I was watching the Bees gather pollen/nectar from the clover in my yard the other day and thought, all is good. A day or two later it was time to cut the grass, so I get on the riding mower and give the place the once over. The next day I realize there are no Bees in my yard because I have removed their food source, the clover. There are lots of green areas near me, I live close to a school with a large athletic field but they cut the grass often too. I see these programs on TV about how the Bee population is suffering and wonder if such a simple act as mowing one's lawn and removing the clover is having a negative impact on them. I can already answer that question, it has to be yes. It is the same as me going to my local super market and finding the shelves empty. I have decided that I will not cut my grass as often and that I will try alternating between the front and back yards, cutting one one week and the other the next so that the Bees and other pollinators have a chance. I realize I sound like a tree hugger but as much as I like tearing around town in my muscle cars and riding with the top down in my Skylark I also enjoy the bounty that Nature provides. Maybe a simple act like this will help, who knows?
A lot of small streams will make a big river.. If you don't do something, you can't blame others for not doing either.. I'm no three hugger myself, but when I see cars or video's of big trucks, pickups and so on just making a massive stream of black smoke I just get annoyed.. People just don't give a "duck"..
Sooner than later the Diesel crowd is going to get a rude awakening. Spouting wet diesel soot on passers-by is not cool, it is in fact infantile. They will get around to spanking them , I'm sure, after all it is a source of revenue (tickets/fines) . It is too bad such jackarses effect us, this is one of the reasons your government wants to stop all modification of street driven vehicles. I'm no tree hugger either, but a certain respect for others and your environment is common sense. Unfortunately that is lacking in today's society. Jim PS: I have taken to mowing my lawn every two or three weeks , mostly cuz I like to spend most of my free time working on the lark, but i am doing my part.
While the attached article is probably somewhat on the extreme side, I believe we do need to do slightly more than let more clover grow. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/07/climate-change-earth-too-hot-for-humans-annotated.html A word of warning: many many pages to read.
I was happy to see our cherry tree filled with honey bees this year, the last 3 years there were zero honey bees. Its funny because when I am moving the lawn and I see a honey bee on a flower I mow around it and not over it. I do the same for toads, frogs and snakes. My 16 year old son does the same when mowing. Honey bees are cool but I can't stand hornets and wasps..
That black smoke from diesel pickups is known as "rolling coal". I agree it's an idiotic pastime which should be banned. I drive a big rig and the emissions controls on the newest engines are so good, you can almost breath its exhaust fumes.
I make up for the fuel I burn in my GS by driving a Prius as my daily driver. Even though there is no recycle pick up in my my area, I take it to the depot .It is amazing how much waste even 1 person can produce that can be recycled. The earth is just not for us but future generations. Every bit helps. Keep up the good work guys !
I know USA were also hit by the VW diesel gate.. Most of Europe were as well, and when the scandal began, and other manufacturers was tested it turned out that none of the diesel cars were as clean as pronounced.. Here in Denmark the tide has turned, and for a couple of years gasoline cars has been the most sold.. Primarily because of obscure prices on service, egr valve, particle filters, add blue and the Danish government raised the prices way up on owning a diesel car.. Our system is build up on how far the car can go pr liter of fuel.. The longer it goes, the cheaper it is.. The most new mid size cars and smaller, has 3 or 4 cylinder 0.9l to 1.2l with or without turbo pushing ~65 to 150HP and going 18-25km/l .. They cost like a 1/10 of the diesel to own.. It looks like the diesel engines are going away, because of emissions control and expensive devoloment.. Many new cars can only be bought with gasoline engines..
Bees are awesome and the key to our agricultural success. But I have to differ with you on the best honey. Orange Blossom all the way.
I plant native flowers that pollinators love at every location I move to. I remember converting 1/4 of the front yard at one home. Got it established in year three and had pollinators all over the place. Lots of entertainment. We had to move for work and the new owners converted it all back to sterile and barren lawn. That was hard to see.
I don't get the "rolling coal" concept. I like trees,bees,old dogs,children and watermelon wine as much as anyone. I was just chastized the other day by a 30 year old knowitall about my diesel(apparently diesels are evil). I drive a one ton 7.3 crewcab that I have tuned it to 20 MPG at 65mph in a 7500 lb truck. It only smokes when you start it cold in the morning and won't blow any smoke under load. These idiots defeat the whole idea of a diesel by showboating their smog,and have ruined it for the big rigs that actually were trying to tune and raise their efficiency. Now ,we can be the best tuners in the world and still face state and local emissions that eventually get passed onto the public. I know a lot of guys that had their old trucks running smokeless without the slap of big brother. Like everything else,it takes a few to screw it up so everyone else can fall in line. On a good note,I have noticed a lot of bees in the rear yard that I did not brush hog this year. Now,I just have to talk the boss into a few cows instead of mowing the rest.
Have not done any research to confirm, but told by some of my reps at a NAPA meeting. With the newer gasoline burning cars with there emission systems intact, you now can not "kill" yourself by running it in a closed garage. Some areas with large pollutants in the air like China, newer cars will actually expel less emissions than it takes in. In actuality cleaning the air.
There is a lady who keeps bees out on hwy 235 north of Lacrosse and she originally had the hives very close to the road and every time I drove by I'd hit one or two. Made me think how many died with the 500+ vehicles that had to go by every day. She has since moved them back about 100 yards and haven't hit a bee since. Mikey
X2 on converting my yard to cater to pollinators. I have 3-4 hummingbirds who frequent my yard for hours a day, have dozens and dozens of butterflies when their migration trips take them my way, and countless bees of various types. The last couple of years have opened up my eyes to how many types of bees there really are.
A friend told me that certain butterflies lay their eggs on the milkweed plant. Guess what I have a good sized patch of in my back yard now? I always used to cut them down.
That would be the Monarch butterfly. I see a lot of Box Elders on the Milkweed too, black/orange coloring just like the Monarch. Those flowers smell fantastic!, but they are very buggy. I have 13 acres, I mow less than half. The upper/lower fields get mowed occasionally in the summer just to keep it in control. Some areas only get cut once a year to keep the weeds at bay. Have a sizable area with milkweed, there are Monarch butterflies there, but not a huge amount. My biggest problems is keeping the invasives under control....Autumn Olive, Thistle, and especially Stiltgrass....that stuff has taken over the wooded areas and is becoming a problem in the grassy areas too. Wish I could could keep a nice meadow of native grasses, but to keep the invasives under control, I gotta mow. Sure is nice seeing all the critters out in the meadows. Lots of deer, wild turkey (winter), red fox, and even spotted a couple of coyotes a few years ago.
Very nice. Mowing isn’t all that bad, especially if you can time it to avoid the nesting season and caterpillar larvae. Stiltgrass would likely need a herbicide. You can always mow parts of it rather than all at once or maybe a controlled burn?