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OLIGUACOMOLE
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Posts: 122
Registered: 4-16-2009
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All bees and no birds...
I wanted to pass this along for those who live in the Baja outback. For the past couple of years we have a bee(honey) problem. The bees are not
seeking food they are seeking water. Depending on the amount of rainfall the bees start to show in late May looking for water. They can invade water
sources like showers, toilets, homes and where there is a scent of water.
Not much can be done to prevent them(bees) from coming once the bee dance is communicated to the hive. Poison only kills a few and they keep coming.
Sometimes it can be funny if a woman comes from the outdoor toilet and says "BEES"! I say ok, I understand, we have a inside toilet. Relief washes the
face of the person needing the pot! Who wants to sit on a pot-o-bees?
What I do to solve the bee problem is to create a watering hole for the bees. Take a five gallon bucket and fill it with water. Take a chunk of
styrofoam and float it on top. Place it away from your structure in some shade. It will take a few days and the bees will start to go to this spot.
Now you might need to check daily and fill with water. The styrofoam will allow bees that fall into the water to climb out and dry off. If there isn't
a place for them to get out some will drown and stink the water. Soon after a few days nearly all the bees will go to this spot. If bees start showing
in your structure it means you are out of water in the bucket----GO FILL IT.
It is hard to beat the bees, so live with them and give them a little water. When the rains come STOP filling the bucket and they will find natural
water as long as it is available at other locations.
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shari
Select Nomad
Posts: 13049
Registered: 3-10-2006
Location: bahia asuncion, baja sur
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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sometimes when we go camping and the first bee shows up, we immediately put a bowl of sugar water away from our camp so the bees go there instead in
our camp....works pretty well...but as Olivia says, you have to do it before the bee dance takes place....
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Mulegena
Super Nomad
Posts: 2412
Registered: 11-7-2006
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This is brilliant, Mark. Practical and compassionate and eco-friendly.
Now here's a fun story about your place:
It wasn't bees that surprised me on my last visit. Give you two guesses .... .... Wrong!
Ok. After swimming in your gorgeous bay and enjoying popcorn and a few colas while playing billiards, the girls and I needed to visit your restrooms
which are located outside. As we approached your outdoor ladies' facilities I heard sound inside and stood back waiting the lady to exit. Low and
behold, and low on the edge of the door thrust a furry paw, pulled the door open, then out pranced your shepherd dog. She had been getting herself a
tall drink of water!
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nancywinpdx
Junior Nomad
Posts: 32
Registered: 7-24-2009
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eeeeeewwwww! I don't want any doggie kisses!!!
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OLIGUACOMOLE
Nomad
Posts: 122
Registered: 4-16-2009
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Mulegena
This is brilliant, Mark. Practical and compassionate and eco-friendly.
Now here's a fun story about your place:
It wasn't bees that surprised me on my last visit. Give you two guesses .... .... Wrong!
Ok. After swimming in your gorgeous bay and enjoying popcorn and a few colas while playing billiards, the girls and I needed to visit your restrooms
which are located outside. As we approached your outdoor ladies' facilities I heard sound inside and stood back waiting the lady to exit. Low and
behold, and low on the edge of the door thrust a furry paw, pulled the door open, then out pranced your shepherd dog. She had been getting herself a
tall drink of water! |
Yeah....ever notice how a dog would rather drink out of a toilet than their bowl? Tells ya something.
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bajabound2005
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2762
Registered: 10-15-2005
Location: Punta Banda, BCN
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Mood: words cannot describe...
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we have an inside bowl of water and an "outside bowl of water" for the dogs....they love drinking from the outside bowl. I don't get it. Same water!
Friends don't let friends drink white zinfandel.
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Crusoe
Senior Nomad
Posts: 731
Registered: 10-14-2006
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Ok.....Wev'e dealt with the bee's.... Now can anyone reveal any secret tricks to deal with the fly's. Thanx mucho. ++C++
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Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
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Worldwide, bees are facing a major catastrophy. Colonies are dying. Without bees, we humans will be in big trouble, inasmuch as crops will fail to
produce. Anything we can do to assist bees, as uncomfortable as it may seem, is really in our own best interests.
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LisaR.
Nomad
Posts: 121
Registered: 6-3-2009
Location: Chapala, Jalisco
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Bajahowodd, you are so right. I loved OLIGUACAMOLE's suggestion for that very reason. We need bees!
