Alfalfa Pollination

Here is a neat article on alfalfa pollination by honey bees. The Readers Digest version of the article is.... You need to place 5-10 hives per acre are needed for good pollination.  The reason being is funny. The alfalfa flower bonks the bee in the head to deposit pollen on the bee for pollination.. The bee really does not like being bonked.  So the bee learns in a day that she needs to enter the flower from the side so it does not get bonked. Therefore, lots of new bees are needed every day to pollinate the alfalfa. Here is the link if you really want to nerd out
http://www.tvalfalfaseed.org/resource/files/Honey%20Bee%20Pollination%20of%20Alfalfa.pdf.

Whew....first lamb

The drought was so hard on the ewes.  There were not ready to carry lambs until much later in the year.  We had our first lamb today.  The ewes normally lamb in January / February.

It was great though. The kids and I drove up not too long after she was born.

Researchers: Bee Venom Can Kill the HIV Virus | Yahoo! Health

Bees are such amazing creatures!

Researchers: Bee Venom Can Kill the HIV Virus | Yahoo! Health

Bees use electrical fields as a "sixth sense" to find nectar-rich blooms.

Check out this article about bees using electrical fields to find nectar.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/bees-electrical-sense-nets-nectar/story-e6frgcjx-1226582873519

Stars who like bees profile.

Carol Drinkwater most notably played Helen Herriot on the BBC series All Creatures Great and Small. A series about small town veterinarians in the 1930-40's.  I really enjoyed this series.  In addition to her entertainment career, she also owns an olive farm. 

Carol became a bee advocate after her farm's bees inexplicable died like so many other bees. One could say she's risen to the level of bee advocate.  You can learn more about Carol at her web site CarolDrinkwater.com

New Employee

We got a border collie puppy this fall. Her name is Kate. 

She'll work the sheep on the farm when she gets a bit bigger.  Kate comes from a long line of sheepdog trial champions. The championships include the US National, the Scottish National, and the International. Her great great grandfather was one of those champions.  Here is a video of him running  a trial.