Everything environmental and concerning the environment in the Nicola Valley.

Canada, Environment, Merritt, Nicola Valley

Forest Garden – How to Create One

How to Create a Forest Garden

Living with the land

“Provides great nourishment for you and your family”

First, let me tell you what a forest garden is. A forest garden is a very old way of creating a low maintenance system that meets human needs by planting gardens that copy the natural structure of a forest.

Layers of a Forest Garden

There can be as little as three or as many as seven layers to a forest garden. They are quite different than a traditional garden. You don’t have to till the soil or worry about weeds. Depending on space, you can do three main layers of trees, shrub and soil surface or root. With more space you can do a full seven-layer edible forest garden. The layers are;

1 – Canopy Tree Layers (Large fruit and nut trees)

2 – Low tree layer (dwarf fruit trees, dwarf nut trees)

3 – Shrub layer (currants and berries)

4 – Herbaceous layer

5 – Soil surface layer (ground cover crops)

6 – Root layer

7 – Vertical layer (climbers and vines)

Seven layers of a forest garden

Designing your forest garden

When designing a forest garden, you want to understand a few basic principles. They will allow you to plan what you need in the space you have available. Usually forest gardens are comprised of perennial species, thus allowing for less maintenance and more productivity, although you can use some annuals.

Drawing of my forest garden so far.

Other Crops

Depending on what your plans are, you can also plant medicinal plants. These may include eucalyptus, St. Johns Wart, balm and nettles et cetera. Other possible crops you can add would be different types of plants for crafting, like willow, bamboo or building material, firewood or wood to use for smoking meat.

Layers of a Forest Garden explained

Let’s dive into the different layers of a forest garden and what are some examples of the different types of crops you can add to each.

Canopy Tree Layer

The first layer is the tall canopy trees. “When planting full size fruit and nut trees, be sure to plant them with enough space for them to grow. As well, you need to make sure there is enough room for light to come through once they are fully grown. Apple, peach, plum, and some species of nuts are good ones to start with.

Low Tree Layer

The second layer of a forest garden consists of a low layer of trees. This layer can be dwarf fruit trees or some species of nuts that grow lower than full size fruit and nut trees. Apricots, peach, nectarines, hazelnuts and almonds are all naturally small trees. Any would make good choices to add to your garden. Nitrogen-fixing trees are also great for supplying mulch and compost. They grow quickly and can be heavily pruned. You can check at your local garden center to see what dwarf trees they have for your area.

Shrub layer

The shrub layer should have some different shrubs and smaller type plants. Some great examples are blueberries, bamboo, butterfly bush, raspberries, blackberries, currents, gooseberries et cetera.

Put sun-loving plants at the edge of the forest garden where they will receive the most sun. You want to plant mostly perennials, but you can still add some annuals and self-seeding species

shrub layer of a forest garden raspberries and blackberries

Part of my shrub layer with raspberries and blackberries.

Ground Cover Layer

Next is the ground cover layer. You want ground-hugging plants such as strawberries, creeping thyme, phlox, verbena, nostrum and clover. This layer is important for helping to keep the weeds at bay. Culinary herbs, vegetables and cover crops are great for mulch as well.

Vine Layer

The vine layer can be grown up the tall and dwarf trees. This creates a great use of space by using the taller trees as a ready-made trellis. There are a variety of vines that would work great. Kiwi, grapes or hops are just a few. More decorative choices could be English Ivy, wisteria, and honeysuckle. You can also train raspberries and blackberries to grow up although they will need help staying in place. I am also going to try planting some peas and bean vines to see how they will turn out.

The Last Layer is the Root Layer

There are several easy to grow plants that can be used as a root layer. Some of the ones I plan to try out in my forest garden are potatoes, onions, beets, garlic and carrots. I may even try some sweet potatoes and yams.

Benefits of a Forest Garden

There are many wonderful benefits of a forest garden. Not only will it provide great food and nourishment for your family, it can also provide attractants for pollinators and woodland creatures. Once it is more established it can be a wonderful place to go and relax. You are working with the land and not against it. You can yield a wide variety of products with very low maintenance. Helps to keep the land from eroding and also helps with winter run off. There is very little to no greenhouse gases and it promotes biodiversity. Besides all that, it is very pleasing to look at and to wonder your way through.

My Secret Garden

Throughout my years of growing up I have seen a lot of amazing gardens. We used to travel to England almost every summer. They have some of the most amazing and beautiful gardens. Then watching The Secret Garden, I knew that one day I wanted to create one for myself. A forest garden isn’t quite the same in it doesn’t have walls and a locked gate. You don’t really worry about weeds and it’s not in rows. You also don’t have things planted in the same area. It will have a bench and maybe even a swing. It will be my little oasis to get away and relax. The best part is that I can nibble on whatever I please while I am relaxing on the bench.

Space needed to create a Forest Garden

The wonderful thing about creating a forest garden is there is no hard and fast rule on the space needed to do so. You can start one right in your own back yard on a small lot or an even bigger one if you have an acreage. Some have done a forest garden in a 50 square meter area and others in 1000 square meters or more. If you are doing a smaller space just omit some of the taller layers. Use the space you have available to you and plant the layers according to what you can fit in that space.

