ROSES all the way

ROSES are blooming all over my garden and many of the neighbours at the moment.

On my early morning run today I was distracted by the many beautiful gardens chock-a-block with gorgeous blooms.

While many gardens are full of the perennial favourite Iceberg, I'm delighted that lots of other green-thumbs are keen to grow perfumed varieties in a rainbow of hues.

By the chook house I have planted a much-loved bush rose, Sonia Rykeil, which is going - pardon the pun - bananas and will soon offer much-needed shade to the hens over summer while perfuming that part of the garden.

Sonia Rykeil roses in full bloom.

 

I know it's important to plant natives which keep the local birds and bees happy, but a few roses planted about really warm my heart and soul.

 

They also brighten my kitchen - at the moment there's a lovely bouquet of yellow Graeme Thomas roses (bred by veteran rose expert) David Austin and they bring a breath of sunshine inside.

 

Near the compost bins and grapevines, another tea rose, Pierre De Ronsard is making its way up a pillar.

Now I am trying to decide which climbing roses to grow along the back fence - it's a wonderful time in the garden. 

Bees on TED

Watch this amazing TED talk on bees.

Bees pollinate a third of our food supply -- they don’t just make honey! -- but colonies have been disappearing at alarming rates in many parts of the world due to the accumulated effects of parasitic mites, viral and bacterial diseases, and exposure to pesticides and herbicides.

It is fantastic.

Marla Spivak, University of Minnesota professor of entomology and 2010 MacArthur Fellow, tries as much as possible to think like bees in her work to protect them. They’re “highly social and complex” creatures, she says, which fuels her interest and her research.

Spivak has developed a strain of bees, the Minnesota Hygienic line, that can detect when pupae are infected and kick them out of the nest, saving the rest of the hive. Now, Spivak is studying how bees collect propolis, or tree resins, in their hives to keep out dirt and microbes.

She is also analyzing how flowers’ decline due to herbicides, pesticides and crop monoculture affect bees’ numbers and diversity. Spivak has been stung by thousands of bees in the course of her work.

Useful flowers

IF you want bright flowers which attract bees and add colour to your vegetable garden then you cannot look past the Calendula.

Yesterday while walking around East Geelong looking at gardens and getting ideas for my new place, I cam across a nature strip planted out with a riot of these gorgeous members of the daisy family.

As you would expect, there's some excellent information on the Gardening Australia website too.

I'm going to go back and knock on this gardener's front door and offer to swap some of my heritage seeds for some of their calendua seeds - fingers crossed!

Honey of a hobby

GEELONG is seeing a lot of interest in home bee-keeping, as more and more people become interested in harvesting their own honey and increasing their garden pollination rates.
Plus, bees are a lovely insect to see floating around the trees and plants.

The GWNH reporting good attendance at their classes.

The Geelong Beekeepers Club are a good resource for anyone looking to learn more - I'm planning on attending the next meeting as I have a wild hive in my yard.

If you have some buzzing around you garden, you'll be thrilled at the increase in pollination of your fruit and vegetables not to mention flowers. Here's a good resource to identifying the species in your area.

The ABC has reported that in Tasmania, beekeepers say they will refuse to pollinate certain vegetables if the moratorium on genetically modified crops is lifted in Tasmania, which would lead to millions of dollars in lost revenue.

Tasmania is currently GM-free, but the state government is conducting a review of the ban.

Bee aware

BEES are facing a battle according to the Weekly Times.

VFF's beekeeping president Gavin Jamieson said there are more tough times may be ahead for beekeepers with areas not expected to flower for years.

A good incentive to nurture the bees in your area by planting as many appropriate flowers as you can.

 

Gardening Australia have some good ideas here...

Another good idea to eliminate using poisons in the garden as these can really hammer bees and other 'good' insects.

Australia's chemical regulator is looking at whether labels on neonicitinoid insecticides should be made clearer, as part of ongoing research into the effect of the common pesticides on bees.

Meanwhile, let's do what we can ti support these vital creatures.

All abuzz

I'M looking at bee-keeping sometime soon.

After several years of reading about and listening to keen apiarists talk about the highs and lows of bees, I think now is a be a good time to stop talking and start walking.

In the latest Weekly Times there's a good little article on an Ocean Grove chap whose taken the leap - inspiring stuff.

Now I have to join the local bee-keeping society and start the process.

Be aware of the use of pesticides in your garden as many can harm bees.

