Not long ago one of my potted plants died, so I pulled it out of the pot and sat the pot (and soil) on the corner of my little front porch. Kept meaning to plant something else in it, but never did. Then, a week or two go, I noticed something was growing in it. Looked kinda like grass, didn't look bad so left it alone. This morning I was up early, reading the paper, when I heard chirping outside my open front door. To my surprise, there were about 8-10 small brown birds pushing each other out of the way to eat either seeds or ? They seemed to be aiming for the individual upright leaves. And equally interesting -- my cat was sitting there quietly, just watching them. :smile: Will have to take a closer look at what Mother Nature has provided.
I already have bees buzzing and a few butterflies fluttering around the lavender, which is in bloom, on the other side of the porch.
I try not to bother the bees, and they don't seem to notice me as I come and go. :smile:
Yeah, don't bother the bees. They're in trouble.
I love butterflies! I have one tattooed on my shoulder. I tend to stay away from bees as I am allergic to them, not deathly allergic but still allergic!! Lol!!!
Quote from: Purplelady1040 on June 29, 2014, 09:07:59 AM
I love butterflies! I have one tattooed on my shoulder. I tend to stay away from bees as I am allergic to them, not deathly allergic but still allergic!! Lol!!!
Oh, I love bees. :smitten: I was a beekeeper for several years. :bee: :bee: :bee: Their honey was so good. :yes: I sold it raw with no extra heat so it was natural as it could be. :bee:
But with the disease "Lost Colony" and whipped me out and I couldn't get any more bee packages with a queen. Because all of the big bee keepers lock them all up and us hobbyist beekeepers was left out in the cold. :rant: Yep, I sure liked my bees. :biggrin:
My father and his father kept honey bees. I used to love to chew on the honeycomb. I only know of one active beekeeper now, somebody back in WV.
In my neighborhood here there are a lot of trees and flowers and places for bees and butterflies, but pesticides and herbicides are taking their toll.
Several years ago, I heard a buzzing sound in the wall behind my couch. Went down to the lower level and could hear it much louder in the HVAC/laundry area. Was afraid to go in, so called (reluctantly) somebody to come spray. I expected hornets or wasps but it was a small swarm of honeybees. I felt really bad about killing them. They apparently got in through a tiny space near the HVAC pipe-- I assume to get away from the spraying done by a next door neighbor.
I'm trying to make up for it by planting herbs and flowers that attract butterflies and bees.
We have several beekeepers in this area who sell local honey! I buy it and honey has so many different uses.
Quote from: Purplelady1040 on June 30, 2014, 08:19:37 AM
We have several beekeepers in this area who sell local honey! I buy it and honey has so many different uses.
Lucky you! we used to drive to Catoctin Mountain, Maryland to buy fresh fruit and honey, but it's quite a drive and I haven't been in years. That's where I found buckwheat honey -- my favorite.
Honey gives a different taste to pastries. Years ago I found a recipe for cheesecake in a nutrition book that called for honey or sugar. I tried it and chose honey, and got a lot of compliments. It was so good there was no need for a topping, other than sweetened sour cream.
Quote from: libby on June 29, 2014, 08:51:42 PM
My father and his father kept honey bees. I used to love to chew on the honeycomb. I only know of one active beekeeper now, somebody back in WV.
In my neighborhood here there are a lot of trees and flowers and places for bees and butterflies, but pesticides and herbicides are taking their toll.
Several years ago, I heard a buzzing sound in the wall behind my couch. Went down to the lower level and could hear it much louder in the HVAC/laundry area. Was afraid to go in, so called (reluctantly) somebody to come spray. I expected hornets or wasps but it was a small swarm of honeybees. I felt really bad about killing them. They apparently got in through a tiny space near the HVAC pipe-- I assume to get away from the spraying done by a next door neighbor.
I'm trying to make up for it by planting herbs and flowers that attract butterflies and bees.
If it was a swarm, they would have been gone in a day of so. :yes: They might have been resting until the scout bees had found a place to set up housekeeping. :biggrin: If they had picked your place, you should have called a beekeeper and he would have remove the bees for his own. :smile:
A friend and I have removed bees from three house and came out with some nice bees. :bee: :bee: :bee: :yeah:
Quote from: The Troll on July 01, 2014, 03:37:26 PM
If it was a swarm, they would have been gone in a day of so. :yes: They might have been resting until the scout bees had found a place to set up housekeeping. :biggrin: If they had picked your place, you should have called a beekeeper and he would have remove the bees for his own. :smile:
A friend and I have removed bees from three house and came out with some nice bees. :bee: :bee: :bee: :yeah:
That never occurred to me. I live in a Northern VA suburb of Washington, DC, and it never occurred to me that there might be beekeepers locally. So thanks to you I googled and found out that there's an association and other information close by!
