Beeing a Beekeeper

By Tracy Dunning CSU Extension – Denver County Apprentice Master Gardener, 2023

Author and backyard hive. Photo: Eric Sondermann

During Pollinator Week, you may be curious about being a beekeeper. As an urban beekeeper, let me share information about considerations in starting a hive, costs in time and money, equipment, and lessons learned in my beekeeping years.

Many people think that honey bees are endangered, but actually they are thriving in many ways. It is the other 945 species of native bees that we also rely on for pollination that are threatened, and sometimes it’s because of the competition with the honey bees.

One can only imagine how much work and how many flowers are visited as it takes 12 honey bees their entire life to make 1 teaspoon of honey according to Lisa Mason, CSU Extension County Specialist.

Considerations in Starting a Hive

It is important to think about your goals and expectations before jumping into the fascinating world of beekeeping. Do you want the honey, the beeswax, to save the bees (which don’t need saving), to learn a new and fascinating skill?

Things to consider:

• How will you learn beekeeping – a mentor, classes, or associations such as the Colorado State Beekeepers Association?
• Time commitment for inspections, mite checks, harvesting honey.
• Check the local ordinances for your community or HOA.
• Follow guidelines for hive placement in your community and for the bee’s well-being.
• Cost: usually $500-$1000 to start, but my experience was very different (see below).
• Selling honey requires following special rules for cottage industries.
• Weather changes and extremes in Colorado make for challenges.
• Be sure to tell your neighbors and give them periodic jars of honey for good relations.

Equipment

Hive box: There are three main types of hive boxes: the more common Langstroth, the Top Bar, and the Flow Hive. See this video from Adams County Extension for details.

Tools: Brush, hive tool, smoker. Photo: Tracy Dunning

Tools: The basic tools are a brush, a hive tool for prying the frames out, and a smoker for calming the bees when doing an inspection.

Protective clothing: Depending on your comfort level, you may need gloves, a hood to protect your face, a bee shirt or a full suit. You may notice in the video link below that the beekeeper is barehanded; some beekeepers do not use protective clothing as most bees will not sting unless in self-defense.

Getting the Bees

There are several ways to get your initial bees:

• Buy them as a package of bees or a nuc. Cost is usually $100-$350. Here is a video of Adams County Extension putting the queen and bees from a bee package into a hive.
• Beekeepers will often split their hive to prevent a swarm.
• Catch a swarm which is how I started and it’s free. (My hive box was also a free hand-me-down.)
• Find more on costs of beekeeping here.

Author setup to catch a swarm above the box on the fence. Photo: Ted Ramsey

Lessons Learned

• Some beekeepers intensely practice their craft with monthly inspections, special feeding, marking the queen, etc. Even with managed care there is a 30-60% hive loss. My approach with my mentor has been more hands off, believing that the bees have been managing on their own for hundreds of years.
• It is, however, important to treat for mites on a yearly basis. This Integrative Hive Management Guide provides detail.
• Having a variety of flowering plants all season long is important as the bees need a supply of nectar and pollen. Native plants are the best, and double flowers with lots of petals are less visited. Find excellent information on feeding bees here.

Honey bee on Biokovo Cranesbill – notice pollen on abdomen and on legs under wing. Photo: Tracy Dunning

• One time I was appalled to find a pile of dead bees outside the hive. I didn’t realize that in winter, the drones are all kicked out of the hive so they don’t eat the honey.
• My hive swarmed a couple of times when we didn’t split in time. This is when there are many bees so a new queen is created and the old queen leaves with half the bees. This means that there may not be much honey to harvest that year as bees need 80 pounds of honey to overwinter.
• Be sure that you have a shallow water source nearby; my neighbors didn’t appreciate all the bees drinking from their pool.
• Many hives were lost in the deep freeze last winter, but putting insulated boards and pads around the hive protected my bees. They are amazing as they stay warm by huddling in the center of the hive, flapping wings to generate heat, and rotating from the outside to the inside of the huddle.
• Although some beekeepers don’t mind getting stung, one friend eventually developed an anaphylactic reaction and had to give up beekeeping altogether. I prefer to stay protected when opening the hive.

Backyard beehive with variety of flowers for nectar and pollen. Photo: Tracy Dunning

Watching bees closely and learning to be a beekeeper is a wonderful experience. Is it right for you? This is a great resource to help you decide.