The Beginning

At first it was just a space where we decided to plant some fruit trees. I didn’t know anything about forest gardens. While researching different ways of gardening, I came across an article on a forest garden. It really intrigued me to see all these different plants working together to create this amazing little ecosystem.

From that moment on it was decided. We were going to create our own little forest garden.

Although I have only just started my forest garden, I am looking forward to watching it grow. Last spring, 2018, I planted three fruit trees, five blueberry bushes, two raspberries, one blackberry and two Saskatoon berry bushes. Unfortunately, I didn’t protect my Saskatoon berry bushes and my goats ate most of them. I have since taken them out to try and save them. In their place, I have planted two rhubarb crowns. I re-potted the Saskatoon berry bushes and have put them in the greenhouse in hopes that they will come back.

The start of my forest garden.

If what I planted last year survived the winter I will plant some ground cover crops and root crop. Strawberries, Jerusalem artichokes and even some herbs will be going in as soon as the weather warms up enough.

Another addition to my forest garden is a drip irrigation system. I have it attached to a timer, so I don’t have to remember to water. Also, if I need to go away for a few days or even a week, I am not worried about my garden drying out.

Kootenay Permaculture

The Forest Garden at Spiral Farm was started in 1993. If produces an abundance of fruits, berries, nuts, medicinal herbs and fiber crops such as willows and bamboos. It is located in the Slocan Valley on a 10 acre farm. Kootenay Permaculture was created to research and provide education in Permaculture and ecological living. It was started in 1991. It is an amazing example of what you can do to create a very productive Forest Garden. If you are interested in taking a Design Course in Permaculture get a hold of Spiral Farms. They have been offering a course annually since 2002.

Pictured below is a 20 year old Forest Garden from Kootenay Permaculture. It is amazing how beautiful it can look over time.

Photo Credit : Kootenay Permaculture.

I have also introduced Mason Bees. I will be releasing them as soon as the weather is cooperating. Check out my blog on Mason Bees here.

My little mason bees emerging a little early.

Over the year I will be updating and doing more photos as the forest garden grows. I hope you will follow along to see how things work out. You can find more of my blogs at Experience Nicola Valley.

More Information

If you are looking for more information about creating your own forest garden, the internet is a great place to start. There are many sites full of information on forest gardens and permaculture.

If you’re in the Nicola Valley, there are couple of great places to purchase supplies. Canadian Tire and Purity Feed both have a great selection of trees and plants.

I also can make garden signs for your garden, walkway or anything you need. You can have a look at my Twisted Turkey Facebook page to see some of my signs and home decor items.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and HAPPY GARDENING.

Feature photo credit to The Green Parent – The Edible Forest Garden. Feel free to check out their article here.

How to Create a Forest Garden

by Michelle Bacon

Canada, Environment, Merritt, Nicola Valley

Mason Bees – Merritt BC Canada

Mason Bees

Pollinate using mason bees

How to keep mason bees

Mason bees are a native species of bee that are fantastic at pollinating our fruit trees and gardens. There is a decline of wild and honey bees due to the use of herbicides and parasitic mites. Mason bees are a great and easy way to restore the productivity of your garden.

What is Pollination?

Pollen transferred from one flower t another is called pollination. Flowers depend on bees to move pollen from one flower to another thus pollinating them. The bees are rewarded with food to survive and to use for inside the chambers of there eggs.

The more bees there are to pollinate the more abundant the crops will be. It’s quite simple really. More bees equal more the more pollen delivered, equals more fertilization, equals more seeds which equals more fruit and larger fruit. It’s a win, win for everyone.

Photo Credit Crownbees

How to tell bees from wasps.

Bees have three body segments, head, thorax and abdomen. The female bee is the only one who can sting. Her abdomen has an oviparous for laying eggs which also serves as a stinger. The male does not have this but has male genitalia instead. Therefore he can not sting. Bees are also covered in tiny little hairs. These hairs are what help the bees to collect and distribute pollen.

Wasps on the other hand only have two body parts, the head and abdomen. They are carnivorous which means they get their protein from meat. They do also look for sugar substances from any source available.

Mason Bee Appearance

Mason Bees look black and like a house fly. But there are a few ways that you can tell them apart from house flies. One way is the antennae. A mason bees’ antennae are segmented. Another way to tell them apart is that a mason bee has little hairs on it’s body where as a house fly is bare of hairs. You also won’t find mason bees on your food or leftovers or anything that is rotting etc. Mason bees you will find on open flowers in your orchard or garden.

You can tell the male mason bees apart from they female mason bees by the little tuft of white hairs on its head and up the antennae. Males are also smaller than females. Male mason bees also have antennae that are longer than their heads while female mason bees have smaller antennae.

Mason bee landed on my finger.

Life of Mason Bees

The mason bees are a solitary bee. Females do not need the aid of a colony to nest ad lay eggs. She finds a nest site and provides everything necessary to ensure the success of her eggs.

