Strapping Bee Hives

...aring open a beehive, but I’ve read where the strapping has helped save hives. Read the rest of his post here. John Zapf, our digital design podcast guest, came over to help me re-stabilize my own hives and they seem to have recovered (thank you John!). I need to make more substantial and termite proof stands in addition to strapping them. And in the comparison between Langstroth vs. top-bar hives, you can add tipsiness to the list of problems wit...

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Bees Like Mochi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0IPv74oEQE This viral video proves two things: 1. Bees like sugar. 2. Foraging bees aren’t likely to sting. And I love the way this street vendor keeps on working. If this were the US, there’d be a major freak out, the fire and health departments would be called and an exterminator would show up to spray poison. If you keep calm and carry on you get your mochi and the bees get a free lunch. Thanks to Winnetka Farm...

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The Elf and Ethics

...nd against this type of transportation. On the one hand it uses far fewer resources than an automobile. But one could also argue, as does the owner of a bike shop in this video, that we’d all be better off with a far simpler and less expensive bicycle. I can see both sides of the argument. Perhaps younger folks should take to bicycles and older people or those with disabilities or heavy cargo could use something like an Elf. Plus the Elf would be...

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When It Rains in LA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m4hryJ4Nag I post this for the benefit of those of you who don’t live in Los Angeles. It reminds me of a junior high memory. I went to one of those schools built in the 1950s with a broad bank of windows on the side of each classroom. During an English class it started to rain. The entire class spontaneously got up and ran to the window. The teacher, a transplant from New England was, at first, confused and then s...

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The Austrian Scythe is the New Weed Whacker

...iodically “peened” (the term for using a hammer to smooth out nicks). Scythes come in European and American styles. The European configuration is ergonomic and the American style is clunky and uncomfortable to use. There’s also several different blades for weeding and harvesting and, like a bicycle, it’s crucial that your scythe fit your height. Scythe use is intellectual for me since years worth of mulching, a dry climate and a very small yard me...

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