April 21st, 2015: Bee Waterer

Did you feed the cat?
Yes, Mom.
Did you walk the dog?
Yes, Mom.
Did you water the bees?
Yes, uh, what?

That's glorious!

I had no idea. I like it.

There have been a couple big fat bumblebees hovering in the same general spot by the side of my house when I get home in the late afternoon over the last several days. I can't figure out why. I don't see any blossoms near there, and I don't think they are carpenter bees looking for a place to chew into my house.

There is a porch roof with dark asphalt shingles pointed directly at the sun that's low in the sky. Maybe it's warm there and they like that.

And interestingly enough, I watched (and video recorded) two birds mating on a branch in the maple tree right there too. They were also building a nest in our covered gutters at the edge of that roof. There was a one inch gap at the end of the gutters they were using to get in there. I got the ladder out and pulled about a basketball sized clump of nesting material out of the gutter before I closed that gap with hardware cloth. Birds are cool, but the gutters have a job to do and they can't do it when they are stuffed with straw. I hope they build a nest somewhere else before those eggs are ready to be laid. What's the gestation period for a bird to form an egg? They had sex on Friday.

I'm allergic to bees/wasps/hornets. I ain't doing nothing to keep 'em around my house.

Stay thirsty, my friends.

I have multiple water dishes around for my bees, plus a small water feature/pond with a solar fountain for aeration. I put water hyacinth in the pond for them to rest on.

Marsha Blaker-DeSomma received her Masters Degree in both ceramics and glass and attended Pilchuck Glass School as a scholarship student and as a staff member. Paul DeSomma, on the other hand, is a glass artist who specializes in figurative work. Paul first blew glass in New York City in 1983, and spent the next 15 years working and studying in studios in Seattle, Washington and Murano, Italy.