A Backyard Beehive To Pollinate your fruit trees and veg garden sounds like “the bees knees.”
It could get even better if you had a caretaker to look after the hive.
Gordon Cyr, a hive specialist from Black Creek has come forward with an amazing offer to set up a Mason bee nest on your property. With the loss of so many honey bee colonies on Vancouver Island gardeners despair over fruit trees and plants that fail to produce crops.
In order to turn blossoms into fruit they need to be pollinated. Gordon has the solution for this dilemma.
If you agree to his installing a bee house on your property you must sign an agreement and pay $10 to cover his costs.
He will monitor the site to assure no predators such as birds or squirrels disturb the nest.
Once the bees have pollinated the garden and completed laying larvae in late May or early June, he will remove the nest boxes until the following spring.
Gordon is in the business of selling cocooned larvae to various markets. You benefit by having your garden blooms pollinated.
He made a presentation to a recent meeting at our C.R. Garden Club. It sounds like a great plan and I know many readers will be interested.
To contact the bee keeper email info@masonbeecentral. Once you establish an agreement with Gordon you can choose to have the service continue on an annual basis.
We’re Crowing About The Chicken Vote City Council were receptive to Agriculture Support Group’s presentation on a bylaw revision for backyard hens.
This resulted in a unanimous vote by mayor and councillors recommending that the submission be forwarded to the newly established Environment & Planning Commission for its review and support.
It then returns to council for final processing. Council members have made great steps in the ongoing process of greening the city.
We’re cautiously optimistic that they will fully support this urgently needed initiative.
The Salad Revival Trick Take a wilted vegetable (no head lettuce) and cover with warm water. Let soak for at least five minutes. Then drain and dry. Place in fridge and let cool until veg becomes crisp. (Thanks for the idea which we found in the Quadra Island Cookery II).
Freezing Lemons Really Works So many readers have commented on this useful kitchen idea…slicing fresh lemons and storing them in the freezer.
They are then wonderfully convenient for serving in a tall drink or tucked in with a shrimp dish. Now what this is leading to is that my search of the web has discovered another fantastic way to use a whole lemon, no need to peel.
It is so simple… just place the washed lemon in the freezer. Once it is frozen, get out your grater and shred the lemon. Sprinkle it on salads, ice cream, noodles, sauces, fish dishes, sushi…the list is endless.
All your foods will have an unexpectedly sparkling taste!
