He hasn't answered. Maybe the kudzu got him.

or maybe he's reading Silent Spring and doesn't have time.

Gee....I just stumbled onto this thread, sorry and thanks DG!
I haven't looked here for a long time, I'm more at home in the Far North Forum, Fruit and Orchard, also Bird watching and Photography.

This is good for you DG!...how far up are your boxes?
There was no activity in my box, no bee swarm either.. LOL, they settled on a tree, that was better, because it was easy to hive them.

I did shoot some ducks, this one I haven't looked yet for a I.D.....can any of you tell what it is?>
Konrad

Hi Konrad! Don't sweat it. I have posted things to forums that were off the usual list for myself as well, and then forgotten to go back for a while. People get to wondering what happened. I try to remember to check the e-mail notification box but sometimes I forget.
I have some bad news. Although things went well for the brood closest to the house, something went terribly awry for the one by the main channel in the creek. I went out a week ago to clean out the shells and when I opened up the box the worst smell hit me and I knew I had troubles. THe hen had died in the box, and there were only a few shells beneath her. I will never know exactly what happened here. THe opening is made smaller to hopefully exclude most coons, and the house is mounted on a slick metal pole high enough (the hole is right about 6 1/2 feet off the ground, with water within three feet of the base) and away from other trees to keep jumpers at bay. BUT when I checked this box a small branch had come down within 5-6 feet of it, and may have provided a leaping point. I still don't know. THe body was decomposed, but generally still intact, the wings still attached and the bones in place. I am thinking a coon would have made a bigger mess, unless it just got the easiest flesh and then went after the eggs. But, the fact that most of the eggs were gone, shell and all, makes me think snake. COuld a large rat snake kill an adult hen that easily? I guess...I don't really know. Maybe that's what happened, a snake got in there and managed to loop around her and overpower her, but then couldn't eat her and instead dined on the eggs. But would a snake eat over a dozen eggs?

A mystery we can't solve I guess.

I would love to have bees...my great grandfather had several hives. THe bad news is that that's the one thing I tend to be allergic to, stings, so I would be playing with fire. I still love finding a bee tree and watching them come and go...fascinating social structure.

Your ducks, by the way, are green-winged teals. I am really horrible with waterfowl. I was thinking wigeon at first when I saw the eye patch, but then I was like, no, the red head is a GWT....had to go get the book out to be sure so I can't say I knew right off.
How do you fix them?

Thank you DG!
That's too bad what happened with your brood! Things like that we always have to be prepared for, hopefully next brood will turn out better!
Sorry, I have no answer.

Thank you so much for I.D my Duck!

>>THe bad news is that that's the one thing I tend to be allergic to, stingsI have a friend in Switzerland and also keeps some hives and he is allergic to stings. As far as I know, he sees the doctor about 3 times a year and gets shots, not sure exactly what it is, but it seems he is doing fine for at least 10 years now.
But still, I think staying away from bees is safer.
Konrad