As Dave and I walked out to the orchard this morning to begin the annual pruning of the trees, a familiar sound stopped us in our tracks. The boisterous buzzing resonated from the towering tops of the Silver Maple trees that loom over our orchard. 
Now, that mysterious buzzing might have been unnerving to any one else but Dave and I knew where those bees came from. They were our neighbors honey bees and they were busy pollinating the buds of our giant Silver Maple trees.

Silver Maple Buds

Pollination is transfer of pollen from the male part of the flower to the female part of the flower.   For example, while gathering pollen from the flower of a Honey Crisp apple tree, the pollen gets stuck all over the Honeybees hairy body. That bee goes back to the hive and rubs up next to another bee who has just visited a Red Delicious apple tree. The different pollen's mix together and the bees take that pollen to the next tree they visit.  
Here are some crops that are pollinated by bees:
Isn't cross pollination magical?        

                        
                                                   
We were delighted when Mike and Cassie shared with us that they were exploring the world of bee keeping.  At our farm we have 17 apple trees, 2 pear trees, 2 cherry and a new peach tree. All of these trees start with fragrant flowers in the spring.  Without the pollination help of bees, the flowers would bloom and then wither and drop without ever having a chance to become an apple or pear or a cherry or a peach.
Unfortunately, honey bees get a bad rap. People tend to lump them in with all the other flying 'bee like' insects such as wasps, bald faced hornets, yellow jackets and mud daubers. 

Honeybees have three jobs.  The worker bee, the drone and the queen bee. Unlike wasps, Honeybees build hives of wax and only swarm when they are reproducing. Eventually, the queen bees leave their hive with some bees but leave others behind to choose a new queen. The new queen is fed a special diet by the workers which will make her fertile. The other females are fed diets that cause them to become sterile. Worker bees are sterile females. Their heads are black and their bodies are golden brown and black with patches of orange. There are yellow bands on their abdomens and the wings are clear. Drones are males without stingers who eventually die. 


Yellow jackets are sometimes mistakenly called "bees" because they are similar in size and appearance and both sting, but yellow jackets are actually wasps.
Wasps are considered pests. Wasps seem to become really annoying and at some times dangerous, from August until it gets cold. 
Have you ever had a wasp try to get in your soda cup or sneak a taste of your food? 
We sell apples, pears and apple cider at our small town farmers market during the summer and wasps get very annoying during apple/pear season. They often times sit themselves between the pieces of fruit and sting when someone unknowingly reaches in for the best looking apple in the basket. People are most often get stung in late summer because wasp colonies stop breeding new workers.  The existing workers search for sugary foods and are more likely to come into contact with humans. Wasp nests are made ANYWHERE and in ANYTHING. My worse encounter with wasps came last summer when I stupidly grabbed a pot from out of my greenhouse without looking. The lip of the pot had an active nest and boy were they mad! Ouch!!!!

 Stings are painful rather than dangerous, but in rare cases people may suffer life-threatening anaphylactic shock. 

Yellow jackets, especially the females, are extremely aggressive and will sting repeatedly. Unlike honeybees, their stingers are not barbed and stay attached to their abdomens despite repeated use. Their venom is more potent than honey bee venom and their stings are very painful. DO NOT swing at yellow jackets as they are easily provoked.

Bumblebees have black heads with dark wings. A black band runs across the thorax and the abdomen is all yellow with black on the very tip. Bumblebees are large. They have workers, drones and a queen. In the winter, all Bumblebees die except for the queen.
I can remember unknowingly stepping on bumble bees with my bare feet when I was young. They would be buzzing in and around the clover in the grass minding their own business and along I would come with my bare feet and step right on them. Ouch!



Bald Faced Hornets are related to Yellow Jackets. These hornets are black and white. They prey on flies and yellow jackets. Bald Faced Hornets are extremely aggressive and will sting repeatedly. Their football shaped hives are made of gray paper with a hole on the bottom. They build their nests in trees. 






