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Trap hives set, pheromones a fly

Catch a spring swarm generally the only way to increase your Japanese honey bee colonies . Hive splitting, requeening are just something you just really won’t hear Japanese beeks talking about.

For the past four years I have been using the yellow margin orchid which releases 3-Hydroxyoctanoic acid to signal Japanese honey bees.  I honestly have know idea why it does this, or what benefits the orchid gets and getting the orchid to flower when I want it to is always a major headache. With my painkillers running low I have decided to purchase artificial  traps this year and see how they work.

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Canada goldenrod

Once this invasive species flowers it marks the end of the honey harvest. Bees, flies and other nectar gathering insects love this plant, probably due to the fact that there are virtually no other flowers around this time and this thing propagates like wildfire and can be seen everywhere. It would be nice if it’s nectar yielded mouthwatering honey but sadly it doesn’t, it just doesn’t.

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Leaf hunting second try

After my last leaf hunting trip I decided to give it one more chance and take another trip off island to see if I could get some better results.

At least I now know for sure that I really don’t like taking pictures of the autumn colours. Hiking through them, viewing them I love, but as the photos just don’t do them justice (well my photos don’t) it just seems like a waste of time.

Next year I’ll still continue to take photos but in reality I’d rather spend the time going on a longer hike.

I did encounter a nice udon shop which only serves 20 meals per day and I did find a few more things for my garden 🙂 so the trip was worth while.

大野ダム 「もみじ祭り」2012-11-18 Ohno dam Autumn festival.

 

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Leaf hunting

紅葉狩り Momijigari To go to in search of autumn leaves.

紅葉 Momiji Red leaves

狩り Kari to hunt

I have said before autumn is undoubtedly my most favorite time of the year in Japan.  However I find taking photos of the Autumn colours totally boring with the photos all ended up looking the same. Maybe I need to go on a photo-walk with someone with new eyes so I can see the difference.

神戸市立森林植物園　http://www.kobe-park.or.jp/shinrin/

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Sugi koke, Hair cap moss

My hair moss really took off this  summer. Needed to water it twice a day and now with Septembers “every day has rain” policy it’s really looking good.

杉苔（すぎこけ）