Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Solitary bee condo


If Mason bees could read 
(and actually used part of their short 6-10 week lifespan doing so),
I would place this ad in the OSMIA Gazette:
_______________________________________________

Absolutely Stunning Arts and Craft Homes
available for your Spring, 2016 brood.

Enjoy urban-living at its wilderness finest 
as you fly into your individual nest cells.
No processed paper products. 
Only hand gathered trail branches
placed in a frame of untreated, recycled wood.

Loaded with totally tubular, smooth, 5/16" 
holes, 4" long for your egg depositing comfort.

Nearby water and clay mud.
The high cathedral roof line offers overhanging 
protection from rain.
The South facing entrances will warm you each morning,
 as you overlook
quiet grounds, rich in organic, gourmet pollen and nectar.

Join this exclusive community of docile, solitary, yet
friendly neighbors
in a bio-diverse location.
With on-site security as you provision your 
egg chambers. 

FREE RENT
in exchange for open flower pollination
and viewing rights.
_________________________________________________

This is what Duke made for me for my recent birthday.



I've spent hours reading about Mason bees. 
More about them in a future post.

t.t.f.n. ~ Carol

Thursday, May 7, 2015

guilt of a nimby

a poem by:  jennifer


a blistering day 
and i'm
taking refuge from the sun
by
sitting in the right side of the car
to avoid the burn.
and i have
the sliding door open
to let in the hot breeze.

while waiting to gather a babe.
from school.

an ice cube shifts in my tea
as it melts.

and i am watching a pincher bug...
  or earwig if you will..
frantically crawling up,
   down
up
   down
pausing at a crack, on a weather beaten, 
 once orange
 traffic cone.

i could only imagine he was desperate for water,
  on his sun baked plastic island.
bordered by a swath of asphalt
and
cracked earth and dried foxtails.

and one wouldn't think
that the very next week,
the same she 
who would fish out an ice cube 
and give it to him
   by placing it on his miserable island
(to keep him alive)

would step on his brethren.
intentionally.

seedlings to protect and all.

N ot
I n
M y
B ack
Y ard

am i.

guilty.