Mud Daubers are wasps that build their nests with mud. Organ-pipe mud daubers build their very distinctive and elegant tubes on vertical or horizontal faces of walls, cliffs, bridges, overhangs and shelter caves or other structures.


  Mud daubers are not normally aggressive, but can become belligerent when threatened. Stings are uncommon.

Treatment for minor reactions

1. Remove the stinger as soon as you can, as it takes only seconds for all of the venom to enter your body. Get the stinger out any way you can, such as with your fingernails or a tweezer.
2. Wash the sting area with soap and water.
3. Apply cold compresses or ice to relieve pain and ease swelling.

I will leave you with this amazing video that I took when my neighbors bees were swarming. As you will see, I stood in the middle of the swarm but no harm came to me. It was an incredible experience for me.

Bees swarming

"Kindness is the sunshine in which virtue grows"

This school year we have put an emphasis on showing our students the importance of kindness in their lives. Defining it, modeling it and giving students opportunities to experience that positive feeling of doing something nice for someone else has become an integral part of our curriculum.
On a recent internet search I came across this video.
Animals Advocates
After watching the video, I am reminded that kindness is far reaching .  It is a byproduct of the "good light" within us. But kindness... needs to be taught and then nurtured and then exercised.
Children, though inherently sweet and wonderful, need to be given opportunities to show kindness toward others and experience the appreciation that comes from it.
Kindness for children comes early. It starts with teaching babies not to pull the kitties tail or how to give those wet sloppy kisses to show love. We teach toddlers to give hugs and to say please and thank you. We teach preschoolers not to pick the pretty flowers or to hang on the branches of trees.
It makes sense that school would be the next logical step in a child's journey to learning how to live a kind and gentle life.
At Jefferson, we work diligently each school year to engage our students in several community service projects as well as many simple acts of kindness. Last month, the second and third graders worked together as a team to put together 65 soup bags to be donated to local food pantries.

This past week the students of Jefferson sent off four hundred "water cycle" bracelets to Doyle/Ryder Elementary School in Flint, Michigan as a show of solidarity and support for the water crisis they are enduring. The learning from this project was large. Students connected the parts of the wondrous water cycle,  kept up with current events, analyzed a neighboring city and state.

 discussed where our water comes from and how water treatment facilities  keep water clean. All this with a culminating project of kindness, fun and friendship.

Kindness, for my students includes keeping our courtyard bird feeders full during the winter. They understand that the birds depend on us for food during the winter months.  Making sure that a weekly cob of corn is placed on the courtyard squirrel feeder keeps our furry friends energetic enough to entertain us outside our classroom window everyday. If you have a backyard bird feeder, be kind and keep it filled during the cold days of winter. Your kindness will be returned to you with every beautiful bird that visits your feeder.

Children are very receptive to getting and giving kindness. They are empathetic by nature and take making a sad person happy again very seriously.  When it comes to teaching kindness, my second graders make my job easy.               Always remember...                  
Your simple act of kindness can make a tremendous impact on someones life.

Look Up! 

This beautiful eagle was flying high in the sky over Fort Atkinson  today...

There is more to the dropping of those beautiful leaves in the fall than just a crunchy pile of fun to jump into. The yearly ritual of a trees winter dormancy allows us to see all of the activity that has been going on all spring and summer long within their branches. 

From the building of nests in the spring to the egg laying and hatching during the summer, these trees are home to many a living creature. 

Here are a few nests that I found on a recent walk through my yard. These nests and their occupants were hidden so well by summers greenery that no one knew they were here. 