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Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
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OLIGUACOMOLE
Nomad
Posts: 122
Registered: 4-16-2009
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Flies
Last year a friend of mine introduced me to a fly trap. His name is Steve....lives in Coyote on the hill.
He had this fly trap made by RESCUE sold at Home Depot for 6 bucks. He showed me how many flies it had caught.
Fill it with water and this trap will catch flies by the thousands. The flies keep dying and it seems flies love dead flies! Each trap holds over 20m
dead flies.
I used to be this guy running around the restaurant with a swatter killing flies, also spraying chemicals. Not anymore, these traps are amazing and
well worth the money. Keep them filled with water and the flies keep coming.
They have a bit of a stink, so put them by the garbage or by Munoz's home! You will be amazed.
google: Rescue Fly Trap
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Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
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Kill as many flies as possible. They are nowhere nearly as useful as bees. Cultivate and conserve the bees.
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BajaNuts
Super Nomad
Posts: 1085
Registered: 5-11-2008
Location: eastern WA, the DRY side
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Mood: no worry, no hurry....it's all good!
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I've used the Rescue fly traps, and also the Rescue yellowjacket traps and they are effective.
Baldfaced hornets- (they love fruit)- 2L pop bottle, poke a couple "x" holes in the top with a knife, bend the tabs in to form a one-way entry
situation, apple juice to about 1/3 full. Throw out when full of hornets.
For the bees in the bucket, would a piece of wire mesh (I'm thinking window screen or similar) hanging into the water help the critters get down to
the water level with better traction than the sides of the bucket? Or even a board or stick that they can land on, and walk down to the water. Or
does the styrofoam work for landing and crawling out?
My dad used to have a couple hives and we used to play "chicken" with the other kids in the neighborhood to see who could stand in front of the hive
the longest. I usually won. 
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Osprey
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
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It's hard to know just how to help the bees. When the big fruit/nut companies in California rent about 1/2 the bees in the U.S., they are trucked in
from all over. The truckers try very hard to make the runs without stopping -- if and when they do have to stop on the highway, uncountable numbers of
bees leave the hives/truck to unburden themselves (to be polite) and not many make it back to the hives. So, along with colony collapse there is a big
pit-stop loss each flower season.
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Cypress
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7641
Registered: 3-12-2006
Location: on the bayou
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Mood: undecided
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Spraying crops with insecticides probable kills more bees than anything.
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larryC
Super Nomad
Posts: 1499
Registered: 8-11-2008
Location: BoLA
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I have been useing the bucket method for a few years now and I found that a rag draped over the edge of the bucket and into the water allowed the bees
to get out of the water pretty well, and they seemed to have a easier time getting a drink off the damp rag. Once you get the bees useing your bucket,
you can move the bucket 15 or 20 feet everyday farther away from your house and pretty soon you are almost bee free. I found I had to add water about
ever other day.
Larry
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Mulegena
Super Nomad
Posts: 2412
Registered: 11-7-2006
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Bats in the Bellfry?
Does anyone keep a bathouse or two on their property?
Up north I have two hanging under the north-face eve of my house. I've had upwards of 300 Mexican Brown Bats living there half the year. In the
winter they fly south.
Their guano makes great fertilizer. High in nitrogen.
1 Tablespoon guano/ 1 gallon water for the concentrate.
Dilute the concentrate 1 cup/ 1 gallon water
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Bob and Susan
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8813
Registered: 8-20-2003
Location: Mulege BCS on the BAY
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bees dont like clorine
you probably dont clorinate (treat) your water
ive seen the same thing here where people just use the delivered water and dont treat it
you should actually find out where your water is comming from
clorinate (treat) your pila and your bee problem disappears
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OLIGUACOMOLE
Nomad
Posts: 122
Registered: 4-16-2009
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Bob and Susan
bees dont like clorine
you probably dont clorinate (treat) your water
ive seen the same thing here where people just use the delivered water and dont treat it
you should actually find out where your water is comming from
clorinate (treat) your pila and your bee problem disappears |
Clorinate every time ...especially in the summer. My bees are willing to try anything!
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larryC
Super Nomad
Posts: 1499
Registered: 8-11-2008
Location: BoLA
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Chlorination doesn't slow my bees down either, but sure helps to keep the moss out of the dogs constant waterer
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