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Thread: Thread Drift

  1. #14131
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    3,867

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    I'm taking my kayak to the Buffalo National River tomorrow. You may all now be jealous.

    Karen
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    insidious ungovernable cardboard

  2. #14132
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Limbo
    Posts
    8,769
    Mine (with me in it) is paddling the mighty Potomac River tomorrow. We are not jealous.
    Life IS good, just like the t-shirt says.
    2008 Trek FX 7.2/Terry Cite X
    2009 Jamis Aurora/Brooks B-68
    2010 Trek FX 7.6 WSD/stock bontrager

  3. #14133
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Perth, Western Australia
    Posts
    5,316

    fed ex

    Ian rang the Titus head office this morning about where my bike is. Apparently it's not the distributor's fault & the Titus factory is having issues...

    Anywho....

    My frame/fork has left the factory ANyone know the route fed ex uses to send packages from Arizona to Australia??? We don't have the tracking number.

    I just want to get the bike sorted so I can train on it for a big 100km XC enduro in Semptember...

    The saga continues

  4. #14134
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Oslo, Norway
    Posts
    4,066
    Quote Originally Posted by Zen View Post
    I have a feeling this summer is going to go by way too fast now that I have my kayak.


    The really great thing about kayaking, to me, is that "good weather" can be different things. Kayaking is great in hot, sunny weather, but it's lovely to be out on the water when it's cloudy and cool too, and light rain doesn't really matter much because you're getting a bit wet all the time anyway. I'm not very brave in wind and waves so far, but I'm getting there.
    Winter riding is much less about badassery and much more about bundle-uppery. - malkin

    1995 Kona Cinder Cone commuterFrankenbike/Selle Italia SLR Lady Gel Flow
    2008 white Nakamura Summit Custom mtb/Terry Falcon X
    2000 Schwinn Fastback Comp road bike/Specialized Jett

  5. #14135
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    North Central Florida
    Posts
    3,387
    Quote Originally Posted by OakLeaf View Post
    Send me some honeybees.

    It's been almost two months since I've been back home and I have yet to see one honeybee. It's very upsetting. Even though I know beekeepers in the area have been getting hit by CCD for several years now, I never noticed a decline on my property, until now - and now, they're just gone.
    I just read an article somewhere, of course I can't remember where- maybe a gardening magazine, about how the decline of the honeybee population has led to an increase in native bees who had been suppressed by the imported honeybees. If you Google "less honeybees more native bees" there are a ton of articles about how much better native bees are at pollinating, and about habitat conservation. I have a lot of sages/salvias planted around my patio to attract butterflies and hummingbirds, but I'm also getting lots of bees. Big fat bumblebees and these small tan bees that are about half the size of a honeybee, and very "furry." They are also very even-tempered and allow macro photography without retaliation!
    ***********
    "...I'm like the cycling version of the guy in Flowers for Algernon." Mike Magnuson

  6. #14136
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Concord, MA
    Posts
    13,394
    Am I the only one who doesn't like bees? I think I freak out more from the thought of getting stung and possible allergic reaction (I have never had an allergic reaction to a sting, but since I react to all kinds of stuff, I worry) than I do from encounters with dogs on my bike or while running.

  7. #14137
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Uncanny Valley
    Posts
    14,498
    I HAVE had an allergic reaction to a sting. It was decades ago, and I was stung in the face and never saw what stung me, but it felt like a large wasp. I still carry an Epi-Pen everywhere. I've been stung by various bees and wasps several times since without a systemic reaction, but I don't take lightly the possibility that I might have another anaphylactic reaction (plus, I've reacted to an unknown food additive at a restaurant).

    One of the most amazing experiences I've ever had was when a swarm of bees came through my yard while I was out working in my garden. I heard a hum without understanding what it was, I started seeing the bees in the leading edge of the swarm, then I was surrounded by these beautiful bees and this amazing sound. It was a mystical, spiritual few minutes as they passed into the woods.

    On the native bees, I haven't noticed an increase, at least not yet. I never noticed a dearth of native bees here, either - in past years, when blooming trees have been laden with bees, honeybees were probably no more than 10% - likely a plurality as a species, but a small minority of the total. Whatever's left was plenty to pollinate my apple tree this spring - I've got lots and lots of little baby apples coming. But different flowers attract different bees - it's mostly been honeybees who've pollinated my squashes in years past, with contributions from a couple of other species around the same size. So we'll see. I often hand pollinate squash anyway, just because the flowers are open for so short a time and weather can interfere with the bees' ability to pollinate them. (Plus, I plan to save seed this year, my first time trying it with squash - so at least for one or two fruit of each variety, I'll need to isolate the flowers and hand pollinate.)

    Do you know whether honeybees were originally imported to the USA just for honey, or was it because the native bees weren't doing the job pollinating the crops that the Europeans liked to grow?
    Last edited by OakLeaf; 06-11-2010 at 04:00 AM.
    Speed comes from what you put behind you. - Judi Ketteler

  8. #14138
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    around Seattle, WA
    Posts
    3,238
    Quote Originally Posted by OakLeaf View Post
    Do you know whether honeybees were originally imported to the USA just for honey, or was it because the native bees weren't doing the job pollinating the crops that the Europeans liked to grow?
    We have native bees, then there are the imported ones. Native Americans were enjoying honey before white people showed up.

