Neem oil; effective in reducing our mosquito population

Aynaria 7 Comments

Dyna-Grow Neem OilA few days ago, I wrote about the mosquito issue we have. It makes sitting outside unbearable with those pesky critters munching on your skin.

I use a variety of natural remedies to combat the problem; essential oils (citronella, mint, lemongrass), garlic, apple cider vinegar and more recently neem oil. I’ve only started using neem (outside of homemade skin remedies) within the last six years. So it’s my “newest natural remedy” that I use to combat pests.  Since I really wanted to spray a large area, I figured the most economical route would be to use neem oil. I use the Dyna-Gro neem oil. I use about two tablespoons of neem per two gallons of water.

It was my first time using the Stanley Lawn and Garden Steel 2-Gallon Sprayer and I must say it did an excellent job! As I mentioned in an earlier post, the plastic sprayer that I’d been using needed to be replaced. I decided to go with a steel sprayer that should last even longer than my trusty plastic sprayer. I look forward to using my Stanley sprayer (to use natural treatments on our land) for many years.

Early this morning, I sprayed about fifty feet away from our Warre beehive. My daughter and I enjoy watching the bees but with the the rainy weather we’ve been having that hasn’t been an option since it also brought out the mosquitoes in droves. About an hour ago, when my daughter and I went outside to check on the honeybees, we found we didn’t have to swat at the mosquitoes, they flew off to neem free areas.

I’ll be posting my Neem recipe soon

And although I meant to post my neem recipe that I use in the garden and in areas we hang out, I haven’t gotten around to doing that yet. It’s been a busy week/weekend. Our family, from out of town, arrived this past Wednesday for my aunt’s funeral (which happened on Friday.)  It was great catching up with them, preparing meals for them to eat, but it didn’t leave time for much else. No worries, I’ll post the recipe within a few days. The recipe is simple and mine only has three ingredients.

 

  1. Eliminate garden pests with homemade neem garden spray

Adventures in Beekeeping: Queen, worker bee larva, and honey spotted

Aynaria 4 Comments

Early this evening, I went back into the Warre hive to see if I needed to change the top bar feeders.

Much to my surprise, I saw that they were over half full! That really had me curious since I wanted to know what was different this time around. I was feeding them in about the same length of time, but in the last two hive inspections they were almost out of the sugar syrup. Hmm… it seems the honeybees found reliable sources for their nectar? I know one source is our chestnut tree since I’ve seen a lot of them around there and I imagine they are happy with the multitude of pollinating crops on our property too and the surrounding properties/farms also. I doubt that the honeybees are hanging around our mulberry tree, since from my readings it seems they are wind pollinated. It’s nice to see that the honeybees aren’t as dependent on the sugar syrup.

You know what’s even better? I was pleased to see capped worker cells and I even spotted the queen! There she was on the last frame I’d inspected in the top box, surrounded by her workers. I even saw her going to an empty cell to lay an egg!  If you remember, a few days ago,  I mentioned that I hadn’t seen the queen on earlier Warre hive inspections. I “knew” she was in there somewhere based on the clump of activity I was seeing, but I didn’t actually spot her.

Outside the Warre hive I saw a flurry of activity from some ants! With the recent rain the cinnamon deterrent is now gone, time to do some outside maintenance tomorrow.

Naturally, this was the only occasion that I chose NOT to bring my camera! Sighs… oh well, let’s hope there will be other occasions.

If you’re thinking of tasering yourself, dont!

Aynaria 2 Comments

Here’s a humorous post that I saw on Facebook…

Last weekend I saw something at Larry’s Pistol & Pawn Shop that sparked my interest. The occasion was our 15th anniversary and I was looking for a little something extra for my wife Julie. What I came across was a 100,000-volt, pocket/purse- sized taser. The effects of the taser were supposed to be short lived, with no long-term adverse affect on your assailant, allowing her adequate time to retreat to safety….??

WAY TOO COOL!!!

Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home. I loaded two AAA batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button. Nothing! I was disappointed. I learned, however, that if I pushed the button and pressed it against a metal surface at the same time; I’d get the blue arc of electricity darting back and forth between the prongs.

AWESOME!!!

Unfortunately, I have yet to explain to Julie what that burn spot is on the face of her microwave.

Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn’t be all that bad with only two triple-A batteries, right? There I sat in my recliner, my cat Gracie looking on intently (trusting little soul) while I was reading the directions and thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh & blood moving target.
I must admit I thought about zapping Gracie (for a fraction of a second) and thought better of it. She is such a sweet cat. But, if I was going to give this thing to my wife to protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised. Am I wrong?

So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand, and taster in another. The directions said that a one-second burst would shock and disorient your assailant; a two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a major loss of bodily control; a three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water. Any burst longer than three seconds would be wasting the batteries.

All the while I’m looking at this little device measuring about 5″ long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference; pretty cute really and (loaded with two itsy, bitsy triple-A batteries) thinking to myself… ‘no possible way!’ What happened next is almost beyond description, but I’ll do my best….?

I’m sitting there alone, Gracie looking on with her head cocked to one side as to say, ‘don’t do it dipshit,’ reasoning that a one second burst from such a tiny little ‘ol thing couldn’t hurt all that bad. I decided to give myself a one second burst just for heck of it.
I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button, and …

HOLY MOTHER OF !!! . . WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION . . . WHAT THE HELL!!!