Webinar Invitation: Doug Tallamy on Solutions to Insect and Bird Decline

Leafcutter bee on native sunflower. Photo courtesy of Lisa Mason

By Linda McDonnell, CSU Extension – Denver Master Gardener since 2013

If the recent headlines about the serious decline in the bird and insect populations make you want to crawl under a blanket and hide, consider attending ecologist Doug Tallamy’s free virtual talk on December 1^st at 5pm MT. Sponsored by the Coalition for Endangered Species, the webinar will explore Dr. Tallamy’s research on the decreasing insect and bird populations and most importantly, what each of us can do to work towards a solution. Register in advance here.

A highly respected advocate for restoring native habitats, Dr. Tallamy is the author of the New York Times best seller Nature’s Best Hope, a professor at the University of Delaware, a sought-after speaker, and the co-founder of Homegrown National Park.  

Hope you’ll attend. Blankets optional.

This webinar is approved for Denver County Master Gardener educational credit.

Native and Diverse, Our Solitary Bees

By Lori Williams, CSU Extension – Denver Master Gardener since 2016

There are approximately 4,000 species of bees found in North America: 90% are native to the USA, Mexico, and Canada, and the remaining 10% are European honeybees transported here by pilgrims and other world travelers. In Colorado there are over 900 native bee species.

A native green metallic sweat bee (Agapostemon spp.) foraging on an evening primrose flower (Oenothera sp.). Photo: Lisa Mason

CSU’s Fort Collins campus is a Bee Certified Campus so it’s bee-friendly and also bee-autiful! CSU also offers an exceptional community science project, Native Bee Watch that encourages Coloradoans to engage in research and education to support pollinator conservation. The website is a trove of information and ideas for encouraging and learning about native bees.

Research Says:  Solitary Native Bees Are Giants of Pollination!

Due to their ‘technique’ when visiting plants, native bees basically pollinate everything along their daily route be it an alfalfa crop, an orchard, our backyard flowers, or the neighbor’s veggie plot. 

Here’s more about these ‘super-spreaders’:

• Solitaries have a habit of ‘belly flopping’ into the plants they visit. Pollen then sticks all over them. As they move on, they generously deposit this pollen on plants in their path. 
• Natives supplement the organized and human-assisted honeybees, which are often transported thousands of miles to aid farmers in crop pollination. Native bees very effectively pollinate plants within the travel radius of their nest.
• Graceful, maybe even messy in their daily routines, solitary bee activity contributes significantly to food production, blooming blossoms, and microclimate success. 

Native Solitary Bees Compared to European Honeybees

Solitary bees look, behave, and live somewhat differently than non-native honeybees. Here are some notable comparisons:

• Solitary bees are typically smaller (1/4” to 3/4” in length) than their European compadres. They can be black, dark blue, or metallic green.
• Natives live solo in nests they create using natural materials (mason bees use mud, leaf cutters line their nest with leaves and beyond). Many species nest underground. Non-native honeybees are communal dwellers and live in hives often provided by humans.
• No job goes undone for solitary bees – they do every job needed to live and reproduce.
• Every native female is a queen. She collects pollen to store in her nest for each egg she produces in an approximately 6″ long nest, housing 6-10 eggs. Every male is born to mate as he emerges and then dies so on this point, honeybee males/drones are pretty similar.
• Honeybees work as a community to collect pollen and make generous amounts of honey for the queen, her eggs, and harvesting. Native bees don’t create honey, nourish themselves as they go, and leave the exact amount of pollen for their eggs to eat before they emerge from the nest. 
• Honeybees have aggressive guard bees at hive entrances. Native bees don’t have time for this as they are busy eating, nest building, and collecting pollen for their eggs. They typically say ‘oh hello, excuse me, I’m off’ to anyone looking around their haciendas. Most don’t even have barbed stingers.
• Diverse native bee populations are not susceptible to mono-species diseases, pests, or Colony Collapse Disorder.

Creating Solitary Bee Habitats 

It’s easy and beautiful as they love flowering ‘stuff’ and need four basic ‘things’ to create nests, lay and protect eggs, and store pollen and nectar: food, water, shelter, and a solitary space for their nest. You’ll find this CSU Fact Sheet and video provide lots of details on creating habitats.