Check your local Farmer's Mkts. that is where I have bought local honey from! I have put honey over vanilla ice cream, it taste so good!
Another good suggestion. Thanks.
From today's Washington Post
The Washington Post
First evidence found of popular farm pesticides in drinking water
By Ben Guarino April 5
Of the many pesticides that American farmers have embraced in their war on bugs, neonicotinoids are among the most popular. One of them, called imidacloprid, is among the world's best-selling insecticides, boasting sales of over $1 billion a year. But with their widespread use comes a notorious reputation — that neonics, as they are nicknamed, are a bee killer. A 2016 study suggested a link between neonicotinoid use and local pollinator extinctions, though other agricultural researchers contested the pesticides' bad rap.
As the bee debate raged, scientists studying the country's waterways started to detect neonicotinoid pollutants. In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey collected water samples from streams throughout the United States and discovered neonicotinoids in more than half of the samples.
And on Wednesday, a team of chemists and engineers at the USGS and University of Iowa reported that they found neonicotinoids in treated drinking water. It marks the first time that anyone has identified this class of pesticide in tap water, the researchers write in Environmental Science & Technology Letters.
Gregory LeFevre, a study author and U of Iowa environmental engineer, told The Washington Post that the find was important but not immediate cause for alarm.
"Having these types of compounds present in water does have the potential to be concerning," he said, "but we don't really know, at this point, what these levels might be."
If the dose makes the poison, the doses of insect neurotoxin reported in the new study were quite small. The scientists collected samples last year from taps in Iowa City as well as on the university campus and found neonicotinoid concentrations ranging from 0.24 to 57.3 nanograms per liter — that is, on a scale of parts per trillion. "Parts per trillion is a really, really small concentration," LeFevre said, roughly equal to a single drop of water plopped into 20 Olympic-size swimming pools.
The Environmental Protection Agency has not defined safe levels of neonicotinoids in drinking water, in part because the chemicals are relative newcomers to the pesticide pantheon. "There is no EPA standard for drinking water," LeFevre said.
The pesticides, most of which were released in the 1990s, were designed to be more environmentally friendly than other chemicals on the market. The compounds work their way into plant tissue rather than just coating the leaves and stems, requiring fewer sprays. And though the pesticides wreak havoc on insect nervous systems, neonicotinoids do not easily cross from a mammal's bloodstream into a mammalian brain.
In 2015, environmental health scientists at George Washington University and the National Institutes of Health published a review of human health risks from neonic pesticide exposure. Acute exposure — to high concentrations over a brief period — resulted in "low rates of adverse health effects." Reports of chronic, low-level exposure had "suggestive but methodologically weak findings," with a Japanese study associating neonicotinoids with memory loss.
Melissa Perry, a public health researcher at George Washington University who was involved in that review, said via email that the new study "provides further evidence that neonicotinoid pesticides are present in our daily environments. From a public health standpoint, this issue clearly needs better attention."
The Iowa scientists tracked neonicotinoid concentrations in the local drinking supply from May to July, the seven-week span after the region's farmers planted maize and soy crops. Every sample contained three types of neonicotinoids: clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam.
"Everything in the watershed is connected," LeFevre said. "This is one of many types of trace pollutants that might be present in rivers." (The USGS released an interactive map of the nation's water quality on Tuesday, where those inclined can track trends in common pollutants.)
Most water filtration systems target clay, dirt or other particles, as well as pathogenic contaminants like bacteria. They're not designed to eliminate chemical pesticides — and the properties of neonicotinoids make these compounds unusually challenging to remove. Other types of pesticides stick to soil particles, which are then filtered out. But neonicotinoids can slip past sand filters because they are polar chemicals. "They dissolve very readily in water," LeFevre said. He invoked a chemistry aphorism: "Like dissolves like."
This proved out as the research team looked at how effectively the university's sand filtration system and Iowa City's different water treatment technique blocked the three neonicotinoids studied. The university's sand filter removed 1 percent of the clothianidin, 8 percent of imidacloprid and 44 percent of thiamethoxam. By contrast, the city's activated carbon filter blocked 100 percent of clothianidin, 94 percent of imidacloprid and 85 percent of thiamethoxam. That finding was "quite a pleasant surprise," LeFevre said. "It's definitely not all bad news."