I’m pretty sure Jessie Ventura ran in through the side door, picked me up in the recliner, then body slammed us both on the carpet, over and over and over again. I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, with tears in my eyes, body soaking wet, both nipples on fire, testicles nowhere to be found, with my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position, and tingling in my legs? The cat was making meowing sounds I had never heard before, clinging to a picture frame hanging above the fireplace, obviously in an attempt to avoid getting slammed by my body flopping all over the living room.

Note: If you ever feel compelled to ‘mug’ yourself with a taser, one note of caution: there is no such thing as a one second burst when you zap yourself! You will not let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by a violent thrashing about on the floor.. A three second burst would be considered conservative?

IT HURT LIKE HELL!!!

A minute or so later (I can’t be sure, as time was a relative thing at that point), I collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up and surveyed the landscape. My bent reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace. The recliner was upside down and about 8 feet or so from where it originally was. My triceps, right thigh and both nipples were still twitching. My face felt like it had been shot up with Novocain, and my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs. I had no control over the drooling.

Apparently I pooped on myself, but was too numb to know for sure and my sense of smell was gone. I saw a faint smoke cloud above my head which I believe came from my hair. I’m still looking for my nuts and I’m offering a significant reward for their safe return!

P.S… My wife, can’t stop laughing about my experience, loved the gift, and now regularly threatens me with it! If you think education is difficult, try being stupid !!!

Vegan: Sauteed mushrooms with vegetables

Aynaria 10 Comments

Last week I made a big dish of sauteed mushrooms to which I added lentils and vegetables such as broccoli, tomatoes, corn, etc.,

Vegan sauteed mushrooms with veggies
Vegan sauteed mushrooms with veggies

 

I didn’t have time to arrange it on a plate and make it look pretty (before I took the picture.) My daughter was hungry and so I quickly snapped a few shots and served her this dish.

I added a variety of seasonings and I remember cumin was in that mix.  I love cumin. A simple dish that was nutritious and delicious too. I didn’t use a recipe I just tossed things together and I must say, it turned out very well. My daughter liked it so much she had a second helping later that day.

 

Adventures in Beekeeping: Wednesday morning hive inspection

Aynaria 4 Comments

I wasn’t planning on opening the Warre hive hours after I’d already been in there, but this morning around 5:30 a.m., I wound up doing another hive inspection.

Honeybees. Hive inspection.6.12.13_2
Honeybees steadily making comb

 

Why was I back in my Warre hive so soon. Well, I was specifically searching for eggs because I realized on my prior inspections I hadn’t seen any. I did notice that there was something going on at the bottom of the hive, but I really didn’t have a chance to do a thorough search.  That doesn’t mean the eggs aren’t there. I didn’t even open the next box where they’ve already started building comb.

Honeybees. Hive inspection.6.12.13_1
Honeybee Inspection: The honeybees have built a lot of comb in a few days

 

However I did open the observation window, which is in the second box and there was a lot of clustering activity. Part of my reluctance to open the second box is that I don’t want to unintentionally kill honeybees. I’m hoping that doesn’t happen as long as I’m careful.

This weekend, when I feed them, I’ll pull out the second box and check for the queen and eggs.

Click the link, to check out all of my beekeeping adventures.

 

Adventures in Beekeeping: Six days later…

Aynaria 4 Comments

Honeybee checking on the bees_1-001Tomorrow will mark a week that I’ve had my honeybees.

About an hour ago, I checked on them armed with 1:1 sugar water that was put into my top bar feeder. Click on the link to see what it looks like. The mason jars hold 16 oz.

It’s a good thing that I went out there this evening instead of waiting until tomorrow morning, both feeders were empty! I had just refilled the honeybees feeders this past Saturday. The honeybees sure have an appetite!  I had a few guard bees checking me out. One landed on my bee veil to check me out but after I put their sugar water in and replaced everything they went back into their hive.

The best time to go inside the hive is in early morning and evening time since the honeybees are normally inside. When I cracked open the hive around 8:00 p.m., the honeybees were still working.

Since Saturday they’ve filled up the entire first box with comb and are have now moved into the second box. I am impressed. I didn’t stay in there long, the mosquitoes were out and I haven’t properly sprayed the area with neem, and although I and my daughter and I were fine with our natural mosquito repelling body spray, I simply didn’t want to be around that area.

Judging by the way they’re eating the next time I check on them will be Friday. I’ll take the time to take some up/close and personal shots of the honeybees and perhaps look for the queen too.

Click the link, to check out all of my beekeeping adventures.

Knitting: Work in progress; cowl

Aynaria 4 Comments

I haven’t done any knitting or sewing posts in a while, which isn’t too surprising since I’ve been excited about my honeybees. And although the past few weeks this site has been filled with numerous posts about my adventures in beekeeping, I’m still finding the time to be creative.

This past weekend, I finished another knitted hat that’s been added to my ever growing pile of hats that will be given to NICU babies and Cancer patients.

Knitting - knitted cowl_3
Knitting: Work in progress cowl, no pattern I’m just playing with different stitch combinations

 

And a few days ago I moved onto the above knitted cowl. I’m not following a pattern, just playing around with stitches. This is a combination of stockinette and seed stitch. I don’t think you can really see the stitch definition in the above picture.

Of course the knitting is made possible by using my lovely Hiya Hiya Steel Sharp circular knitting needles. The knitting needle size is 3. When it comes to knitting I normally knit with small needles, it’s just my preference.