Here are some key tips:

• Design gardens with plants that bloom in waves to provide food and nesting materials spring through fall. A mix of bloom sizes, colors, shapes, and timing will keep them happy. 
• Native bees are four times more attracted to native plants than non-natives.
• ‘Bird’ baths are for all pollinators: bees, butterflies, birds, and more. Creating a ‘beach’ or place to land in your water source offers pollinators a resting place while they hydrate.
• Insecticides and pesticides with any bee, bird, beneficial bug, or other pollinator are not a good mix.  Please evaluate carefully when considering the necessity of using these products and always follow directions to a T, for your safety too.
• Stacked ‘log hives’ offer great habitat, so do cracks in tree bark and undisturbed ground, leaf mulch also creates nesting opportunities. Wooden homemade bee ‘hotels’ that are south facing are welcome refuge for happy homemaking solitary bees, too.

Bees out after a spring snow!

Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for these fascinating bees and consider their needs when working in the garden!

Pollinator-Friendly Fall Garden Cleanup

By Jessica Harvey, CSU Extension – Denver Master Gardener since 2020

As we wrap up the season and put our gardens to bed, there are a number of ways we can help provide habitat for our pollinators in the process. Many pollinators will nest in the hollow of stems or wood. Others will use things like leaves, mud, plant hairs, and resin to build their nests for the winter. Rather than chopping everything down and clearing out the remaining debris, let’s consider whether any of it may be used by a pollinator this winter, or even next spring.

For those pollinators that like to nest within hollow stems, consider deadheading rather than chopping those stems down to their base. Stems can range 8 to 24 inches long, from both flowers and grasses alike, to be of use for cavity nesters. A nest within a hollow stem will typically house eggs, a food source and a natural plug of some kind that can be specific to the type of pollinator that are nesting within. A couple of great examples are leaf cutter bees (Megachile) and Mason bees (Osmia and/or Hoplitis). 

Remember to allow those same stems to decay and fall on their own in the spring as you don’t want to remove them until after the young have emerged for the season. If you grow raspberries doing so is easy, since you may need those prime canes for next year’s production.

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  Raspberry canes in the Spring. Photo: Jessica Harvey
  

Check out this great handout with diagrams highlighting some of the different cavity nesters from University of Minnesota Extension and their Bee Lab. 

Not to be forgotten, consider pollinators that are ground nesters as well. It’s important to leave some bare earth for these guys to burrow into for their nests. If you have pets or children, you may consider a place out of the way within your garden.

Another excellent resource is CSU Fact Sheet No 5.615 Attracting Native Bees to your Landscape which provides more information on different nesting materials and ways you can provide additional habitat specifically for native bees. 

Just like any other living thing, the main concerns for pollinators are food, water, and shelter. As we clean up and leave some debris intact for them as shelter, it’s also important to try to provide some clean water. It may be hard to do this during the winter but consider adding a tray with pebbles near your hollow stems or bare ground, and keep it topped off during the fall and spring. No need to buy anything specifically marketed as such, it can be as simple as the drip tray from a container you aren’t using.

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  Drip tray in community garden. Photo: Jessica Harvey

As we wrap up for the season and begin planning for the next, also consider whether you have a year-round source of both pollen and/or nectar within your garden to encourage a strong pollinator population. Ground covers, winter blooming crocus and early blooming grape hyacinths (Muscari) will help to bridge some of the gaps.

CSU Factsheet 5.616 Creating Pollinator Habitat gives a glimpse of all the things to consider as you plan your garden as a pollinator habitat, including some plants to consider for all season provisions.

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It’s important to remember our pollinators not just during the peak of the season when we need them for our flower, fruit, or vegetable production. They provide so much for us and we need to try and return the favor wherever we can. 

Denver Master Gardeners Look Back at the Growing Season – Part 2

Compiled by Linda McDonnell, Denver Master Gardener since 2013

Welcome back to part two of our garden season recaps. We hope you enjoy this look at the wins, challenges, and surprises from Denver Master Gardeners. If you missed part one, you’ll find it here.

HUMMINGBIRD BANQUET  Barb Pitner, Denver Master Gardener since 2012

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  Can you find the hummingbird? Photo: Barb Pittner
  

This season’s goal was to create a garden to attract and feed hummingbirds. I started by removing a twelve-foot-wide circle of lawn with a two-foot-wide circle or “bullseye” in the center. The soil of this center area was prepped with compost into which four scarlet sage vines (Salvia coccinea) were planted around a four-foot-high decorative tower.

