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animals in your life

Started by billy rubin, April 23, 2020, 01:04:42 AM

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billy rubin

my kids gave me a nest box for leafcutter bees. these are native non-apis hymenopts, family megachilidae, that some people use for pollination. they work well in wet areas for alfalfa pollination where honey bees dont work out so well. an interesting reason for that. alfalfa flowers have a spring-loaded stamen (i think its the stamen. not the anthers)  that whacks the insect on the head to dust it with pollen when the insiect goes in for nectar. honey bees don't like  that, and learn to avoid the stamen, thus avoiding the pollination theat theyre there for. leafcutter bees ar too stupid to learn the technique, and so in wet areas where the stamens are harder to trigger farmers rent leafcutter bees because they trigger the flower every time. in dry areas where the flowers get set off no matter what, they rent honey bees because theyre cheaper, in general.

anyway, leafcutters like tube nests. anything will work-- bamboo, cardboard, drinking straws. if you give them a selection of sizes, they'' pick out what they need.







i put this up on the south side of the warehouse and the leafcutters around the neighborhood found it immediately. the ones with the holes are where the newly metamorphsed bees have already emerged. this is just a curiousity thing. pollination units are shaded trailers with blocks of drilled wood containing tens of thousands to millions of bees. th adults go in and lay eggs in the tubes, stock it up with pollen, then seal the eggs inside. i cant remember whether they have more than one egg in the tube.

techinically these are solitary bees. they only hang out together if hey can find holes.



"I cannot understand the popularity of that kind of music, which is based on repetition. In a civilized society, things don't need to be said more than three times."

Dark Lightning

My wife bought one of those things. I'd have to go look and see if there are any larvae in it.

billy rubin

there were bees on mine today, but i was busy. i'll go look at it tomorrow and see if i can figure out what they are


"I cannot understand the popularity of that kind of music, which is based on repetition. In a civilized society, things don't need to be said more than three times."

Magdalena

That's a very informative post, billy rubin:smilenod:

"I've had several "spiritual" or numinous experiences over the years, but never felt that they were the product of anything but the workings of my own mind in reaction to the universe." ~Recusant

billy rubin

animalz are cool.

my lovely wife just finished a cat tree for the raccoons. they are intensely arboreal and were hoping to keep them off the booksheives

when theyre weaned well see about moving them outside

i have a stinking cat on my chest as i speak

animals


"I cannot understand the popularity of that kind of music, which is based on repetition. In a civilized society, things don't need to be said more than three times."

Dark Lightning

Speaking of stinking animals, our dachshund/beagle mix is really bad about rolling in her and the other dog's shit and then bringing the smell into the house. In contrast, the other dog brings no smells into the house. My wife and I went camping last February, and that dog laid by my wife's side in the dirt, in spite of being encouraged to lay on the mat we had bought. The dirt just didn't seem to stick to her.  8)

I'm intensely allergic to cats, BTW. I was sick for years in this house until all the carpet was removed and hardwood floors were installed. No amount of professional or self- cleaning of the carpet was working.

billy rubin

the possums are cleaner than cats

i was surprised


"I cannot understand the popularity of that kind of music, which is based on repetition. In a civilized society, things don't need to be said more than three times."

Icarus

I have been a dog guy for.......a few eons.  Alas, I am told that pigs are at least as smart and cleaner than dogs.  Anyone with experience of that sort?

Dark Lightning

Our neighbor two doors east has a pot-bellied pig. They say that is is pretty clean. But it weighs well over 200 pounds, and gets rambunctious if not fed on time. I wouldn't want to deal with that. We're not zoned for pigs here. Eventually someone is going to spot it and it'll be gone.

billy rubin

pigs have big, sharp teeth. coons have sharp teeth too, but not so big.

and theyre very social, so long as you're buying breakfast



"I cannot understand the popularity of that kind of music, which is based on repetition. In a civilized society, things don't need to be said more than three times."

Dark Lightning

Our neighbor 2 doors down across the street has been leaving his roll-up garage door open about a foot to let air circulate. A few nights ago a family of six trash pandas got into the dog food container in the garage and were partying down. His son went out to see what was going on, and the smaller raccoons panicked and ran all over the shelves which had cans and boxes and bottles. Stuff was strewn everywhere! He closes the garage door all the way at night, now. :lol:

billy rubin

they are definitely arboreal. theyre death on beehives too

when my wife starts making food they will come running and go right up her leg to her shoulder to watch.

dunno what she ll do when theyre bigget


"I cannot understand the popularity of that kind of music, which is based on repetition. In a civilized society, things don't need to be said more than three times."

Anne D.





Ricky D. He ain't no possum or raccoon, but he breaks my heart with his cuteness daily.

billy rubin

another litter, this time upstairs, only two kittens. we have one in the cellar stairwell already with three.








this whole cat thing just has me shaking my head, but it's an untouchable subject if i want to maintain domestic tranquility. i love cats, but not this many everywhere.




"I cannot understand the popularity of that kind of music, which is based on repetition. In a civilized society, things don't need to be said more than three times."

hermes2015

You are good people. The world would be a better place if there were more like you.  :love:
"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames