Natural Beekeeping/Gardening: Culling pests

Since I enjoy insects so much, especially honeybees, It’s only natural that I’m also thinking about the comfort of my daughter and myself, as I work on my honeybees brand-new home. We love to watch them!

In my last post about my Adventures in Beekeeping, Q of Curls & Q asked…

curls and q says:
June 6, 2013 at 12:24 pm

Do mosquitoes bother bees?
curls and q recently posted..Fiber Sandwich

Mosquitoes don’t seem to bother the honeybees. In fact, I see one or two resting on the outside of the beehive (glowers)  but I can’t say the same thing about us! Additionally ticks are rampant in the area where the Warre hive is which means it’s not really smart to hang out there for long… not if you don’t want to have one of those suckers on your body.

Once we came back from Richardson’s Farm we had a tiny wagon load of plants. The plants I’m using are effective, I’ve used them in our garden for years as “natural pest repellents”. We have about an acre of organic garden on our property. The pests are controlled by using pest repelling plants (mint, lavender, citronella, garlic, etc.) and other natural remedies.

It took about two hours to break up the ground enough so that the flowers and herbs could be planted. The reason is simple, that part of our land has a lot of clay and rocks. It was a serious workout just to make the earth soft. Admittedly, this type of soil doesn’t make it the easiest setting for a flower garden but it’s doable. You just need patience.

More Landscaping and Before and after photos

Tomorrow, part of the area where we’d be hanging will receive a lot of attention from me to make it less tick & mosquito friendly. For starters, I’ll be tilling the ground and then I’ll lay down a carpet of red cedar chips (which is a mosquito and tick repellent). Honeybees don’t seem to mind red cedar. There are many beekeepers that have hives made of red cedar wood. Red cedar is very durable, and supposedly hives made with the wood don’t have to be waterproofed with paint.

The area that’s getting a “landscape makeover” is far enough away from the honeybees that they won’t be agitated by us checking them out. Although I’d love to put a grill back there, I think I won’t since I’m concerned that the potential smoke that could drift in their area might make them think that their hive is on fire.

This summer, I’m seriously thinking about building my own man-made koi pond. When I finally decide to do this, it’ll be located about 500 yards away from our  “bee sanctuary.” I’ve always wanted one, and if I’m going to install it somewhere, I think that location will be a great spot, further back is level ground and it doesn’t have as much clay/rocks. My only concern are the feral cats in our small community.

I’ll be sure to post before and after shots of the area.