Warmer weather is finally here and members of the Kalamazoo County 4-H Bee & Pollinator Club are busy learning the life cycle of the monarch butterfly and planting milkweed seeds to help increase the population of this beautiful insect. During the regular fourth Tuesday meeting of the 4-H project club, participants viewed an in-depth monarch presentation by Vidhay Reddy of Great Lakes Bee Supply. Here are a few highlights: 1. Monarch butterflies begin life as an egg that

Question: What happens if I have to have someone else pick my NUC up, but they are unwilling to install it? Answer: If you must leave the bees in the NUC for any length of time, you will need to OPEN the little door on the front of the NUC. This will allow the bees to come and go from the NUC. This will help them try to keep their nuc cool and will allow them to forage for food and water. Bees have a very good GPS, so you have to be careful when moving them. A couple things t

As you can see, almost everything is sprouting! The tomatoes are already 3 inches tall in just 20 days and are a little bent over from watering - they’ll perk right up. All but the peppers look great which means I’ll be off to the store tomorrow for more pepper seeds. I had a few tomatoes not sprout and already substituted a different seed type last week. Those are now sprouting. I’m checking on the plants once a week so I don’t drive the greenhouse manager crazy with my enth

Sooo, what are you supposed to do with stranded waterbirds? Do you know? Loons and grebes can accidentally land on roads, parking lots, and other reflective surfaces (usually at night), because they mistake them for open water. These birds can't get back into the air, nor walk on land, and quickly starve to death or get attacked or run over. If you find one of these birds, the best solution is to immediately contact a wildlife rehabilitator who can check the health of the bir