 |
| Grasses are mown and raked in lines, awaiting bailing |
Hi all,
Last week, I was bent over a flower bed removing English Ivy hacking and pulling, wary of the bees I had seen coming and going but the homeowner assured me that "Wood bees are harmless, don't worry about them".
I had heard that wive's tale.
The homeowner was only half-right...
I'm here to tell you that I must have ticked off the "normally docile females who are the only ones with stingers". The subgenus Proxylocopa, which nest in the ground must have been provoked by my work and I got stung on the philtrum; that vertical fleshy part underneath your nose. OMG, I came up cross-eyed and snorting, not knowing at that point if it were a bumble bee, a hornet or what! When it is trying to fly up your nose, you are not going to look at the underbelly to see if it is smooth (wood bees) or all fuzzy (bumble bees). Carpenter bees, except this subspecies, makes its home in wood by chewing holes with its mandibles...not something you want up your snout. Fortunately, they are not toxic and I happened to be on a course of steriods anyway.
Whew! It was sore for a few days but I will be more wary in the future. If you see bees, it is pretty safe to assume they do not want visitors around but if you must, bees are not as active early in the morning so I would observe first, then work.
Another new-to-me piece of information is this: those great Stella D'oro Daylillies, once the bloom falls off and you see a green podish looking thing, go ahead and cut the stalks back. On-line sourcing says this tells the plant to send up new shoots. I never knew this, so I went around clipping yesterday and am looking forward to blooms all summer! I will grab a picture of it and post it later on in the week.
Another new-to-me piece of information is this: those great Stella D'oro Daylillies, once the bloom falls off and you see a green podish looking thing, go ahead and cut the stalks back. On-line sourcing says this tells the plant to send up new shoots. I never knew this, so I went around clipping yesterday and am looking forward to blooms all summer! I will grab a picture of it and post it later on in the week.
Father's Day today, so I have tried to contact the Dads in my circle of friends to tell them that I hope they had a special day.
Thank you for enjoying the roll-baled straw in Kentucky from these shots. The air is rendolent of honeysuckle and hay. Actually, I am not knowledgable if the bales are actually hay, alfalpha or straw but it is baled from cut field grass if that helps.
Lovely views down country roads.
Enjoy!