The remainder of the full-sun, brightly colored pollinator garden was filled with containers, which encircled the scarlet sage and descended in height from the center.

The tall scarlet sage vines were surrounded by containers of vibrantly colored ‘Giant’ zinnias alternating with containers of crocosmia varieties including ‘George Davidson’ (yellow), ‘Lucifer’ (deep red-orange), ‘Emily McKenzie’ (red-orange-maroon with a yellow eye). Cypress vines (Ipomoea quamoclit) were added to the crocosmia displays.

The outer ring of the garden was made up of smaller containers, brimming with lower growing annuals such as marigolds, blue Victoria salvia, red calibrachia, and red-yellow lantana.

Daily watering, regular feeding, and deadheading insured constant blooms from July to September. In addition to hummingbirds, the garden was regularly visited by native, honey, and bumble bees. All have been kept in good supply of nectar and pollen.  

WINTER-SOWN BAPTISIA  Susan Tamulonis, Denver Master Gardener since 2018

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  Baptisia plants (center) in August. Photo: Susan Tamulonis

Last December I was given thirty-eight Baptisia seeds (Baptisia spp; variety unknown, aka wild or false indigo) from a neighbor. This gift launched a multi-season challenge to nurture, document, and transform the seeds into healthy plants. Baptisia is in the Fabaceae (bean) family and requires cold temperatures to germinate – perfect timing for this project.

The dense, hard-coated seeds were treated to two boiling water baths and then soaked for two more days. The seeds were then planted in “mini-greenhouses,” constructed from milk jugs (one 1-gallon and two ½-gallons). The uncapped containers were cut in half horizontally and drainage holes were poked in the bottom. Seeds were sown in the base of the containers, lightly covered with soil, and watered. The top portion of the containers were replaced, creating dome-like planters. The containers were placed in a shady outdoor spot immediately after planting and were regularly checked for moisture and good drainage.

In April, to allow for more light, the top half of the containers were removed; germination began in May. By mid-June, seedlings were four to five inches tall with three sets of leaves. It was now time to plant them in full sun. In August, the seeds yielded seventeen healthy plants for a 58% germination rate.

And here’s where the story takes a turn…I returned from a fall vacation to find the young plants were mowed down by a hungry visitor, likely a rabbit. So while the winter-sowing process was successful, the plants didn’t survive!

A FUN & BENEFICIAL SURPRISE  Jodi Torpey, Denver Master Gardener since 2005

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  Photo: Jodi Torpey

My biggest gardening success this season gave new meaning to the old saying about keeping one’s ear close to the ground. That’s because I grew an ear in a container of radishes.

Although I didn’t set out to grow a body part in my garden, I was delighted to see this flesh-colored, earlike growth pop up among the radishes during this year’s cool, wet spring. My “ear” was most likely a type of cup fungus belonging to the genus Peziza. These fungi are real bodies – the fruiting bodies – of cup fungi that usually live underground but can grow above ground in mulch or compost when conditions are right.

While they don’t all look like ears, they’re all good for gardens because they break down organic matter to make nutrients available to plants. An ear growing in that container turned out to be a real fun guy.

A TREE WORTH WAITING FOR!  Lori Williams, Denver Master Gardener since 2016

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  Photo: Lori Williams

After a four-year delay in planting any tree, finally this summer a long-awaited, lovely peach tree found a home in our yard. It came with baby peaches all over, but we popped most off so the energy would go to the roots. The only decent gladiolus I planted this year were around the new peach tree – and we enjoyed nine very tasty peaches in mid-August. Highlight of our summer!

NATIVE POLLINATOR GARDEN: YEAR TWO  Ann Winslow, Denver Master Gardener since 2019

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  A mass of chocolate flowers Photo: Ann Winslow
  

Last year, I shared my adventure creating a pollinator garden using native plants on this blog. You’ll find the posts here and here. This year, I’ve watched and recorded what has flourished and what has struggled – maybe because of weather, where the plant was sited, and in some cases, for reasons I can’t tell.

One big success was chocolate flower (Berlandiera lyrata). At one end of the garden, three plants became massive, merging into one enormous display, which will be divided in the Spring. They have been abuzz with native pollinators since June. Just what I hoped for!

