h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"Last week, I warned you that this week's issue would be even weirder than last week's."

You really know how to pique my curiosity.

Dmitri, I really have to be dragged not-kicking and not-screaming to read the Post. It's hard work on your part, and slothfulness on mine, because I have to be dragged, etc., etc. but there's a silver lining. No wait, that's just lint. Sorry.

"Get out for a walk, weather permitting, and see what's going on in your vicinity. If you don't, you might miss all the bunnies, like the one that's running around my backyard lately."

I think the bunny has come to my yard, where he/she/they has Dogwood twigs to nibble now, and mulberry leaves later in the season.

There's a spray you can buy. Hie thee to the nearest hardware store and get some of that deer-and-rabbit repellent. Let them eat grass and walnuts.

I already have some, Dmitri. It's pricy, though. I usually use a mix of garlic powder, chili powder, dishwashing liquid, and water

I've heard of that. Does it work?

Ir works quite well, unless the plants you put it on don't do well as a result.

Or unless you're planning to eat them.

Um, I think the idea is to make the leaves taste so foul that no would want to eat them. I only use it on flowers.

Probably wise.

I just hope the bees haven't been scared away.

Yeah, you want to keep those.

Every year, I notice that a few bees become very lethargic. They stay in one position on one flower (usually a coneflower).

http://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/stories/9-honeybee-friendly-plants
http://fafard.com/terrific-flowers-for-honey-bees/

I love to open my front door on a morning in late Spring and see dozens of bees on the flowers in my lawn.

This reminds me of an elderly lady who used to call up and talk to my parents. She was kind of eccentric, and usually began in mid-spate.

One spring day, she called my mother. 'Have you got any bees in your yard?' she demanded.

My mom was taken aback. 'I haven't looked lately.'

'Well, I only have ONE BEE. One single bee!'

This same lady called my mom up later in the summer, saying she 'wished she had some fresh zucchini'. My mom packed up a bagful and sent my dad over. My dad came back, disgusted.

'I asked Mrs B why she didn't plant any zucchini this year,' he reported. 'She said, 'Oh, no, I planted a lot of it. But it's all in the freezer, and I wanted some fresh ones....''

If the lady's zucchini plants produced a lot of squashes, chances are there were plenty of squash bees in her yard. Of course, bumblebees and honeybees will also pollinate squash blossoms.
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/pollinator-of-the-month/squash_bees.shtml

I once ghost-wrote an entire book on bees as a language reader - and I did not know about these squash bees. The one called Xenoglossa is just terrific. Thanks!

If they were solitary, that might explain Mrs B's confusion.

Many bees are specialists. As the nonspecialist honeybees go into decline, some orchard owners have been trying to build up populations of the Mason Bees
http://thehoneybeeconservancy.org/mason-bees/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason_bee

A caution, though: Mason bees from the West coast might not acclimatize well to the Midwest or East Coast, even if they belong to the same species.

There are lots of different kinds of bees in my yard.

To be more exact, there *will be* many kinds of bees. Right now, the snow is covering it up

Yeah, I heard you had more coming. We just got a dusting last night.

You're welcome to all the snow we can't use.