Adult mason bees stay in their cocoons over the winter. Once spring arrives, they emerge and have a very busy but short life span of about a month.

Spring time for Mason Bees

Mason Bees are very active once they emerge in the spring. There life consists of mating, producing their offspring and dying. This usually happens anywhere from Feb to May depending on the altitude of where they are living.

Male mason bees will emerge first as they are the last to be layed in the nesting tube. They are so cute with the white hairs on their heads and along their antennae. The males will not stray far from the nest as they wait for the females to emerge.

Once the weather is warm enough, daytime temperatures need to reach 14 degrees Celsius. The females will start to emerge. Male and female mason bees mate as soon as the females emerge. The female then starts looking for a place to lay her eggs and build the nests.

Nest Site

After the female has found a suitable nesting site, she will go looking for pollen and nectar. While she is collecting the pollen and nectar, she is also pollinating the flowers all around. Once she had enough food the female mason bee will go back to her nest. She places the food down, lays and egg on top and closes the segment off with mud. The female mason bee will continue to do this until either she has layed all her eggs or she dies.

Nest Material

Mason Bees nest in tubes and holes or pretty much anything that has a cylinder shape. If you’d like to make a mason bee house of your own there are a few things to consider. First you need to make sure that the tubes you make are at least 5″-6″ in length and 5/16″ in diameter. This ensures that there is a good ratio of male to female eggs layed. If the tube is too short there will be more male mason bees layed.

Mason bee tubes. Made from Plastic. Can be taken apart.

You will want to make sure you place your mason bee house facing east so that it will receive morning sun and get afternoon shade in hotter climates. Ensure that your nest is protected from wind and rain. Very important to make sure there is an area they can get moist clayey mud in a hole in the ground as they need this to close off the sections in their nests and the end of the nest.

In the wild there is a chance for the nest sites to become infected with parasites or destroyed by predators. If we are looking after the nests, we can ensure more bees will survive. By making or buying nest that come apart so they can be cleaned, inspected and kept safe from predators.

Mason Bee House

Once the nests are closed

Inside each chamber the egg will hatch, and the larva or grub will feed on the pollen and nectar ball left by the mother. Once the larva has fully grown, they go into a resting stage. The larva then spins a cocoon and changes into a pupa inside the cocoon. By the end of summer, the pupa’s have evolved into adult mason bees. Warmer temperatures will ensure the adults have developed fully. Cooler temperatures may halt growth and even cause death. But if the summer heat is too hot it can also have detrimental effects on the cocoons.

Keep your nests safe

You can also make sure that your nests are kept safe over the summer before harvesting. Once all the holes have been closed with mud you know it’s time. You can take the block of nests and place them inside a special nesting bag. This bag allows air to flow through but will not allow birds and other predators to get in and destroy the nests. You can move them into a shaded place until it’s time to harvest the cocoons in fall.

Retrieving the cocoons

Female and male mason bees remain in their cocoons over the winter. In the fall you will want to retrieve the cocoons from the nests and go over them for parasites or diseases.

Usually around October it’s time to harvest your mason bee cocoons. How you harvest your nests will depend on which type of nesting materials you used. Carefully take apart, unravel or cut your tubes open. Remove the individual cocoons from the nesting tubes. You can put them aside and wash or discard later.

Now you will inspect the cocoons for any mold, fungus or parasites. Good cocoons are nice rich brown color and look similar to deer droppings lol.

Washing your cocoons

Once you have harvested your cocoons you need to wash them. You can do this by taking a 4 L bucket of lukewarm water. Place a layer of cocoons into the water. Gently roll them in the water to help the mud and other debris to fall off. Let the cocoons sit in the water for 20-30 min. Stir them occasionally to remove dirt and ensure they are well whetted. Good cocoons will float. If any sink to the bottom they are no good and can be set aside.

Mites

You can inspect cocoons for mites. IF there are mites you will want to wash them in a solution of bleach and water. The solution consists of 1 tbsp bleach to 4 L of lukewarm water. Put the effected cocoons into a sieve and lower the sieve and cocoons into the bleach solution. Carefully mix them around to help any mites fall off. After 10 min remove from the bleach solution and put them under warm running water for 5 more min to help rinse of the chlorine. This should have removed any mites or remaining dirt.

Drying your cocoons

Now you are ready to dry your washed, dirt and mite free cocoons. Place a couple layers of paper towel down on the counter. Place your cocoons on the paper towel and cover with more paper towel. After a couple hours you can reinspect your cocoons.

Inspection

Look under your cocoons for any orange spots on the paper towel. If there are less than 10 per square inch you are good to go, and washing them was successful. If there are more than that you need to screen your cocoons to remove the rest of the mites or as many as you can.