The activated carbon filters are relatively economical, he said. In fact, after the research was completed, the university installed a similar system on its campus.
Given the study's small sample size and geographical span, Perry said more comprehensive assessments of water supplies are needed "to determine how ubiquitous neonics are in water supplies in other parts of the country." The chance of that happening is unclear. "There is currently no national effort to measure to what extent neonicotinoids are making it into our bodies, be it through water or food," she noted.
Read more:
New studies find that bees actually want to eat the pesticides that hurt them
Norway is creating a 'bee highway' to protect pollinators
Plastic microbeads from face wash are polluting river sediment
Ben Guarino writes for The Washington Post's Morning Mix. Follow @bbguari
Quote from: Purplelady1040 on July 01, 2014, 04:52:20 PM
Check your local Farmer's Mkts. that is where I have bought local honey from! I have put honey over vanilla ice cream, it taste so good!
I'm a bit late in replying, but agree with you that honey sweetened desserts are different. Cheesecake is an example. I found the recipe in an old cookbook by Adele Davis, a nutritionist. She gave the option of using honey instead of sugar. It doesn't need toppings or anything else. Every person who has tasted it comments on how good it is. I'll post it here in the food section.
Quote from: libby on April 06, 2017, 09:50:31 PM
I'm a bit late in replying, but agree with you that honey sweetened desserts are different. Cheesecake is an example. I found the recipe in an old cookbook by Adele Davis, a nutritionist. She gave the option of using honey instead of sugar. It doesn't need toppings or anything else. Every person who has tasted it comments on how good it is. I'll post it here in the food section.
Please do. I want to try it! :smitten:
Quote from: Palehorse on April 07, 2017, 10:09:04 PM
Please do. I want to try it! :smitten:
Your wish .... here's the recipe :smile:
From an old cookbook (1962) an aunt gave to me:
Adele's cheesecake:
Beat until smooth:
2 eggs
2 tsps vanilla
3/4 tsp almond extract
3/4 cup honey or sugar
2 large packages (8 oz.) cream cheese
1/4 cup powdered milk
Spread a 7 or 8 inch pan generously with partially hardened margarine or butter; sprinkle with thick layer of cookie or graham cracker crumbs; pour cheese mixture over crumbs.
Set over jar lids or crumpled foil in a pan of boiling water and bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile mix together:
1 cup sour cream (do not chill)
1/3 cup honey or sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Take cheese cake from oven at end of 25 minutes and pour sweetened sour cream over top; return to oven and bake 10 minutes longer.
Notes: I use honey instead of sugar, and like darker honey, like buckwheat.
Use real sour cream, not low fat.
Powdered milk can be found in health food stores. It's not the kind used to make low fat milk.
I use the Original Philadelphia Cream Cheese.
The sour cream, almond and vanilla extracts and honey give the cheesecake its unique flavor.
Quote from: libby on April 08, 2017, 01:15:46 PM
Your wish .... here's the recipe :smile:
From an old cookbook (1962) an aunt gave to me:
Adele's cheesecake:
Beat until smooth:
2 eggs
2 tsps vanilla
3/4 tsp almond extract
3/4 cup honey or sugar
2 large packages (8 oz.) cream cheese
1/4 cup powdered milk
Spread a 7 or 8 inch pan generously with partially hardened margarine or butter; sprinkle with thick layer of cookie or graham cracker crumbs; pour cheese mixture over crumbs.
Set over jar lids or crumpled foil in a pan of boiling water and bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile mix together:
1 cup sour cream (do not chill)
1/3 cup honey or sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Take cheese cake from oven at end of 25 minutes and pour sweetened sour cream over top; return to oven and bake 10 minutes longer.
Notes: I use honey instead of sugar, and like darker honey, like buckwheat.
Use real sour cream, not low fat.
Powdered milk can be found in health food stores. It's not the kind used to make low fat milk.
I use the Original Philadelphia Cream Cheese.
The sour cream, almond and vanilla extracts and honey give the cheesecake its unique flavor.
THANK YOU! :smitten:
I love cheesecake, and I am going to give this a shot soon! :smile:
:biggrin: I haven't made it in a while, so am going to make one also. I forgot to mention that I prefer graham crackers, the kind with less sugar, instead of cookies for the crumb crust. And, one more thing: try not to use graham crackers sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, which I consider the antithesis of honey.