January 24, 2017

The Critters of Bees N Blooms

Bees N Blooms is home to many different critters. Three cats provide excellent rodent control (and entertainment), and nine chickens provide delicious eggs and fertile garden amendments. The honey bees give us honey, beeswax, and the occasional sting!

IMG_3827Cropped — Silver-Ki, our new little feral kitten we found in early October, is finally being accepted by the older cats. She's lost her shyness and a more appropriate name for her now is Monster-Ki, since she spends her time terrorizing the other cats and us!

lkism — Lover-Ki is THE BOSS.

kittyBasketCropped — Silver-Ki loves hiding.

dkiratsm — Darling-Ki doing her job. She's the best hunter ever!

allchicksm — Looking for some goodies--their favorite snacks are kale from the garden and worms from the compost bin.

hawkiesm — The beautiful Hawkie--a Silver-Laced Wyandotte

rosemileysm — Jasmine (a Barred Rock) and Rose (a Black Sex-Link). Rose is the boss of the chicken pen!

mileysm — Miley is a Barred Rock who loves to sit on your lap.

swpeasm — Sweet Pea, a Cinnamon Queen. The males are white, the hens are brown with white tips.

pingsm — Ping is a Buff Orpington.

beautysm — Black Beauty is a Black Sex-Link.

arielcleosm — Ariel and Cleo are both Americaunas. They lay blue-green eggs.

fullframe — We have about half top-bar hives and half Langstroth hives. This is a top-bar comb, built entirely by the bees.

Swarm — Every now and again, the bees get ahead of us and manage to swarm before we can split the hive. A swarm is a spectacular thing to see, as a literal tornado of bees surrounds the hive and then heads for a nearby tree to hang out for a day or so while the scouts find a new nesting cavity.

broodsm — Nurse bees tending to worker bee brood. They feed the worker bees royal jelly for 3 days and then switch over to normal brood food (nectar, pollen and enzymes). If the larva is destined to be a queen, she will be fed royal jelly for six days. After 8-9 days for a worker and 6 days for a queen, the cells are capped and the larvae pupate to form adult bees.

honeyharvestsm — Honey harvest is sweet! The combs are crushed and the honey is strained through stainless steel screens to remove wax particles, then bottled. Great on toast!

There are, however, many more animals that are part of the farm ecosystem. Here are a few of them.

Bunny1 — This little bunny (a jackrabbit) was left by its mom near the garden shed and was found by the backhoe operator. We brought it in for the day to keep it safe, and then put it back out that night for the mother to find and care for.

LizardWithSKCropped — In summer, the farm is crawling with fence swifts, lizards that eat flies and other insects.

snowyegretsm — Snowy Egrets come to visit the farm regularly. This one caught a lizard as we were watching!

frogsm — Sierra chorus frogs are numerous in the springtime, but we find them throughout the year in damp spots like the compost bin or deep in the cracks that form in the soil in the summer. They are about 1-2 in long, and the air is filled with their songs in the rainy season. They eat slugs and the egrets eat them.

gophersnakeCropped — We've seen 4 or 5 Gopher snakes, as well as a King snake. We like to have them around, since they eat lots of gophers and other rodents.

potatobugjerusalemcricketsm — The Jerusalem Cricket, a.k.a. Potato Bug. About 3 inches long, they eat organic matter and insects in the soil. We often unearth them while weeding the flowers or find them at night near the house.

LadyBugCropped — Lady Bugs are very commonly found on the farm and serve as one of our best pest controls, eating aphids, whiteflies and other soft-bodied insect pests.

MonarchcaterpillarCropped — Monarch butterfly caterpillars hatch out from eggs laid by the adult butterflies in late summer on blooming milkweed plants. We usually bring in 4 or 5 to hatch them out indoors in a protected area so we can watch.

This butterfly recently hatched out from a beautiful green chrysalis. They typically rest for a few hours after hatching, flapping their wings a bit to get the muscles unkinked, then fly away.

hoverfly — Hoverflies look like bees, but belong to the fly family. They eat nectar, but also other insects, making them a favorite for keeping pests away from the vegetable garden.

bumblebeegaillardia — Bumble bee on Gaillardia flower. We see many species of native bees buzzing around the flower garden. The catmint plant is their favorite, but Gaillardia is a close second.

paperwaspssm — Paper wasps are important predators of crop-damaging caterpillars, aphids, and other pest insects. They are not aggressive unless you disturb their nest.

sk_wasps — We had to replace the gutters on the house, which would DEFINITELY disturb the paper wasps, and we didn't want the gutter repair team to use any insecticides. So armed with a spatula and a jar, and fully protected with the bee suit and gloves, we removed seven large paper wasp nests. It was anti-climactic--if you do this at night or early in the morning before they start to wake up, they don't even fly at you. A quick clip with the spatula to break the nest connection and they fall right into the jar (or box). We moved them down to the vegetable garden and put them in wooden bird houses so they would get to work eating the pest insects. It worked!

Susan Kegley Farm News

About Susan Kegley

Susan is one of the owners of Bees N Blooms farm. She loves farming and beekeeping because they provide a never-ending source of engagement with nature, opportunities for puzzle-solving, observation, and learning new things, and access to breathtaking beauty and wonder.

Location and Hours

3883 Petaluma Hill Road
Santa Rosa, CA 95404

1-707-293-8293

info@beesnblooms.com

The farm grounds are closed to the public now, but will be open next on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays between December 6 and December 22, 11AM to 4PM. Our Fall Plant Sale, where you can find lavender plants and pollinator-friendly perennials continues through the online store. Our online store is always open for ordering, with pickup on Thursdays 12-2PM or by appointment. We look forward to seeing you on the farm!

For weddings, parties, picnics, and other special events, contact us to reserve.

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