Screening your Mason Bee cocoons

The best way to screen for mites is to use a metal window screen or a metal kitchen sieve. Put the cocoons onto the screen and start rolling them around by gently shaking the screen back and forth. You will want to do this in a place where the mites can fall and be easily cleaned up, like over a bathtub. Once you have rolled the mason bees cocoons around on the screen for about 60 seconds you can put them back on replaced paper towel for another hour. Rolling the cocoons around on the metal heats them up a bit and causes the mites to fall off. Now they are ready to be stored and inspected for mason bees or wasps.

Inspecting for wasps

The easiest way to inspect your mason bee cocoons for wasps is to candle them. Take a flash light with a lip, place enough cocoons on the glass plate to cover it. Make sure you are in a dark room. Turn the flashlight on. In the cocoons that contain mason bees you will be able to see the little bee in a fetal position. If the cocoon is transparent then you know the cocoon is questionable. Do not leave the cocoons on the light for more than a min as it can dry out the cocoon and may kill the bee.

Unsure if the cocoon is good?

IF you are not sure when you candle or check over your mason bee cocoons. You can take those and store them in a separate container for the winter. In the spring warm up the cocoons and watch what emerges. If its a mason bee, cool it off in the fridge until the outside temp is warm enough to release. If it is something else that emerges destroy it.

Storing cocoons over winter

There are special coolers that you can purchase to house mason bee cocoons. They have a space for your cocoons and a space for a wet towel to help keep the humidity correct. There are also air holes to make sure they have adequate air circulation. You can also use a cardboard box with paper towel on the bottom to cushion the cocoons. Make sure there are holes in what ever container you decide on. Once you have them snug in their container the best place to store them in in the refrigerator. Manual defrost fridges are more humid than frost free. Therefore, are best for keeping mason bee cocoons. If you have a frost-free fridge keep an eye on your cocoons. Sometimes males will emerge while in the fridge.

If any bees emerge while in the fridge don’t panic. I had some emerge and created a cotton ball with equal parts water and sugar and put it into the container, so the emerged bees had something to eat. Once the weather is warm enough and there is enough food outside you can release them along with the other cocoons.

My little mason bees emerging a little early.

Spring Emergence

The easiest way to tell if it’s time to release your bees is wen the temperature outside is a steady 15 degrees Celsius and there are flowers on your apple tree. If you don’t have apple trees just make sure there are blossoms of some kind close to where you have set up your nesting area. Place the cocoons adjacent to or in the nest site.

Make sure the ground underneath your nesting site is not too wet or has any puddles and the newly emerging bees can fall and will drown. Best way is to release in batches every 4-7 days. This way if the weather turns bad you won’t lose all of your bees.

Bees need full sun and early as possible in the morning. There bodies need to warm to 90 F in order to be able to fly. They like to be out early to avoid the afternoon heat.

Mason Bee from Merritt BC Canada warming up in the sun

Fascinating to watch

Mason bees are so fascinating. They are social bees and are so easy to watch. Make a mud area where you and the family can enjoy watching the females collect mud to wall off each section of their nests. You can also go out early in the morning to check out the bees sitting in the opening of their nests. They really are quite cute. There are nest boxes you can purchase that allow you to watch each stage of the mason bee’s life.

Conclusion

Mason bees are only on species of bee that are so important to our environment. Do your part by not using pesticides. Plant native wild flowers. Grow and harvest your own mason bees. So easy, so fun and so rewarding.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog on Mason bees. Interested in learning more? Please feel free to contact me or check out my other blogs on bees at Experience Nicola Valley

If you would like to purchase some supplies and mason bee cocoons you can check on the internet. If you live in the Merritt or Nicola Valley area you can contact our local supplier Ellen Miller from Miller’s Farm in Lower Nicola. They also put on beekeeping courses and other seminars, including a mason bee seminar.

Photo Credit

Feature image of mason bee on the purple flower taken by Rusty Burlew of Honey Bee Suite. Stop by her website to check out all the great things she has to offer.

Photo of mason bee on the nesting tube covered in pollen courtesy of CrownBees. They also have a wonderful website with lots of great information.

Mason Bees – Merritt BC Canada

by Michelle Bacon

Environment, Merritt, Seniors

Nicola Valley Community Garden

Nicola Valley Community Garden Society

Gardening in the Nicola Valley

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow” Audrey Hepburn

Since 2012 when the Nicola Valley Community Garden Society came about by a group of friends who had a passion for gardening. They have wanted to continue to share that passion with their community.

Nicola Valley Community Garden has since become a place for members to share their expertise year after year with new gardeners and the community. Besides putting on different events and talks throughout the year, members also help each other with day-to-day tending when needed.

gardening community garden bees growing food

Photo Credit – Nicola Valley Community Garden

Most importantly its a place where you can grow a garden with help from other members. Whether you are new to gardening or an expert, young or old there is something for you. A few things they offer;

Plot Support

Compost sharing
Seed sharing
Joint Watering
Garden Mentoring
New to Gardening? They can help you get started.

Although its in a community setting the benefits can be astounding. Being in a community plot allows you to learn as you grow and it also allows you to help others along the way. It really is a win win situation.

