Daily Archives: October 1, 2011
I am on the ferry to Salt Spring Island. It is a nice trip. And relaxing. First a coffee, maybe a late..
I am really looking forward to tasting pieces of apple pie with different variety of apples. Where else can you do that! Last time I was at the festival, there were 6 varieties of apple pie to choose from . This time there are likely going to be more varieties to choose from for tasting. But before apple pie tasting, the community hall has to be set up with the more than 300 apple varieties. I will have a table for setting up Quicklock trays and mason bee houses, and another table for “show and tell”. I will be doing a washing demo and show people how easy it is.
I have not harvested my cocoons yet, but when I opened one for a photo op, I noticed the beginning of moisture condensing onto trays. My trays are stored outside and under cover to keep them dry. But under fall conditions, when moisture content in the air is high and temperatures go down, any water vapour in the air that is inside nesting tunnels condenses onto trays. This happens each fall, when there is lots of moisture in the air and temperatures start to drop. |Under these conditions, molds start growing onto the surfaces of cocoons. |These molds do not harm the bees that are inside each cocoon, but moldy cocoons are a little more messy to clean.
For easier harvesting and cleaning, harvest cocoons before we get too far into the wet fall, this mold growth can be prevented. If you find mold present wash cocoons in a 0.5% bleach bath.
In other words, harvest your cocoons as soon as you can.
