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Bees Prepare for Winter

As the autumn colors begin to emerge and the temperatures start to drop, many animals begin their preparations for the winter ahead. Each type of animal has its own strategy for surviving the cold winter months-bears hibernate, some birds fly south, and squirrels and chipmunks begin storing nuts and seeds for the long days ahead. Insects are no different; many hibernate in various developmental stages, but few are active all winter long.

That's where honey bees are different. Note that...

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Extreme Gardens - An Occasional Series

I have had occasion to write elsewhere about the two gardening extremes, which I refer to as BF and SF. BF stands for brute force, and refers to a garden that achieves its goals by the application of much labor and many resources. SF stands for survival of the fittest, where the garden is established with varying degrees of design and intention, and then allowed to go its own way. Most of our gardens fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum, but this past summer, I was lucky enough to vi...

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We Are a Monarch Waystation

Yes, we are! A "Monarch Waystation" that is. After researching about the Monarch Waystation program, I discovered that we already had a designated ID #, which means we have been a waystation for quite some time. We are station #194 on the www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/ monarch map. Annually we have seen the monarch and her eggs and the caterpillar on our milkweed plants.

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