First of all a garden is a place where you can slow down and take in the tranquility of your surroundings. Be sure to take a look at the little things while you’re gardening. Enjoy teaching your children how to grow their own nutritious food. Harvesting what you grow is so rewarding. Besides, I think there is nothing quite as soothing as digging in the dirt and nothing quite as rewarding as watching those little seeds come through the earth. As well as growing to become food on our plates.

growing food, community garden, garden plot, vegitables

Photo Credit – Nicola Valley Community Gardens

Few of the Past Functions

Every year the Nicola Valley Community Garden Society hosts a few exciting functions. Below are a few of the past functions held at the gardens.

Past Events

Salsa Fest. Although no longer run, this event was meant to be a community celebration. To share the wonderful produce available in the area or grown by the gardeners. It was a great opportunity to do a bit of fundraising. Fundraising helped ensure the organization and garden was sustainable into the future. The salsa competition was held on Aug 15, 2015. It was an exciting event that hosted 8 competitors and 3 judges. The attendees were also treated to a salsa dance lesson as well as delightful taste experiences. Wouldn’t be fun to have this event again?
Harvest Potluck. Again an older event, this was held on one day in the fall. Gardeners would all share their harvest with fellow members. What a great idea as not every one may want to grow the same things. Being able to share your bounty with others was a great benefit.
Yoga in the Garden. This event was held in the garden over the summer. Becoming a popular peaceful way to spend an hour. The Community Garden is looking at possibly reintroducing this. In order to do this they would need volunteers to help set it up and run it. If your interested contact the Nicola Valley Community Garden Society.

And a couple more past talks

Compost and sq ft garden. There isn’t a lot known about this at the moment. They were talks they held once a month. Different subjects discussed around composting and sq ft. gardening.
Earth ships by Sarah Molnar. Seems like a very interesting talk about combining your living space with your growing space and all the benefits you can rep by doing this.
Adventures in Permaculture with Julia Ghog and Mike Ebenal. While this talk featured three examples of experimental gardening using permaculture principles. The hugelkultur, the herb mound and the no-weed raised garden beds. It would also be interesting to learn other permaculture gardening ideas, for instance forest gardening.

Nicola Valley Community Garden has a number of great events coming up in 2019. Be sure to check out NVCGS on Facebook or follow me at Experience Nicola Valley to read about whats going on past and present.

Photo credit – Nicola Valley Community Garden

Nicola Valley Community Garden’s Mission Statement

Facilitate and cooperate in the development of a sustainable food system for residents of the Nicola Valley.
Support the development of a network of community.
Encourage education in gardening; nutritional well-being and food security.
Engage seniors in the community mentoring of others.

Wondering how can you become involved? Check out a few options below.

Support

Besides becoming an associate member of the NVCGS, which will help show that what they strive to do is important. And as a result this helps them generate funds to keep going. Whether you are gardening or interested in giving talks, there is always a way you can help support them.

Finally it promotes a sense of pride in our Community. As we work towards healthier lifestyles and food sustainability for all.

Upcoming events

In Conclusion here are some upcoming events for March

March 8th – 12-6 pm – NVIT
Table at Food Connection Event
March 19th 6:30-7:30 Earthwalker Spiritual Shop
Caring for House Plants and tropicals guest speaker
March 23rd – 10-4 – Civic Center
Table at Nonprofit fair
March 30th 10-4 Civic Center
1 o’clock talk about benefits of gardening @ Woman’s Fair

Contact

Nicola valley Community Gardens can be found on;

FaceBook
Instagram
email: nicolavalleycommunitygardens@gamil.com
Telephone: Alycia at – 604-833-8761

Nicola Valley Community Garden Society

by Michelle Bacon

Businesses, Environment, Nicola Valley

Bees in the Environment

Bees in the environment

The Future of bees

“Here in the Nicola Valley and all over Canada bees are on the decline.”

There are a number of different species of bees in the environment across Canada. These bees can be divided into two different categories, social and solitary. Social bees share the work of building and taking care of the nest while solitary bees have a very short lifespan in the air consisting of only 2-3 weeks.

There are over 450 species of native bees in BC and over 800 confirmed species of wild native bees in Canada. I am going to share a little info on two of the ones I like and will be adding to or helping on my little homestead.

Bees in the environment Nicola Valley BC Canada

Bees in the environment are so important – Photo credit Michelle Lea’s Photography

Most people already know about honey bees in the environment. I myself am not going to talk to much about them in this blog. I am more interested in a couple of the native species of bees. The mason bee and the bumble bee.

What I was looking for

I live just outside Merritt, BC on a 10 acre farm and enjoy all kinds of wildlife. Not many people take the time to notice the little things like bees.

I always thought if I wanted bees to pollinate my flowers, fruits and vegetables that I would need to get some honey bees and learn how to keep them and produce honey for my family. While I was researching about different bees in the environment and one we know the most about (the honey bees), I came across some information on mason bees. This intrigued me because I didn’t have to do near as much work to keep them.

bee collecting pollen in the environment Merritt BC

Bee with a load of pollen- Photo Michelle Lea’s Photography

Mason Bees

These little creatures are quite amazing. They are a solitary bee but do so much in such a little amount of time they are here.