    One thing I found interesting was that when I had an allergic reaction to something I ate, my Allergist had the lab run the Hymnoptera group (bees & wasps) as a known postive since we knew I was allergic to bees. It seems I'm not allergic to honey bees or bumble bees, but am allergic to wasps, especially red wasps. I thought if I was allergic to one I was allgergic to all of the group, but that wasn't so. Of course YMMV.
    Beth

  9. #14139
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Kelowna, BC, Canada
    Posts
    2,737
    I became allergic to yellowjackets in 2006. I've had the allergy shots for 3 years now and no longer have to carry an epi pen. I was stung twice last year wit no reaction at all. It is WELL worth the time and trouble to get the regular shots. Usually after one year you are clear but still get the shots every two months for up to 5 years after.
    It is never too late to be what you might have been. ~ George Elliot


    My podcast about being a rookie triathlete:Kelownagurl Tris Podcast

  10. #14140
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Riding my Luna & Rivendell in the Hudson Valley, NY
    Posts
    8,408
    Quote Originally Posted by Nanci View Post
    I just read an article somewhere, of course I can't remember where- maybe a gardening magazine, about how the decline of the honeybee population has led to an increase in native bees who had been suppressed by the imported honeybees. If you Google "less honeybees more native bees" there are a ton of articles about how much better native bees are at pollinating, and about habitat conservation. I have a lot of sages/salvias planted around my patio to attract butterflies and hummingbirds, but I'm also getting lots of bees. Big fat bumblebees and these small tan bees that are about half the size of a honeybee, and very "furry." They are also very even-tempered and allow macro photography without retaliation!
    Hi Nanci!

    In addition to my honeybee hives, I put up nesting sites for native/Solitary bees as well. There are several thousand species of native bees in the U.S. They are beautiful and fascinating, and amazing in their diversity. They don't make honey, live solitary lives (not in hive communities), and they don't normally sting (unless you pinch or hurt them). They pollinate like gangbusters.
    My nesting sites have attracted at least two species, possibly 3. And I have a box built specifically for leafcutter bees, though they have not discovered it yet. I am very much into providing healthy habitat for all kinds of bees. Solitary native bee populations are suffering as well as honeybees, but because of the loss of habitat and the over-use of both residential and agricultural pesticides and herbicides. They are not doing better now that honeybees are suffering...all bee populations are declining due to toxic chemicals being applied to plants, and habitat loss. I describe my native bee efforts here on my personal blog: http://strumelia.blogspot.com/search...olitary%20bees

    I now have about 60 tubes full of native bee cocoons which I will clean and store safely over the winter, to put out next Spring for them to emerge and go forth to pollinate and multiply again. This Spring I started with only 6 tubes full. Each 6" tube houses about 5-7 cocoons.
    Lisa
    My mountain dulcimer network...FOTMD.com...and my mountain dulcimer blog
    My personal blog:My blog
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  11. #14141
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Uncanny Valley
    Posts
    14,498
    Quote Originally Posted by kelownagirl View Post
    I became allergic to yellowjackets in 2006. I've had the allergy shots for 3 years now and no longer have to carry an epi pen. I was stung twice last year wit no reaction at all. It is WELL worth the time and trouble to get the regular shots. Usually after one year you are clear but still get the shots every two months for up to 5 years after.
    I had the shots years ago, although not long after I completed the course was when they came out with the news that the old mixed hymenoptera serum was ineffective and I never went through it again. But even when they thought it was effective (and before I had the reaction to the foodstuff), I was told that I should carry an Epi-Pen for life.

    The way I look at it, even though it's been over 20 years since I had an anaphylactic-type reaction to anything, allergies can develop without apparent symptoms, and it's just a stupid thing to die of for want of a $40 prescription. I can make room for one in my seat pack and another one in my purse or hydration pack. (Although I confess I don't carry it on short runs ... and it was on a short run that I got the sting that I had the reaction to. )
    Speed comes from what you put behind you. - Judi Ketteler

  12. #14142
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Uncanny Valley
    Posts
    14,498
    Best I could find on a quick google is that honeybees were imported for all three functions - honey, pollination of European crops, and wax.
    Speed comes from what you put behind you. - Judi Ketteler

  13. #14143
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Arlington, VA
    Posts
    1,993
    I think the bad winter killed the ground bees that lived alongside our outside staircase. I looked forward to seeing them every year---never bothered you and were out only for about two weeks before they went back underground. They were a nice sign that summer was here.

  14. #14144
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Limbo
    Posts
    8,769
    I'd like to see a "post like you're on Twitter" day.
    One day a week, posts and responses would be limited to 140 characters or less.
    2008 Trek FX 7.2/Terry Cite X
    2009 Jamis Aurora/Brooks B-68
    2010 Trek FX 7.6 WSD/stock bontrager

  15. #14145
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    North Central Florida
    Posts
    3,387
    Quote Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl View Post
    I describe my native bee efforts here on my personal blog: http://strumelia.blogspot.com/search...olitary%20bees
    That's really cool! I have red wasps out at my patio/Fort Tort/water garden. We have this deal: you don't sting me, I won't kill you. I have read that they can be aggressive, but mine are not. When I sit in my rocking chair on the deck at the water garden, a red wasp will fly up, walk around on the deck, sticking her head into the cracks, and then finally crawl under. Last summer I had one that made her home in the solar lantern that hangs a foot away from my head, by the chair. I would check every evening to make sure Wilburina was safely in bed for the night.
    ***********
    "...I'm like the cycling version of the guy in Flowers for Algernon." Mike Magnuson

 

 

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