California State Bird?

O.K., I know that the official state bird of California is really the California Quail, but I've heard it said, only half jokingly, that the real state "bird" should be the termite.

If you live anywhere in Southern California, you pretty much expect to have termite damage, but it's really shocking just how much damage these little bugs can do in a short period of time.  We recently noticed that the outside framing around one of the kitchen windows had pulled out from the wall of the house; when we investigated, we discovered that termites had been at work on it.  Those windows are less than ten years old, but the framing around one of them was riddled with termite damage.

Termites At Work

Getting that damage repaired of course led to those fatal words, "Well, as long as we're doing this, why don't we...."  (ka'ching, ka'ching, ka'ching....).  In this case, it was, "as long as we're having this trim replaced and painted, why don't we go ahead and have the rest of the exterior painted, too?"  

Anyway, when the carpenter pulled the window framing out to replace it, I was stunned to see how extensive the damage was; one whole piece of the frame was so hollow that only the paint seemed to be maintaining the shape of the frame.  

We're glad we had it done, but we know more of them are undoubtedly still at work.  

Water For Bees

Shortly after somebody moved into a house across the canyon from us, we noticed a rectangular reddish box sitting on top of what looks like a carport or covered patio.

Red Boxes?--Beehives!

A neighbor, who apparently owns a pretty powerful pair of binoculars, told us that there were several  boxes and that they were beehives.  That explained the phenomenon we had been seeing of numerous honey bees clustered around the edge of our bird bath, apparently drinking the water and, unfortunately, frequently drowning in the water.

Bees In The Water

It had never occurred to me that honeybees would drink water, but apparently they use water to cool the hive on hot days, and to thin honey to feed to larva.  A strong hive can use up to a quart of water on a hot day.

Bees are extremely important pollinators, so we're glad to know they're in the area and hope that the hives do well, although it's distressing to us to find so many of them in the birdbath, which is not really shallow enough for them to get water safely.

Aside from having to fish dead bees out of the water, their presence seems to be discouraging the birds from using the birdbath, so I may have to construct something that will make it easier for the bees to get water without drowning.  One ingenious idea from City Boy Hens is a "landing platform" for them that floats on top of water in a bucket:  http://cityboyhens.com/2014/05/01/making-a-water-source-for-your-honeybees/.

If they keep coming, I may have to try this.

Citrus Leaf Miner

A friend of mine asked Cindy recently if she could identify the bug that was damaging the leaves of her citrus plants.  The insect turned out to be the Citrus Leaf Miner, which leaves distinctive trails across the surface of the leaves as it sucks moisture out of the leaves.

Citrus Leaf Miner Damage

As I was passing our own citrus plants in the pots on the driveway, I noticed that those leaves also showed the same trails.

The larvae of these insects feed by creating tunnels inside the leaves of citrus trees, which create the delicate lines on the leaves.  The larvae then pupate in the curled edge of the leaf.

Because the larvae are tunneling inside the leaves, there's not much that can be done to control them, but the good news is that the damage they cause is usually not sufficient to kill the tree.

Curled Leaf

Maybe we should get the deer back to "prune" the citrus trees again.  http://plantagarden-itllgrowonyou.blogspot.com/2013/01/yes-deer.html.

WTF or What The... Flax???

With California in a prolonged drought, most of us are looking for ways to cut down on our water usage.

This is usually a good thing, but some of our neighbors seem to be taking it to extremes.

Newly Planted New Zealand Flax

The next-door neighbors dug the grass out of their parking area recently.   That's all right with us, we did the same thing years ago because those areas are very difficult to water.

However, they decided to plant three New Zealand Flax plants in that area.  They look nice....for now.  The problem is that they will probably grow...and grow...and grow and eventually overwhelm the sidewalk.  The New Zealand Flax plants across the street are about six feet tall and correspondingly broad now, so unless these plants are a dwarf variety, they will probably eventually be the same.

Mature Flax Plant

That's the trouble with those cute little plants you buy a the nursery; they don't always stay that way.