Life Stages of the Mason Bee

Mason bees go through four stages of life egg, larva, pupa and adult. The first stage of life is spent inside the cell of the nest. The nest looks like a long straw divided into cell’s. Each cell has an egg and food left by the mother.

When the egg hatches the larva will have food inside the cell in which to eat. There is a rapid growth spurt during the larva stage. Once the larva goes into the pupa stage it can lay dormant for eight to nine months as it turns into the adult bee.

Once they emerge from the pupa stage they are ready to feed, mate and repeat the cycle. I am not sure if I have ever seen mason bees around Merritt or the Nicola Valley but, I will soon because I am getting some this spring.

The houses are so neat looking and they seem very easy to keep. The most common types of Mason Bees in the environment in the North West is Osmia Lignaria; Orchard or blue orchard mason bee.

Tips for Keeping Mason Bees

Don’t be afraid of mason bees. Male orchard bees do not have a stinger and they are not aggressive because all the females are fertile so there is no fighting over mates.
Make sure you have enough pollen. If there is not enough the bees will move on to other areas.

Nesting

Nesting boxes. Keep them facing south on the walls of a garden shed, garage or other building. Make food available from with in about 300 ft of the nest.
Mud. Mud is very important for bees in the environment as they use it to block the eggs into individual chambers. You or your little ones can make some mud pies. Keep them moist but not soupy and keep them away from the openings of the nests because the newly emerging bees are weak and you don’t want them falling in.
Nesting material. Nesting material can be drilled out holes in logs (replace each year). You can purchase houses that have tubes in them or you can use pull apart wooden blocks. These can be great because they are easy to clean and sanitize. They are porous allowing moisture to escape

Photo credit Miller’s Farm Merritt BC

Watch your bees

They are fascinating, seeing all the different stages and watching them build their nests. Coming back with pollen. Watch her finish the last mud plug, use a flash light at night and see the bees peaking out of the chambers at you.
Keep your eyes open for predators. When they emerge from their nest birds like to go for the easy meals. They are like sweet little candy to them. You can try to avoid this by putting chicken wire over the tubes so birds can’t pull them out and eat the contents. You can also move them into a shed or garage once the busy season is over.

When to get ready

Get your materials ready for spring. Keep the units in an area that will protect them from the wind and rain. Secure them well and on a bit of an angle outwards so the rain will drain off and keep the tubes from molding. Set nesting material out mid to late March.
Don’t put it out to early or all your progeny could be mostly male. Make sure its on the South facing side as the bees need to warm up to 80 degrees for their wings to function. Exposure to direct sun is very important as they can soak up the sun even it’s only 58-64 degrees.

Harvesting your bees

Remove the tubes when the bee tunnels are all sealed up. You can leave them out until the end of summer but run the risk of loosing them to predators.
Give your cocoons a cool water bath 1/4 cup of bleach added. This will kill any fungus spores. Stir the cocoons for about 2 min and remove with slotted spoon and allow to dry.
Select the best cocoons. Cocoons that sink in the cool water bath are not good. C-shaped cocoons can be a sign of fungal infection. Holes in the cocoon can be a sign of parasitic wasp infestation. Discard all of these.
Refrigerate your cocoons. Store them in the fridge between 30-40 degrees F and about 60-70% humidity. By placing them in a plastic storage container with some small holes for ventilation and a damp sponge you should achieve no problem. Check now and again to make sure the sponge is still damp.
Store this way until the outside temperature is a constant 50 degrees F.
Nests need to be cleaned once all your bees in the environment have emerged. You don’t want to run the risk of pests, mites or fungus growing when the queens start to lay their eggs again.

Releasing your Bees

Place the cocoons near the bee house you have set up. Putting them on top of the tubes inside the house until the bees emerge. This is a good way to protect them.

Attracting bees in the environment

Attract different bees in the environment. Fruit trees, and native flowers with a variety of colors like blue, yellow, purple. Dandelions and clovers are great.

Photo credit Miller’s Farm Merritt, BC

How to make sure they have what they need.

Keep an eye out on which flowers and plants they frequent to learn which ones they like the best. Although they look like house flies you can distinguish them by looking for their antennae. The males you can tell apart from the females by the white hairs on the males’ heads.

Bees in the environment are very important. They are considered the best pollinators and help to grow our crops for food that we eat and feed to our animals. You can help by planting flowers that help the bees.

Bumble bees

Here in the Nicola Valley and all over Canada bumble bees are on the decline. But there are things that we can do to help. Plant a flowering garden with native plants. Use pesticides sparingly or better yet not at all. Look for and use natural ways to get rid of unwanted pests.

Bumble bees are the only truly social native bees. And to my surprise, the only native bee species that make honey.

The main difference between the bumble bee and the European honey bee is that the only one that survives to hibernate through the winter is the fertilized queens. Come spring she will find a new nest that may grow to include dozens of individuals and occasionally a couple hundred.

