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Orchard mason bees are not honeybees but a small, modest, hard-working, solitary little bee native to the New World. They mind their own business and do a whale of a job pollinating. My blueberry bushes have doubled and tripled their yields since I started putting homes out for the orchard mason bees.
The pictures of the bee-faces in the section on telling the difference between the boy bees and the lady bees are cute. But the text, while not heavy in the least, is serious. Here is a man who believes in his bees and in ways in which we can acknowledge our part in the natural order by helping offset the pernicious effects of excess urbanization. The text is written at the layman's level; no technical knowledge is required to read and understand, but there are references for people who want to get more deeply involved with technical issues.
Here is everything you will need to know to decide whether you would like to harbor orchard mason bees and how to go about it if you do.
I got my first bee block from Knox Farms several years ago and upgraded to a bee condo last year. This year I took my courage in my hands and carefully changed my bee-full nesting tubes for clean ones to wait for spring. It was fascinating handling those tubes stuffed with beneficient bee life! I think this would be a great thing for kids to get involved with. (I'm fourty-something, and I think it's great).
If you are interested in giving a hard-working native bee a hand, and benefitting all of the fruit and berry plants in your neighborhood, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Easy to read but packed with information!
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Though not even born yet, wallflower Josie McClure knows the impact of the fire because her mother was the homecoming queen who never celebrated her victory and forced her to compete for the Bigelow High School Homecoming Day Queen, which she humiliatingly lost. Rainey Ann Cecil thinks back to that fatal day in 1981 when she was twelve and with Robert Walker and Hank Blackshear believed they caused the fire. Amos Royden is now the sheriff and would like to solve the case that his now deceased father always felt blemished his law enforcement record. Other are impacted by either the fire or the upcoming reunion. Will the reunion complete the destruction of the Creekites or refurbish the civil pride of being a Creekite?
Written as a series of vignettes tied together through the reunion, the story line is humorous and sad focusing on how a pivotal event can change lives forever. Though an ensemble, the characters come across as genuine leaving readers to understand their pain, loneliness, and their need to belong. Fans will enjoy tremendously REUNION AT MOSSY CREEK and want to read the previous slice of small town southern living, MOSSY CREEK. Both novels colorfully and cleverly illustrate small town southern living.
Harriet Klausner
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This is not a coffee-table book so don't expect color photos. This is not a book about how to train a dog; check out clicker training books instead. This is a book about Bernese Mountain Dogs and is for people who are committed to knowing all they can about the breed.
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Here's a bit of information you other readers might enjoy: the meaning of the pirates' song--
Fifteen men on a dead man's chest Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
The real-life pirate, Edward Teach (Blackbeard the Pirate) once marooned 15 of his men on a small island named Dead Man's Chest. He put them ashore with no weapons, equipment or supplies--just a bottle of rum.
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Ron Rifkin, Oakland, CA
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