Backcountry Radio Interview

Caryopteris × clandonensis or Bluebeard, is a
good late summer meal for bees.

For a little of what is going on this season and what I am planning for this fall, listen to my radio interview with Brian Brinkerhoff on Backcountry Radio.

http://www.backcountrynetwork.com/Download/WesternLifeRadio59-9-7-13.mp3

If you are interested in attending my "Gardening for Bees" class in Orem UT, email me at utahsustainablegardening@gmail.com.

Bees in the Dominican Republic

On a recent National Guard mission, the 624th Engineers went to the Dominican Republic. I got a first hand view of how the local bees are being housed. Unfortunately, each week when the beekeeper came to check his hives I was away on other duties, so I was unable to talk with him. I did learn a lot just from being able to walk around his apiary and take photos.

These photos clearly show the need for top bar hives in developing countries, regardless of the silly opinions I read from some of the rich in the world. The beekeeper was selling honey in used soda bottles, so it is a good bet that buying an extractor was not, and is not, an economic option.

Some hives had scrap metal
covers, some had wire mesh
on the backs. I could never
figure why they were configured
differently.

The bees are German, which 

surprises me. I would have thought 

a bee better suited to the tropics 

would have been imported and 

spread by now.

It appears that the beekeeper harvested only the comb he could reach from the open ends of the logs. Since he did not destroy any hives when he came for honey, he would have had very little he could harvest from each hive. A top bar hive or two would have greatly increased the harvest and made it much easier to get at.

My command did not see the importance and ease of helping this beekeeper improve his hives and denied my request to build them. I blame myself for not bringing it up earlier and more often. Unfortunately the beekeeper and his family are the ones that are paying the price.

Next time I will be louder and more assertive. I think I owe that to the beekeeper.

  

Comb can be chaotic. This certainly does not fit
the nice ordered calm we have come to expect in
the developed world.

Respect

I went to a gardening lecture last spring, featuring a local garden 'expert'. This guy was conventional to the core, but what bothered me was that he opened the lecture by bashing the techniques of some nationally published books in a way that was disrespectful of the authors.

Now, I expect differences in ideas, techniques, and background, but I choose to celebrate the differences and find that more often than not, I can still learn from folks who disagree with me even on the deepest levels.

When I looked at going to the second class, I just couldn't face the idea of suffering through a guy that had no respect for his peers. So, I didn't go.

And what is the point? A lot of people that read this blog are on the edge of forward moving gardening. We are all likely to be teachers in the field at some point

When we get there, we need to be able to step back and say, 'No, I don't agree with many of the things you are doing, but I'm glad you are gardening. Oh, and by the way, here is something that has worked for me. I hope it will work for you as well.'

Peace be with you and let me know how your gardens are doing!