Bumble bees in the Spring

In the spring the queen will search out a suitable place to make her hive. Usually it will be underground in an old mouse burrow. She will lay around six eggs and when they hatch she will encase the larva in a cell with some food she has created from a mixture of pollen and wax.

Once the larva pupate she creates a cocoon. After a few days the Pupa emerge from the cocoon fully grown worker bees. They are ready to create a colony with their queen. The queen will keep laying eggs and repeating the process until the colony is the size she wants.

Summer

Summer the queen will start laying eggs that are intended to become worker bees and queens for next year. Once they hatch and become adults the worker bees will leave the nest in search of young queens to mate with.

The young bumble bee queens however will continue to live and work in the colony through the rest of summer and fall.

Fall

Once fall hits the young fertilized bumblebee queens will find a safe place to hibernate for the winter. Only these fertilized queens will survive for the winter.

Some interesting facts; Bumblebee’s don’t have a barbed stinger so they can sting a number of times. Male bumblebees don’t have a stinger at all.

Future of Bees

We can play our part in helping bees in the environment. The future of bees depends on what we do. Plant flowers, stop using pesticides that will kill them and make some places around your homes that will be inviting and safe for them to nest and reproduce.

There are so many species of bees in the environment, research and find a species that you can connect with. Do what you can to help that species. Above all, have fun. They are quite fascinating to study and watch.

How can you find out More?

There is a Bumble bee watch group where you can record and report when you have seen a bumble bee. The group is Friends of the Earth The Bee Cause. There is also a chart so you can identify the type of bumble bee you have seen. This will be very helpful with statistics and keep records of how many of the different species of bees in the environment there are.

Here is another way you can find out more information on bees. Ellen Miller from Miller’s Farm in Lower Nicola, BC is wonderful and so helpful. They hold a number of different bee keeping workshops. You can also purchase bee supplies and bees from Miller’s Farm when available. They will be reopening March 13, 2019

“We are having a free seminar on all types of bees, attracting them to your yard,on Sat April 27 from 1-2:30 pm. Also on May 4 from 1-2:30 we have a free seminar on honey bees for kids age 8 and up. Must be accompanied by a parent.. Our 6 week bee keeping course starts on Feb 19th and is $240.” Ellen Miller

Keep your eyes open for my upcoming blog from Miller’s Farm on the bee seminars and bee keeping course

In the mean time, I would love to hear what types of bees interest you, comment below. What are you doing to help the bees in the environment? You can also follow us on Experience Nicola Valley.

Bees in the environment

by Michelle Bacon

Adventures (Summer), Camping, Environment, Four Season Adventures, Merritt, Nicola Valley, People, Youth

Growing up in Merritt, BC

Why I love growing up in Merritt

“…I never had any friends later on like the ones I did when I was twelve..”Richard Dreyfuss spoke these words in the final scene of my favorite movie “Stand by Me” . For me this quote reflects my growing up in Merritt with my friends. While we may have never searched for a dead body, we did have some memorable adventures. Whether it be getting my two friends and I lost on a mountain and picking ticks out of our hair on the way down, or floating down the Nicola River in dollar store rafts, my group of friends and I did it all.

Being raised in Merritt, My playground was the outdoors. Everything was in walking distance, and even if it wasn’t, we would still walk 2.5 hours in the scorching 40-degree weather to find a new cliff to descend into the river. Summers were spent playing on the river, or trying our best to leave early to get the ‘perfect’ spot under the shady tree at Monck Park beach. Dirt biking up to the lookout point up Promotory , and geocaching in Lower Nicola.

Hunting season in the Nicola Valley

As the leaves changed colours, so did our interests. I had completed my hunting core that past April. All I wanted for my birthday was to do an overnight hunting trip with my dad. On one brisk September’s day my father and I set out for our overnighter. We set up our camp under an old fir tree, 15 minutes outside of Merritt.

After we finished setting up, with a few hours of daylight left, we started down the rough terrain below us. Although we never shot anything, we did come across a small group of mule deer heading towards the timber. About 15 minutes after we had spotted a beautiful large black bear. We sat and watched the bear in admiration for quite some time. When we got back to camp, I sat underneath the fir tree with a breathtaking view of the Nicola Valley. I relaxed as my father prepared supper. The trip is one I will never forget.

Wintertime in Merritt

When snow starts falling in the Nicola Valley and winter approaches, Doug’s once green lawn turns into an ice rink. If you don’t have skates to wear, he supplies them without charge. Sledding and snowshoeing in the Nicola valley are a thing my family and I have always enjoyed and now it is our family tradition,

it’s not a successful sledding trip if you’re not leaving without a black eye (at least in my family anyway!) .

The lights when I come into Merritt always put a smile on my face; the streetlights are always so beautifully decorated that you just can’t help feeling that Christmas spirit. Of course, my most favorite thing about living in Merritt at Christmas time is the parade. It’s usually me, my mother and brother’s tradition to go every year to the Christmas Parade. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. No matter how old I get, I will still get that feeling of pure joy when I see the ‘Frosty the Snowman’ Norgaard truck float, and even at the end when Santa appears.

