Have you ever wondered what a swarm looks like? This short video is a swarm in progress. Bees swarm because something isn't up to their specs. If the queen runs out of places to lay eggs, the workers feel too crowded, workers run out of places to store honey, the hive keeps getting attacked or robbed, etc. Generally speaking, a swarm has TWO things occurring at the same time in order to be considered a swarm. First, you will have a large mass of bees on the front of the hive,

About a week ago, I noticed a few fennel sprigs missing on each plant. The neighboring dill wasn’t touched, just the fennel. I didn’t see any tracks and the only critters I’ve seen in the garden are toads and birds. My son installed over 2,000 8-inch wooden skewers around the garden’s edge just before the fennel incident and along with the banging pie tins, string, and milk jugs, I felt pretty confident rabbits and deer wouldn’t get into the garden. I was greatly mistaken. Ra

Beginning May 18, 2018, with a freshly tilled canvas of soil, the trellises, including the bottle gourd “arch,” were the first items to go into the garden before creating the fencing. Once those were staked in place, rebar stakes were added around the perimeter at four feet apart. Instead of using heavy-duty kite string, I found a more economical poly string for the four layers of fencing, leaving one small opening for me. After the stakes and string were up, I added the milk