It’s that time of the year again, when killing machines are on the prowl……
Next month the oval I’m parked next to will be getting poisoned with a herbicide to kill broadleaf plants growing there. Trying to find further information on the product selected isn’t easy. Sure, plenty of manufacturers information, but no comprehensive independent information is easily found.
Bow and Arrow– gotta love the names chosen for these products – NOT!
That list makes sense to an agricultural chemist, perhaps, but not to me. Don’t get it in your eyes though, or there could be long term damage.
Mind you I shouldn’t be surprised at the lack of information. Agrichemical companies are a law unto themselves. Plus BigPharma. Often one and the same. How do you feel about the company supplying you with medication, also supplying farmers with toxic chemicals?
Needless to say, I’ll be leaving that area for a time. For the sake of my health, and for my animals also. Hopefully the kangaroos who come to graze there won’t be affected, nor the local magpies who eat the grubs that live in the soil there. But who really cares?
One should pay attention to even the smallest crawling creature for these too may have a valuable lesson to teach us. Black Elk
On our first walk in the new location, early one morning, we came across this insect crossing the road. Fred was interested in it also. Wish I knew what they said to each other.
Today was sunny mostly, and so I was able to have sufficient spare power from the solar panels, to run the computer and download some photos .
We’ve been taking it quietly most of the time, although Fred has made friends with a dog who lives here also. Brody plays with a frisbee and today Fred decided he’d learn to play with it. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks! Sorry, didn’t have the camera with me, but will try to get some next time. He was so proud of his new trick!
Tonight I was talking with a friend, who is a hobbyist beekeeper south of here in a slightly higher rainfall zone. This year, for the first time, he’s had to provide supplementary food to his bees. Yes, it’s been a dry season, but there have been plenty of gum blossoms and other flowering plants for them to feast on.
Plenty of flowers so what’s the problem? A lack of nectar in the flowers is the issue.
Another thing he’s noticed, is that instead of the gums flowering in succession, all the different ones are flowering at the same time.
The bottle-brush (above) are common street trees, and the local bees have had a great time with them, so I need to ask local apiarist if I can find one, what they have noticed.
I have noticed bees on the ground, in small numbers, and didn’t know if they’d been affected by chemicals or some other issue. Perhaps they simply were starving…..
We humans need bees. It’s a simple fact that without bees we wouldn’t have any food security. There is much we still have to learn about bees. My friend has stories about his bees, and how they know if a visitor to the property is ill – they refuse to allow them in!
Gretchen Wheen donated her estate to establish the Wheen Bee Foundation, with the aim of supporting and developing research, innovation, training and communication to ensure a viable beekeeping industry to protect our food supply.
Nor does it stop there. So far I’ve been talking about the European honeybee, but Australia has its own native bees. There are actually more than 1600 native bees across Australia, which is ten times as many species as there are mammal species!
When I had my own garden, I had the blue banded native bee visiting, and it was joyous to see them in the garden enjoying the flowers I’d planted for them. Do visit Sophie’s page so you can see this delightful insect.
Eremophila's Musings 