I really couldn’t wish for a better place to grow up in. I know that when I get older and leave for school, a part of me will always be here in Merritt. There are so many memories and adventures built here and I’m so proud and grateful to be able to explore The Nicola Valley and call it my hometown. The mountains and lakes have so much to offer that I hope that in the future more kids grow up and have a similar childhood to mine growing up in a small town.

by Jordyn Lee

Adventures (Summer), Canada, Environment, Four Season Adventures, Merritt, Nicola Valley

Bird Watching in Canada

Bird watching in Canada is a favorite past time for thousands of people all over the world. It is no different right here in Merritt and the Nicola Valley. I Love birdwatching in Canada, and the Nicola Valley too. I do go out on occasion with some of our local Pros, like the great people at Nicola Valley Naturalists. When I do take that time, I am always amazed at the knowledge and at what they can spot and see! These nature and bird experts are amazing!

Doing what I Love. Nature and Nikon

I just happened to be doing what I love, which is being outdoors and exploring and this happened! It is like a gift! This is the real deal bird watching in Canada!

I was sitting in my “Palace” my new to me, travel trailer (that I love BTW) and just outside on the lakeshore was this beautiful yellow, black and yellow bird! Camera time! I grab my Nikon and go sit in a chair close by waiting for the return! And “HE” did! This time with a baby! The baby bird started to sweetly hop around, first on the branches of the berry tree, and then onto the ground and rocks just below! All fuzzy and cute as a baby bird can be, I start snapping away!

Bird watching in Canada is very rewarding

The little one was looking at me, looking around, waiting for daddy. Sure enough daddy comes back with some food! mushed up berries. Baby waits. Daddy hops to the ground and as you can see in the picture, this is what I saw! Isn’t this amazing?

Bird watching in Canada Western Tanager

Anticipating for the right moments to take pictures, I was once again rewarded! Look who scurries over to see what is going on! The cutest chipmunk! He sits calmly on the rock, back turned to the baby bird as if to say “I know your there but I don’t care!” Baby bird stating right back at him also seeming to say, “I know your there and I don’t care either.” Then they looked at each other. Both caught in a stare. They both sat still for a moment both as calm as could be.

The Western Tanager

Thanks to All About Birds I was able to learn more about the Western Tanager and so many other species. All the information you will ever need for Bird watching in Canada. Here are some cool facts and other information I learned about this bird.

A Male has an orange-red head, brilliant yellow body, and coal-black wings, back and tail. Females and younger ones are similar to the males but have somewhat of a dimmer yellow-green and black. These birds live in open woods all over the West, particularly among evergreens, where they often stay hidden in the canopy. Nevertheless, they’re a quintessential woodland denizen in summertime, where they fill the woods with their short, burry song and low, chuckling call notes.

Cool Facts

While most red birds owe their redness to a variety of plant pigments known as carotenoids, the Western Tanager gets it’s scarlet head feathers from a rare pigment called rhodoxanthin. Unable to make this substance in their own bodies, Western Tanagers probably obtain it from insects in their diet.

This species ranges farther north than any other tanager, breeding northward to a latitude of 60 degrees—into Canada’s Northwest Territories. In the chilly northernmost reaches of their breeding range, Western Tanagers may spend as little as two months before migrating south.

Male Western Tanagers sometimes perform an antic, eye-catching display, apparently a courtship ritual, in which they tumble past a female, their showy plumage flashing yellow and black.

Around the turn of the twentieth century, Western Tanagers were thought to pose a significant threat to commercial fruit crops. One observer wrote that in 1896, “the damage done to cherries in one orchard was so great that the sales of the fruit which was left did not balance the bills paid out for poison and ammunition.” Today, it is illegal to shoot native birds and Western Tanagers are safer than they were a century ago.

The oldest Western Tanager on record—a male originally banded in Nevada in 1965—had lived at least 6 years and 11 months by the time he was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in Oregon in 1971.

Bird watching in Canada photographs

It was fantastic! I know I had a big smile on my face as I sat and watched these three, and I knew I was capturing a great photos. Here is additional images I captured that afternoon. Hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Birdwatching in Canada Western Tanager in Merritt BC Canada

Local Naturalist and Bird watching

I have been able to spend enlightening times with our local experts at Nicola Valley Naturalists. They have wonderful friendly experts, and some great programs for everyone. They started a new one this year called Merritt Nature Kids! How cool is that?

A major objective of Nicola Naturalist Society is to provide education and information on the wild organisms and ecosystems of the BC interior. Especially those that are found in the Nicola Valley area. They have regular meetings at the theatre at NVIT. (Nicola Valley Institue of Technology), and have all kinds of great field events like amphibian monitoring and the Christmas bird count. They can count me in for that one this year.

You don’t have to be a birder to participate in the count. Join one of the best and historic bird watching in Canada events, just go. Bring a camera and binoculars and share with us what you see.

Happy Bird watching in Canada and the rest of the world too!

by Julie Pollard