Through all of the family Sing Alongs, the lawn tractor under the branches, people in the swimming pool or on the trampoline or on the swing set or during all of my quiet coffee drinking mornings...I never knew that all of this building and laying and hatching and feeding was going on all around us.

squirrel nest

                                                           

Nests come in all sizes and are made of different types of natural building materials depending on the type of bird. Eagles add new material to their nests each year.The outside of the nest is made out of large sticks. The inside of the nest is made of dead grass or other soft materials. The area where the eggs are laid is lined with feathers.
A great place to get a front row seat to the laying, hatching and nurturing of a nesting pair of eagles is right here:  www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

Here is a really cool "colony" of nests that I spotted not far from my house while taking a drive on a recent Sunday morning.

We think they may belong to Egrets or Herons. Egrets are colonial nesters,  building stick nests high in trees that are isolated from predators like raccoons. Herons gather in colonies or “heronries” to build stick nests high off the ground. Most Herons and Egrets migrate to some extent. They usually go southward.  

They leave mid-September to late October and then return to their breeding grounds by February or March. 

The nests are quite a site from the road. A ride along Hwy. 26 between Fort Atkinson and Milton will get you a good view. I can't wait to go back to these nests in the spring and see what has taken up residency in them.

Colonies of nests

Egret

Blue Heron

What about Wisconsin's winter birds?

Black-capped chickadees have a wickedly wonderful assortment of adaptations for the winter. Carefully hidden food items, dense winter coats, selected winter roosting cavities and the ability to go into nightly hypothermia all increase the Chickadees chances of survival.

The chickadee’s ability to go into hypothermia enables it to actually lower its body temperature, in a controlled manner, similar to a bear who hibernates or fish who overwinters at the lakes bottom.  This allows the bird or animal to conserve its energy.

Some species grow additional feathers as the temperatures drop, which thickens their insulation. Some birds use the practice of feather fluffing, where they puff out their down feathers to create air pockets, which gives a bird better insulation and traps body heat.

Song birds such as cardinals, blue jays and finches retreat to dense vegetation or into evergreens that stay full all winter. This is a good ecological reason for you to include evergreens in your bird-friendly backyard.

All I know is whatever keeps these birds in Wisconsin through the stinging months of winter is a blessing to us all.  Their presence in a place where most living things have retired to burrows or heated homes to wait for warmer days, is a reminder of the gifts that our mother Earth provides for us everyday.

This past weekend I said goodbye to my beautiful garden. The unrelenting wave of October frost swept over it leaving budding pepper plants wilted and spaghetti squash leaves dried up and brown. 
So now the lingering wait begins. That forever span of time between the first frost and first plant getting put into the soil the following spring. In recent years, the introduction of cold frames and hoop houses have extended Wisconsin's growing season by a few months but I often imagine what it would be like to eat fresh garden fruits and vegetables year round. 
While I was in California this past summer, I watched miles of produce, fruit trees, grape vines and fresh food markets roll by my car window. I began to wonder about states like California, that enjoy warmer climates. How many months of the year do the people in those states enjoy fresh garden produce? How long is the normal growing season there? Here's what I found out.
California has a unique growing climate and can grow many different types of vegetable crops throughout the year. The state is so immense and the climate so diverse that it experiences 16 growing zones.  Crops are classified as warm season or cool season crops, which is really similar to Wisconsin.    So....the "cool weather crops" that are grown in California in October, November and December such as lettuce,  cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, root crops such as carrots, beets, parsnips, turnips, radishes, leafy crops (mustard, bok choy,chard, arugula, lettuce, spinach and cool-season legumes are the same  "cool weather crops" grown in Wisconsin in March, April and May.  
California has 76,400 farms and ranches that produce nearly half of US-grown fruits, nuts and vegetables. California produces more than 400 crops. Of those crops, these are produced only in California: almonds, artichokes, dates, figs, raisins, kiwifruit, olives, clingstone peaches, pistachios, dried plums, pomegranates, sweet rice, ladino clover seed, and walnuts.