In contrast, wine cups (Callirhoe involucrata) has struggled. It’s possible that the heavy spring rains caused it to grow leggy, splay out on the ground, and have few blooms. I’m cutting back the long, dead stems now as I see it’s getting new growth in the center.

Always something to learn. Every year is a new adventure in gardening.

Many thanks to the Denver Master Gardeners who allowed us to peak into their gardens, learn from their experiences, and be inspired by their results.

Wild About Natives: Native Plants for Colorado Pollinators

by Kathy Roth, CSU Extension-Denver Master Gardener since 2018

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  Leafcutter bee (Megachile spp.) on a native sunflower. Photo credit: Lisa Mason of Arapahoe County Extension

May is a wonderful month to celebrate spring and is typically when Colorado gardeners experience the last frost of the season (~ May 9th in the Denver area, later at higher elevations).

Plants set in the ground this month will likely be well-established and possibly even blooming by Pollinator Week (June 21-27).  Pollinators include butterflies, moths, hummingbirds, bats, beetles, flies, and bees.

In this post we will look at several features of pollinator-friendly landscapes and provide numerous resources for further learning.

Creating a Pollinator Habitat

A pollinator habitat is a welcoming environment which provides food, water, shelter, and space. It includes a variety of plant species, offering nutrition and a nesting opportunity from early Spring to late Fall. Clusters or swaths of the same plant encourages efficient foraging. (CSU Fact Sheet 5-616)

Flower shape, fragrance, color, and pollen are among the plant traits which attract pollinators. To learn more about the preferences of several pollinators, visit pages 10-11 of this publication from The Pollinator Society.

Attracting Native Bees

Did you know there are over 20,000 bee species throughout the world with 946 of these being native to Colorado?  And that unlike honeybees, most native bees are solitary and inhabit underground nests or dried plant stalks?

This CSU fact sheet explains that “studies have shown that native plants are four times more attractive to native bees than introduced ornamentals.”  It goes on to say that “native bees vary greatly in size, shape, and color” and that “most of the native species in Colorado are simply not inclined to sting or do not have enough venom for a painful sting, even if they try.”

The Colorado Native Plant Society (CNPS) discourages the use of chemical pesticides, which can harm pollinators. However, if pesticides are necessary, apply near dawn or at dusk, when pollinators are less active. Never apply pesticides when pollinators are present and follow all label instructions.

Interested in learning more about native bees? Lisa Mason, Arapahoe County Horticulture Agent, invites the public to assist in a “Community Bee Watch”; for more information and to participate in this citizen science project, contact Lisa at nativebeewatch@gmail.com.

Perennials and Shrubs for the Pollinator Garden

Native perennials are ideally suited to Colorado’s growing conditions and require less water, fertilization, and soil amendments than non-natives. You may already be familiar with some native perennials such as Blanket flower – Gallardia aristate, Blue Flax – Linium lewisii or Yarrow – Achillea millefolium, but these are just a few of many.

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  Blanket flower. Photo credit: Pixabay

This CSU publication has an extensive list of perennials to choose from with details on bloom time, color, moisture requirements, pollinator attraction, and more.

CNPS offers landscape tips and plant recommendations in this brochure.

Native shrubs offer an outstanding opportunity for pollinator sustenance and shelter. Three highly recommended shrubs for the pollinator-friendly landscape include:

Left to right: Woods Rose, Rabbitbrush, Boulder raspberry. Photo credit: USDA

Rabbitbrush – Chrysothamnus nauseosus (Bright yellow flowers late summer; up to 6’ tall if not pruned in early Spring.) 

Boulder Raspberry – Rubus deliciosus (Large white summer flowers evolve into berries for wildlife.)

Woods Rose – Rosa woodsii (Pink flowers in summer; red/brown prickly stems; red-orange hips in Fall. Caution: suckers readily!)

See last month’s Wild About Natives post for additional shrub recommendations.

Tips for Designing a Pollinator Garden

Creating an attractive, environmentally sensitive garden can sometimes feel overwhelming. Here are two landscape plans with plant lists to inspire your creativity.

The Denver Botanic has several gardens dedicated to native plants. Visit in-person (check COVID admissions requirements) or online.

Email questions about specific plants, with relevant photos, to gardeninghelp@botanicgardens.org. Denver Master Gardeners will provide a science-based response. CNPS is another valuable resource for native plant education.

