Mason Bee/Leaf cutter

Leaf cutter bee with crab spider
Leaf cutter bee with crab spider

I am thinking of making a Mason Bee box. Not so much to attract mason bees although I think that would be cool too but I have seen many leaf cutter bee nests. I thought they were mason bees but now I see there is a difference. They apparently use the same kind of box. While they damage leaves the custom made boxes actually cut down on the damage from the bees because they don’t need to cut as many leaves to make their nest. Also they won’t attack your vehicle or other machinery if they have a proper house. In addition they will pollinate your plants and hopefully produce more fruit. I have only seen two honey bees since the season started and I suspect that is why my squash is suffering. It’s too late in the season I think for the leaf cutter and mason bees but I would like to get ready for next year. Here is a link that talks about all about them.

Here is another good link

EZ Flo & SUPERthrive

Finally hooked up my EZFlo garden feeder today. I was a bit worried about hooking up fertilizer to this thing because I wasn’t sure I would know how to set the mixture. Plus I have a mixture of plant types so how to know! I have seen this superthrive thing in the store for a couple years now claiming all kinds of miracles and that you can put it on any plants. It says it’s not a fertilizer but is to be used along with the fertilizer that you normally used giving the plant vitamins and hormones. Not real sure what is in it but I thought it might be a good thing to test the feeder with. The product says that it’s been around since 1940. Not sure if that is particularly a good thing but the graphics looks like they haven’t changed since 1940. My guess is by not changing the graphic style they are implying longevity of product standing up to all the new fly by night companies that are now. Standing the test of time and all that stuff. When I smelled it it just smells like vitamin B which I know people put on plants for some reason. I just read a review on Amazon that claims it’s hocus pocus. Funny the choice of words because the graphics gave me that feeling like it was from the medicine man show of that time period. Oh well it gave me a chance to try out my feeder and see if it actually worked.