California's top-ten valued commodities for 2014 are:

• Milk — $9.4 billion
• Almonds — $5.9 billion
• Grapes — $5.2 billion
• Cattle, Calves — $3.7 billion
• Strawberries — $2.5 billion

• Lettuce — $2 billion
• Walnuts — $1.8 billion
• Tomatoes — $1.6 billion
• Pistachios — $1.6 billion
• Hay — $1.3 billion

                                            


Here is Wisconsin's top ten agricultural commodities:

Dairy products – Known as “America’s Dairyland,” Wisconsin ranks No. 1 in the U.S. for cheese production and No. 2 for milk. In 2012, Wisconsin dairy cows produced 27.2 billion pounds of milk.

Corn – Corn is grown in Wisconsin both for grain and silage for livestock feed. In 2012, the state’s farmers harvested 399 million bushels for grain and 14.2 million tons of silage.

Cattle & calves – In 2012, cash receipts from marketing cattle and calves totaled $1.319 billion. Wisconsin ranks No. 13 in the nation for gross income generated from cattle and calves produced.

Soybeans – Soybeans generated $981 million in cash receipts in 2012. The state’s farmers harvested more than 70 million bushels of this versatile crop, with an average yield of 42 bushels per acre.

Potatoes – Wisconsin ranks No. 3 for potato production. In 2012, Wisconsin farmers harvested 64,500 acres of potatoes, with an average yield of 460 hundredweight (cwt) per acre.

Greenhouse/nursery – In 2011, the greenhouse and nursery industry generated $247.7 million in cash receipts. Christmas trees, a large segment of the industry, represented $14.3 million of that total.

Cranberries – Wisconsin ranks No. 1 for cranberry production. During the 2012 season, the state’s growers harvested a record-high 19,700 acres of cranberries and 4.8 million bushels of the fruit.

Wheat – Before becoming famous for its dairy production, Wisconsin was known as “America’s breadbasket.” Wheat farmers harvested 245,000 acres of wheat in 2012.

Hogs – Wisconsin producers raised 320,000 swine in 2012. The industry generated $134.39 million in cash receipts in 2012, ranking the state No. 17 for gross income from hogs produced.

Broilers – Wisconsin produced 51.7 million broilers in 2012 for a farm-gate value of $108.55 million. The state ranks No. 20 in the nation for value of broiler production.

The winter months in California are October through March.  Winter in California brings rain and in the mountains brings snow. The rainy season runs from November through March. Any time it's raining at lower elevations it's usually snowing at upper ones. 

Did you know that parts of California even experience frost? I didn't. Check out the chart below.

City	Last Frost Date	First Frost Date
Anaheim	No Frost	No Frost
Bakersfield	1/25	12/11
Chula Vista	No Frost	No Frost
Fontana	2/12	11/28
Freemont	No Frost	No Frost
Fresno	2/28	11/17
Glendale	1/21	12/23
Huntington Beach	No Frost	No Frost
Irvine	No Frost	No Frost
Long Beach	No Frost	No Frost
Los Angeles	No Frost	No Frost
Modesto	2/27	11/19
Moreno Valley	1/26	12/15
Oakland	No Frost	No Frost
Oxnard	No Frost	No Frost
Riverside	1/19	12/21
Sacramento	1/31	12/4
San Bernardino	1/21	12/24
San Diego	No Frost	No Frost
San Francisco	No Frost	No Frost
San Jose	2/17	12/2
Santa Ana	No Frost	No Frost
Santa Clarita	No Frost	No Frost
Stockton	2/26	11/18

What about the grapes?

The California grape season begins in late spring when the first grapes are harvested in the California’s southernmost growing region. By mid-July, the southern season has ended and harvest moves north to the San Joaquin Valley. Through late fall, the harvest of fresh grapes from California continues.

Sequential harvesting from south to north combined with advanced storage techniques means that California grapes are available from May to January.

I'll leave you with this video of beautiful Yosemite Park in the winter. I am NOT a lover of winter but if I had to pick a place to spend time watching the snow fall.....I would pick the peaceful confines of Yosemite National Park.