Thanks so much for your interest in native plants, watch for the next Wild About Natives post in June.  

More Thanks for Our Gardens

Giving Garden Thanks – 2020
By Parry Burnap, CMG since 2016

My psyche unsettled in waking and sleeping hours by
flames, floods, blowdowns, protests, and infections,
across the lands, on our streets, within our families, in our lungs.
My heart aching from the sacrifices of the most vulnerable among us,
smiles covered, hugs restrained, and gatherings digitized.
2020, my 65th year,
called into question the little I thought I understood.
Tectonic forces cleared the way for an unknowable time I likely will never see.
These days were a long time coming and will be a long time still.

Safe at home with more time and attention that I could not spend elsewhere,
I walked steps to the garden, further than any vehicle could have taken me.
Pollinators loaded heavy with yellow dust buzzed clumsy in the dance of life.
Answers revealed themselves in cycles of rebirth and exquisite order
within riotous transformation.
Dumbstruck by color and light, I was surprised by Joy.
Nourishment and sanctuary, the garden was my place and time,
my guide to here and now, where I start over and over again
to do the never-ending work at hand.

Murder Hornet: Reality for Coloradoans

Image via Kenpei/Wikimedia Commons

Recently a report on the discovery of the large, native Asian hornet (Vespa mandarinia) in Washington state and British Columbia went viral. The New York Times dubbed it the “murder hornet” because of its striking appearance and size (about 2″ in length, wingspan of 3″), assumed threat to the honeybee population and quarter inch stinger to inject venom into humans.

Dr. Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University’s Entomologist and Extension Specialist, offers a constructive look at the Asian hornet and cautions us to look past the dramatic, attention-grabbing headlines.

Cranshaw notes the following:

• Traps and controls have been developed in Asia and can be adapted for use in the very small outbreak in Washington and British Columbia.
• While some insects relocate to new areas via packing materials, wood or other carriers, this hornet does not hitchhike well. Given that, to reach Colorado, it would need to navigate difficult terrain from Washington. This is considered unlikely.
• The insect is a woodland species which lives in low altitude, moist environments. It is not likely to thrive or adapt to the semi-arid Rocky Mountain region. If it did get transported here, it is doubtful it would survive.
• It is a generalist predator and honeybees are just one of its many predatory targets. Whether the giant Asian hornet will pose any greater threat to honeybees than existing predators remains to be seen. But it is possible that colonies in the wasp’s preferred woodland areas could be the most vulnerable honeybees.

Cranshaw and other entomologists caution that “Murder wasp” is an unwarranted, fear-inducing name. While imposing and unique for its appearance, the Asian hornet’s potential impact needs to be kept in perspective and is not expected to live up to the recent hype.

Additional Resources:

USDA New Pest Response Guidelines

“What’s In A Name? CSU Entomologist Says Title is All Buzz, No Sting”  KUNC Radio Interview with Dr. W. Cranshaw, May 12,2020

Written by Linda McDonnell, a Denver County Master Gardener

 

No More Buds? Turn to Earbuds.

By this time in the year, I’m at the point of good riddance! with the weeds and careful tending (shout out to this cold spell for sealing the deal). Pretty much everything is done and put to bed. I then spend the next two weeks really dialing into my houseplant game before I get bored and start Spring dreaming. My Fall break from the garden is short-lived so I start listening to old episodes of now-defunct podcast series and dream with new ones.  Here are a few of my favs:

Gardenerd Tip of The Week

Gardenerd.com is the ultimate resource for garden nerds. We provide organic gardening information whenever you need it, helping you turn land, public space, and containers into a more satisfying and productive garden that is capable of producing better-tasting and healthier food.

https://gardenerd.com/

My thoughts: The host lives in LA, so this one is great for winter listening as we get chillier, I love hearing about the warmth of Southern California and what’s coming into season. Interviews with other experts and educators in the horticulture field discussing plants, but also cultivating grains, discussing bees, and seeds. Each episode ends with the guest’s own tips, many of which are news to me and have been incorporated into my own practices. 

On the Ledge

I’m Jane Perrone, and I’ve been growing houseplants since I was a child, caring for cacti in my bedroom and growing a grapefruit from seed; filling a fishtank full of fittonias and bringing African violets back from the dead.

https://www.janeperrone.com/on-the-ledge

Houseplants, if new to the podcast start here for an overview, and guidance.