I'll keep you informed.

Hakea heaven

A COUPLE of years ago I planted a hakea bush on the front nature-strip amongst some grevillias and now it's a blooming delight.

Bees make straight for the nectar as do honey eaters and other native birds and the flowers are such a lovely beacon on these grey winter days.

It is not simply a gorgeous shrub with its beautiful flowers, fast growth and thick foliage it is also a marvellous screening plant.

Recently the local council put in footpaths on my side of the street and they dug up most of my nature strip garden, despite not needing to place the concrete there. In their wisdom, the workers dug up most of the plants leaving the grevillias roots to the sky.

Somehow amidst the carnage the bottle-brush and hakea survived.

I managed to save a couple but the majority have died.

But every morning when i walk outside and see the hakea in flower, I'm grateful it's still there.

Avoid the bee blues...

UPDATE - Read the Weekly Times of May 22 re a crisis in the Victorian commercial bee industry is threatening horticulture crops worth billions of dollars. The health and numbers of bees are at disastrous levels not seen since the record drought of 1982-83

MEANWHILE, Australian gardeners need to be careful what pesticides they are using.

Please be careful what you use on your fruit, vegetables and herbs. You may have heard a brand sold by Bunnings - Yates' Confidor Hose-On Lawn pesticide - carries the warning it ''will kill bees''.
A recent report in the UK Guardian said Europe will enforce the world's first continent-wide ban on widely used insecticides alleged to cause serious harm to bees, after a European commission vote on Monday.

The suspension is a landmark victory for millions of environmental campaigners, backed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), concerned about a dramatic decline in the bee population. The vote also represents a serious setback for the chemical producers who make billions each year from the products and also UK ministers, who voted against the ban. Both had argued the ban would harm food production.

 

 

Let's be extra careful with what we use on the garden.

BUZZ on bees..

BEES are critical to producing food in backyards, the bush and in agricultural communities around the country.

We need to attract them by growing plants which attract them and offer them food so they can do their job and pollinate. It's estimated over 90 per cent of plants we eat need assistance from bees.

Here's a few interesting bee items I came across today.

AN ABC report said beekeepers in Gippsland are having one of their worst seasons in 30 years.

Some bee colonies haven't produced a honey flow this season, which is at least three months behind schedule.

Commonly used pesticides pose a serious threat to bees, restricting their ability to pollinate crops.

That's according to a European study published yesterday in the journal Nature.

Studies find pesticides damage brains of bees.

Native bees..

Spring sunshine

Today's spring sunshine has been magnificent.

The chooks were allowed out and given the left-over breakfast pancakes and weren't they ecstatic! After this they wandered all over the garden before enjoying a sand and dirt bath, then they did a little judicious scratching about before having a wander about the fruit trees in the glorious sunshine.

After this I herded them back in the run, got out the treddly and did a nice 55km ride down the Great Ocean Road, along Forrest Rd and few back streets then home via the Moriac General Store. Birds were out in great numbers and saw the most cheeky little superb blue wren, numerous parrots, fan tails, honey-eaters, magpies, ravens and many others I could not name while negotiating the hills.

Came home, let the girls out for the second Sunday free-range and finished making the pea and ham soup i started yesterday. Took some over to a friend who's not well and his fabulous wife who has an amazing veggie and herb garden (who also loves the eggs I send her) gave me some cabbage which had gone to seed and the little madams went into another frenzy.

Bees were also out in force today, zipping about the nasturtiums, coriander flowers, roses, passion fruit flowers, apple and peach blossoms and the marigolds.

A bee in my flower bed having a great time...

To bee or not to bee

Here's the buzz on bees.

Sorry, i just could'nt resist that.

My colleague Cameron Best wrote a cracker story the other day in Geelong Advertiser about bees being the new front line is in place to defend against the introduction of exotic honey bee pests and diseases.

He talked about how these selfless bees, known as "Bee Force", put their lives on the line in order to protect their species and the state's honey and pollination-dependent agriculture industries.

The villain in this case is the varroa mite, which attaches to bees and devastates bee populations.

As part of the program, volunteer beekeepers have set up hives near Geelong Port, equipped with sticky mats to catch the bees' droppings to allow for an early detection of the parasite.

It's a great article, you should read it and remember around one mouthful in three in the diet directly or indirectly benefits from honey bee pollination.

If like me you are considering keeping bees, here's a good article from G magazine.