Sunday, May 30, 2010

Bloom time, 2010

Sadly, we don't yet have a functional webcam for watching the bees. Mike says it's a problem with the internet server; Rosie is looking into changing servers.
Meanwhile, I'm on break from teaching biology at the College of Western Idaho, so we are taking a day to visit Corbett to see how the bees are doing. Rosie says it's been cold and rainy since the bees started to emerge. We hope they are still alive!
Jim Cane visited the Sturms a few weeks ago and set up a shelter with about 1,000 additional bees from his collection. I look forward to seeing them as well. He says there were lots of small carpenter bees, genus Ceratina, foraging on the weeds at that time (before raspberry bloom). I hope to see them today as well.
John and I drove up to Mosier, OR last night and spent the night at the Mosier House Bed and Breakfast. We recommend it if anyone reading this is planning a visit to the Columbia Gorge. Thanks to Cindy, our hostess, for a wonderful breakfast, and for keeping such a beautiful B & B.

Next... Bloom at the Sturms'.