Jane is a freelance journalist and presenter on gardening topics. Her podcast has a ton of tips for beginners, and more advanced info for longtime houseplant lovers, as well as interviews with other plant experts. The website is also useful to explore the content of an episode if you aren’t able to listen. I could spend an entire morning traveling in and out of the archives. 

My thoughts: As the growing season comes to a close, my indoors watering schedule starts wobbling between what the plants need and my summer habits of watering too many times per week–welcome back,  fungus gnats! Here’s an entire episode on them

Plant Daddy Podcast

We aim to create a listener community around houseplants, to learn things, teach things, share conversations with experts, professionals in the horticulture industry, and amateur hobbyists like ourselves. We also want to bring the conversation beyond plants, since anybody with leaf babies has a multitude of intersectional identities. We, ourselves, are a couple gay guys living in Seattle, Washington, with a passion for gardening and houseplants. A lot of our friends are the same, though each of us has a different connection, interest, and set of skills in this hobby, demonstrating a small amount of the diversity we want to highlight among plant enthusiasts.

https://plantdaddypodcast.com/

My thoughts: Plants are visual, podcasts are auditory- episodic overviews with links to viewable content available on their website. Are you also seeing Staghorn Ferns everywhere? They have an entire episode (photos included!) on the fern and how to properly mount it for that vegan taxiderm look. Matthew and Stephen are self-identified hobbyists with a passion for plants all the way down to the Latin–it’s impressive.

Epic Gardening

The Epic Gardening podcast…where your gardening questions are answered daily! The goal of this podcast is to give you a little boost of gardening wisdom in under 10 minutes a day. I cover a wide range of topics, from pest prevention, to hydroponics, to plant care guides…as long as it has something to do with gardening, I’ll talk about it on the show!

https://www.epicgardening.com/

My thoughts: The Netflix-episode-when-you-just-don’t-feel-like-a-movie kind of podcast. Addresses the best varietals, composting, soil pH, and troubleshooting some common issues in the garden. With daily episodes archived back to December 2018, there is a quickly digested thought for some of your own curiosities. The website is also a wealth of knowledge. 

Eatweeds Podcast: For People Who Love Plants

Eatweeds: An audio journey through the wonderful wild world of plants. Episodes cover modern and ancient ways wild plants have been used in human culture as food, medicine and utilitarian uses.

http://eatweeds.libsyn.com/

My thoughts: most recent episode (and appropriately timed!)  On edible acorns. My fav topics include foraging and wild yeast fermentation; and when I really start missing the Pacific Northwest, The Wild and Wonderful World of Fungi sends me back to a misty forest wander politely decorated by les champignons. Posting of this pod is sporadic–only 25 episodes since 2014.

You Bet Your Garden

(no longer on air, but archives available)

 

You Bet Your Garden® was a weekly radio show and podcast produced at WHYY through September, 2018. The show’s archive is available online. It was a weekly syndicated radio show, with lots of call-ins. This weekly call-in program offers ‘fiercely organic’ advice to gardeners far and wide.

https://www.wlvt.org/television/you-bet-your-garden/

My thoughts: Host, Mike McGrath, spends much of the show taking calls and troubleshooting, reminiscent of another public radio behemoth with Click and Clack, the Tappet brothers. McGrath incorporates a lifetime of organic gardening tips with humor. McGrath features one tip to find a local “rent a goat place” (no joke) to get goats to eat the most troublesome weeds to a concerned caller considering setting much of her yard on fire.

Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden

Jennifer Jewell, the founder of Jewellgarden and Cultivating Place, achieves this mission through her writing, photographs, exhibits about and advocacy for gardens & natural history and through her weekly public radio program and podcast Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden, on gardens as integral to our natural and cultural literacy.

https://www.cultivatingplace.com/

My thoughts: sort of like On Being, but for gardening.

A fav episode:

If you aren’t so sure about this podcast thing, and just want a place to start, start here.

Do you really need a brain to sense the world around you? To remember? Or even learn? Well, it depends on who you ask. Jad and Robert, they are split on this one. Today, Robert drags Jad along on a parade for the surprising feats of brainless plants. Along with a home-inspection duo, a science writer, and some enterprising scientists at Princeton University, we dig into the work of evolutionary ecologist Monica Gagliano, who turns our brain-centered worldview on its head through a series of clever experiments that show plants doing things we never would’ve imagined. Can Robert get Jad to join the march?

