How to Remove Bees from a Wall

...ipment are ready: hammer, crowbar, smoker, bee suits, gloves, knife, sugar water, spray bottle, box and frames, rubber bands, burlap and matches. Suit up Bees are usually pretty mellow to work with but cutouts are an exception. After all, you are breaking and entering their home. This hive was small and not defensive at all, but I’ve done large cutouts where the situation was much more intense. For cutouts I like to use head to tail bee suits like...

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A Day of the Dead Altar

...good to have them at the table. I have a small silver pitcher holding rain water. It is traditional to have refreshment for visiting spirits. It also represents the element of water. And along the lines of refreshments, I also have a bottle of good Scotch up there, of which most of my ancestors would highly approve. It also brings a bit of the Celtic into the mix. A small felt Doberman, a toy portrait of our late, much beloved dog, Spike. Ofrendas...

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Anagallis monellii : A New Favorite

...uited to the California climate, and it follows that it does not need much water. It is perennial in zones 9 to 11 (that’s us), but can be grown as an annual elsewhere. If you see Anagallis monellii without blooms, it is not much to look at. It’s a rangy, low-slung plant with uninteresting foliage. What it excels at is blooming. I believe it comes in a few colors, but “Blue Pimpernel” makes 1″ flowers in a rich gentian blue with magenta eyes, and...

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Defeating Squirrels With Tech

...te between squirrels and birds and then deliver a carefully aimed blast of water at just the squirrels. It’s worth viewing in its entirety just to hear how Grandis resolves the image recognition question, “What is squirrelness?” If you’re impatient you can fast forward to the 16 minute mark for the video. Spoiler alert: it works, at first, and then the squirrels quickly learn to ignore the blasts of water. It leaves me wondering if a scary clown s...

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Use Your Microwave as Dough Proofing Box

...t a microwave you’ve got a proofing box. Just heat a mason jar filled with water for a few minutes and stick your dough in for both the bulk fermentation and proofing. If you don’t have a microwave you could heat some water on a stove and put it and your dough in a cooler. If you want to get really fancy you could use a seed propagation heating mat in a cooler. I don’t have a mat so I’ve been using the microwave and it works great. There are reaso...

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