Monthly Archives: April 2011

Honey Bees Arrived April 27

Posted on by
Reply

A Russian queen and her Italian workers (female), 3 pounds of them, arrived at 341 by horse trailer from Georgia to South Ohio, then by passenger van with Gary and Nancy to Perrysburg. Thoughtfully Nancy had thought to bring a length of veil as it was needed after the first few got out while being driven to their new homes.

Roger and Gary did the work – I was allowed to be the ‘gofer’. First the bees are poured and shaken into their new home. It has coats of linseed oil outside to keep it as natural as possible.

Then the frames with sheets of wax foundation (for ‘brood’ and honey) are carefully eased in

The Queen is new to these workers and must be slowly introduced to the Italians so she lives in a small inner cage with a few of her own (Russian) attendants.

The cage is put in the middle of the workers for them to accept their new ruler and to allow her, and them, to slowly chew away the candy plug in her prison wall.

All the while the city siren warned of severe storms. 43 mph from the South and 44F was the weather later. The books say you should do installations in calm weather!

Next day, in the cool of dawn, there was no activity at all

But inside you could hear the buzz

When the day warmed up you could see how friendly they really are. Nobody stung to date.

Already the ants are trailing to the bee’s sugar water bottle, and this Eastern American Toad has just awoke, very thin after winter hibernation,  and is looking for insects I presume.

Tomorrow I go in to see how the Queen (Empress?) is faring.

Poor Geese

Posted on by
Reply

Good News – Sat. April 30

First goslings were sighted, appropriately, on Easter Sunday, so all is not lost. Easter was late this year. Does anyone know why Xmas is located in the Solar calendar year and Easter by the Lunar calendar?

About 5 days old - so fuzzy the camera has trouble focusing on them.

 

Sat. May 23 – Spring of 2011 was a tough season for the geese on the Maumee.

The troubles started in Feb when strange goose behaviour was seen.  The ice saved some carcasses for official analysis, otherwise they would have been washed away – we still await results.

Toledo Blade. Page 1

Toledo Blade, Page 2

Then, in April came winds and floods

Almost half the Small Island gets flooded by a strong East Wind

Flood receded with west wind revealing moved eggs and confused geese

Eggs washed out of nests by high water 4/15

The heavy eggs weigh 200 gm (nearly half a pound) each and were very fresh. A hungry squirrel came and sniffed but did not know what to do with it. I counted 43 lost eggs in all.

Maple Leaf Mussel (?) Six years old by the rings? It was lying on the mud, open and cleaned when the West wind emptied the river.

Half a dozen nests on the heights survived the flood. They're fiercely guarded

The lower lawn is cut and now, still hungry, and so heavy with new eggs, she sits on the middle lawn and eats non-stop. Her mate stands guard nearby.

The next task is to clean up the myriad lost lures from the many Walleye fisherfolk now standing in the river upstream from 341.

Lost lures float downstream and hang up on branches - a hazzard to all.

Riverside X-Country Ski Trail – Optional short and steep bits

Posted on by
Reply

 

The trail can be started here at the East end of Riverside Park, West Front Street, Perrysburg, with a nice climb that a well waxed ski can handle easily.

Follow that with a smooth glide down to “Water Street”

and then go West.

The optional “Belazi Bayou Drop-In”

Cross the road to the treatment plant and you come to where the deer showed me this path: “The Channel Chute”. The drop-off was too steep for the one snowshoe explorer who followed but you can branch left for an easier fun descent through the trees, alongside the remains of the very old channel for the long gone water mill at Louisianna.

Carry on North, then West on the ice, if safe, under the Maumee Bridge, around Fort Meigs either CW or CCW, and back home for hot apple cider, ginger and possibly Tulamore Dew Irish whiskey.

Map to follow later.