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/smarty-plants

Blessed Bee, Thy Name

Last week I attended a bee info session with Thaddeus Gourd, Director of Extension for Adams County to introduce new-bees to Dat Buzz Lyfe (I can’t believe this hashtag hasn’t been acculturated into the lexicon). Thad walked us through the bees we may encounter locally, how they got here, some typical and atypical behaviors, as well as a truly charming attempt at convincing me to bring bees to my own yard, regardless of my wife’s severe allergy, as he shows us his son bare-handing his GoPro at the bottom of a brand new bee abode. The bee community, it turns out, is pretty righteous. They are passionate about the bees livelihoods and are nearly involuntarily bursting with facts and love and recruitment strategies. As far as I can tell (and I’m pretty far), not only are bee keep-have-and-lovers informed of the goings-on of the world around them, they are also deeply involved in their communities with the idealism that we still stand a chance. 

One of my favorite parts of preparing for this post was reveling in how smitten everyone who writes, studies, or just enjoys, bees cannot help themselves to the low hanging fruit of the ever-accessible bee puns. I won’t go so far as to say it’s obligatory to at least dabble in the punny when writing about bees, but it’s pretty darn close (how’d I do?). 

To my surprise, North America has no native honey bees that produce large amounts of honey, and the bees we have working for us now were imported (intentionally and accidentally) by European colonizers. The European honey bees are typically docile and too busy to be bothered by folks approaching or tending to the hive-unless of course, the alarm is sounded and whatever intentions the intruder has are being interpreted as a threat, which apparently smells a bit like banana. File this under Lessons I hope never to encounter, and yet, how interesting! 

If you do happen to get stung, Thad informed us that the venom sack dislodges from the honey bee (essentially causing it to bleed to death, major bummer) and will continue pumping venom for another minute or so after the initial sting. To stop this, simply scrape the stinger from the entry point with a credit card or fingernail. DO NOT try and pluck it with your fingers or tweezers–this just pumps all the venom directly into the wound all at once. Expect the site to be a bit itchy after the initial shock and scramble settles, and write it off as an ouch! and a thank you for your service.

Of course, a small sting is literally nothing compared to the plight the bees face. Documentaries and campaigns are beleaguering (the opportunities for bee-utifying this entire post are just too much) the fate of our planet, and news reports of the extents of human willpower and reliance on the honey makers to keep the decline in bee population discussions plentiful. The main threats include loss of habitat, diseases and mites, pesticides, and climate change. 

As lovers of the living, albeit animal or vegetable, pesticide-speak can draw that line as firmly in the sand like many of our other hot button political issues. Be ye not afraid, comrades. We don’t have to go to the polls with this one, but we do have to follow the law (cue that GBU soundtrack). Treating plants–weeds included–with pesticides (neonicotinoids) while the plant is flowering transfers the chemicals into the nectar, and the feasting bees bring the toxins back to the hive. Truly, this seemingly innocuous move one time could kill an entire hive. Always read the labels, folks. Take your time and educate yourself on all the possible management strategies before grabbing the glyphosate. 

We are inundated with problems and presented with conveniently packaged solutions. We have come to a place that is moving so quickly that it’s too easy to keep in motion and miss the very real consequences each step incurs along the way. Unfortunately for bees, they are getting caught in our wake of rapidity. How can you take one extra breath, second, or step to consider your impact?

For those with a burgeoning interest in the apiary, one great way to check yourself is to plug into a community of other beekeepers/havers/enthusiasts. From what Thad was telling us, many organizations and groups are looking to help you get started, problem solve, or just ponder the wondrous life of bees. CSU Extension is an excellent resource for research and education on bees; they are continuing to compare hive designs to determine which work best for Colorado. There are also lots of beekeeper mentor programs, beekeeper associations, and even folks who you can hire to set-up and care for a hive on your own property. These folks have lots of experience and want to propagate more interest in beekeeping by mentoring and sharing. Getting into bees is definitely not something to go at alone or from a quick study. Taking risks is part of beekeeping, why not expand yourself right at the start by making new connections and community building?

By McKenna Hynes

Apprentice Colorado Master Gardener since January 2019