
supposed to turn itself off, but that function never worked. The city
provided the water, but we still focused on water conservation. Our
community garden was a cooperation between the Master Gardeners and the
Council on Aging.


If it rains, or when your garden is watered, the bees will drink the
water off the plants. If you use a drip system, the bees are screwed.
Bees also use water in their hives, so water is a concern for the bees.
We have lost so many bees, to what we are assuming is a virus, so now we
have to worry about bee conservation as much as we have to worry about
water conservation.


Becca