Find the varroa mites

Where's Waldo?
Click for a larger view


There are at least three or four.

My Grandfather WW1 (and a tired bee)

LAMBERT ANTONIUS FRIEDERICH 1899 - 1965

Riding an Indian MC during the first world war.

In the Thanksgiving spirit, I thank him for the bridge over Muddy Creek. 

The old one was built of logs long ago and finely gave out from the weight of a cement truck, dropping said truck in the drink. Grandpa (on my mother's side) engineered a more modern bridge for my father using steel I beams and concrete.

Getting the last nectar from the last of the asters

Some elk , a blacktail, and of course one of my girls.

Took this one from the jeep in the center field. These five  were really curious and kept getting closer until one of the herd called and they all ran back. Click on one for a better look.

White tail

What's going on in the woods above the field in the first photo.

Gotta include one of my girls. The asters are about gone now.

Female black crab spider

Coriarachne brunneipes.

These shots need to be clicked on!

If anyone is interested: I placed a bowl upside down on a lazy susan,  added a little water, and a chunk of wood. This kept her contained, and I spun it around and shot photos as she moved around trying to find a way off.

Moths pollinating and of course another honey bee or two.

Click on the photo & look closely & you'll see she has less than half her wings left. I don't see how this old girl can still fly. This was probably her last flight. They literally fly their little wings off.

Lots of pollen. She's a beauty!

I'm waiting on an ID for these moths. They really liked the Aster flowers.

Update!   The Alfalfa Looper (Autographa californica) is a moth of the Noctuidae family. 

And that is what it is!

A lucky shot! In flight!

The blood moon total eclipse last night

I wasn't sure I was going top be able to see the eclipse because of the hill to the east, but it rose up at about when the eclipse went total. Not knowing what I was doing camera wise didn't help for the first 40 or so pretty blurry exposures. At the last minute, I realized I needed a shorter exposure speed, and needed to lock the mirror up & use a remote trigger.  I figure I'll have the technique down in time for the next one in 2033.

They look better when you click on them. You can see the stars too.

Later on...

Still later......

Getting the honey house in shape

 I may have posted this photo before, I'm not sure, but I'm partial to it & this post needed a bee so here it is!.

                                 

Everything is wired at last. Lots of outlets and three sets of switched lights, center section and each end. That way I save a little power using only what I need.  The 3'x8' work table at the east end is in, and the little compressor plugged in under it. It is nice to be getting all the bee stuff in one place. There are lots of jigs, tools, and wood ware still in the basement. I still need a rack to hang frames and a couple of shelves, but it's almost done. I salvaged a couple of old tool box drawers from the  wreck we had moving here & used a set of slides I scored at the dump. Someone tossed a dozen nice drawer slides, so I quietly picked them up. The landfill doesn't approve of those things. They would rather see them buried. One day I picked up a dozen tee posts.

Plenty of storage room on top at either end.

Excuse the tippy camera phone photo.

From the country known universally for it's sanitation and cleanliness...

And I guess  if it's out there, you can buy it on the internet! 

But not any old cow urine will do, according to the followers of the hardline Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) sect — only the urine collected from a female virgin cow will suffice, and it's best when collected before dawn.

"Cow urine offers a cure for around 70 to 80 incurable diseases like diabetes," Om Prakash, of the RSS Cow Protection Department, told Reuters. "All are curable by cow urine." "We refer to gau ark (cow urine) as gau jal (cow water), as it has immense potential to cure various diseases," Prakash told The Telegraph. "We have developed a soft-drink formula with gau jal as the base."

                                                                 Distilled cow urine?

For people who would rather not drink their cow urine straight, the RSS has developed a cow-urine-based soft drink called Gomutra Ark. The drink is promoted as a "healthy" alternative to Coca-Cola, Pepsi and other soft drinks, which are seen as part of a wider problem resulting from corrupt Western influences.

I bet it needs double the sugar content of Coke.

Coming soon to your neighborhood convienience store.

Hey! If the urine is good for you, why not ........

                                                                   Cow dung cake?

Australian Government To Re-Classify Firearms!

The old proverb about the camel's nose in the tent proves true once again. It was only a matter of time. Now they are finishing what they started in 1996 with the firearm buyback (confiscation).

Repost from the Australiansurvivalandpreppers.blogspot.com/

Game cam elk & the obligatory honey bee

Taking her thyme!

Up in the woods above the house. They look pretty healthy. It must be all the veggies and apples they ate from our garden the last couple of weeks. I see the camera still reads a month off. I thought I reset it.

For the honey bee lovers - Even more bees on asters.

Lots better larger, so go ahead, click on one. Thanks for looking!