What is happening to the honeybees?

For the last couple years, bee colonies have been collapsing in North America. From the information out there, it appears that this phenomenon could seriously affect our food supply. It is not just a problem in North America, however, countries all over the world have been reporting bee shortages.

Bees are extremely important in many crops such as almonds, berries and other fruits and vegetables; in the United States, honeybee pollination activities are estimated to add about $15-billion (U.S.) a year. It is clear that this is something that is causing fear and worry, and unfortunately, the cause is unknown. There are many theories as to why the bees are disappearing, but these are only theories.

I have a beautiful, white flowering shrub at the front of my house. Yesterday, I noticed that there was an unbelievable number of honeybees feasting on the flowers. I am happy that my gardens are able to provide for these bees. It seems like I am seeing and thinking about bees a lot these days. Just the other day, a co-worker offered me some tips for my pepper plants. She told me to put some honey on the blossoms and it will attract bees, making for more fruit. I don't know if this is accurate or not, but I thought it was interesting considering the interest I have taken in bees.

So, I don't know if there is much I can do to help the bees, but I will try my best to keep my garden blooming well for them....

New idea for my carrots

For some reason my carrots are not thriving in my raised bed (on-ground), so I planted some in planters where I put some nasturtiums. I hope that they are compatible. I feel like I am running out of time this summer to get my carrots going, so I thought I would try this. Also, it didn't help that we had really big hail the other night....it tore apart my lettuce plants and ripped off some branches on my tomatoes. But, the tomatoes seem ok, but my lettuce is hurting. I am going to plant some more lettuce as well.

I am trying not to obsess about the plants that are not doing well...carrots and now my lettuce. My cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers are growing well, so I am concentrating on that. It is easy to get frustrated, but I am new at this.

I will be posting pictures this week....

Peppers are up!

Well, it has been 3 weeks, but my chili peppers and jalapeno peppers have come up. It has also been quite a bit warmer in the last week, so I wondering if that had anything to do with it.

One of the Nasturtium seeds that I planted first is now bursting out of it's peat pot. It says on the seed packet to start the seeds 8-10 weeks before last frost, so I am surprised at how big it is getting already. I wanted to show a picture, but it will have to wait...I can't find my camera.

In addition to a picture of my Nasturtium, I want to take some pictures of our now snow-free front and back yards. Now that the snow is gone, I am more aware of how much work I have to do. I am planning on ordering a big load of topsoil (which I need to do ASAP) and I have a lot of clean-up in the mean time. Leaves, twigs, pond removal etc....

Should be fun, so I am looking forward to the weather warming up again.

Only one came up...*sigh*

So, only one of my nasturtiums has come up (it has now been 12 days)...and none of my peppers. I think I was right, my house has been too cold and I think I planted them a bit too deep. My inexperience is definitely showing. Well...it was a nice warm day today and I turned the thermostat up and I have started some more. Hopefully with more success.

I don't feel too frustrated yet, but the warm sunny weather today probably helped.