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Despite a lot of distractions I did manage to get some paint down on the bee house. Photo proof below.
The wife was out doing some planting today and said she saw a bee out by the cherry bushes........ I missed it! Anyway that is good news, don't want it to be a silent spring around here.

Those of you who are hoping to make one you still have time.

Ed

We got BEE's!!!! Must have seen about 20 or so up and about so spring is here.

I also finished my newest house and here is a picture:
I will be putting it up tomorrow if all goes well. It will be back where the apple trees are and other gardens. Hope to see some "action" at the house in a few weeks when the apple trees bloom.

Hey it been fun.

Ed

Hey it been fun.

Ed[/quote]

No, Hey it Bee fun.
Nice hive, did the Google Earth thing, I see why such a temperate climate.

reible wrote:We got BEE's!!!! Must have seen about 20 or so up and about so spring is here.

I also finished my newest house and here is a picture:

IMG_1618sc.jpg

I will be putting it up tomorrow if all goes well. It will be back where the apple trees are and other gardens. Hope to see some "action" at the house in a few weeks when the apple trees bloom.

Hey it been fun.

Ed

Ed, that end grain makes a really striking pattern, especially combined with the bee tunnels. Did you toast it with a torch to bring it out? The coolest board in the middle, and I'm still trying to figure out what is growth rings, and what is circular-saw marks.

Those pieces are all cut from the same piece of wood and yes they are growth rings. The stack got mixed but they should all be in the same orientation.

I used a torch to darken and to protect the wood since I didn't want paint or stain on the wood. Back when I was a kid I was friends with a another kid and his dad would use the old pump up blow torch to do that to the wood. When I first saw that I was thinking what is he doing???? He would darken the wood quite dark then use a hand wire brush to get the char off and that was it for protection and it worked. How cool is that I thought and now I still use that method and get to think about those old days.

Ed

BuckeyeDennis wrote:

reible wrote:We got BEE's!!!! Must have seen about 20 or so up and about so spring is here.

I also finished my newest house and here is a picture:

IMG_1618sc.jpg

I will be putting it up tomorrow if all goes well. It will be back where the apple trees are and other gardens. Hope to see some "action" at the house in a few weeks when the apple trees bloom.

Hey it been fun.

Ed

Ed, that end grain makes a really striking pattern, especially combined with the bee tunnels. Did you toast it with a torch to bring it out? The coolest board in the middle, and I'm still trying to figure out what is growth rings, and what is circular-saw marks.

It sure looks great. I've seen some wood torched for artistic effect, but I've never heard of torching it for "protection". Does it work like a sealer? Improve rot resistance? Inquiring minds want to know!

BTW, if you look closely at that middle board, it looks like it has growth rings going both ways.

BuckeyeDennis wrote:It sure looks great. I've seen some wood torched for artistic effect, but I've never heard of torching it for "protection". Does it work like a sealer? Improve rot resistance? Inquiring minds want to know!

BTW, if you look closely at that middle board, it looks like it has growth rings going both ways.

my thoughts too, but just thought it was the wood.

BuckeyeDennis wrote:It sure looks great. I've seen some wood torched for artistic effect, but I've never heard of torching it for "protection". Does it work like a sealer? Improve rot resistance? Inquiring minds want to know!

BTW, if you look closely at that middle board, it looks like it has growth rings going both ways.

Well after looking at the real thing, yes those are saw blade marks. None of the other pieces have them that I can see and these were not sanded so I'm wondering if that was the first piece from the store????

The guy who showed me that burning thing was German, he moved here after WWII and he said it was an old country thing they did to protect the wood and it was also a cheap way to go. I've used it and it seems to work. I was going to look it up on google but I figured I should let the interested people do that and that way I can go so at my own pace. I think I've seen this on some perhaps Japanese structures, it could have been country but Oriental by the design.

Ed

Though some of you might enjoy this little short video from a couple of days ago. Sometimes they come out the same time the flowers do and sometimes they don't. This looks like a good year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzJfgGSoDJU

These two are swarms of insect I walked into.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojUi_ZTCeus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIUqx9a42ew

Quite the experience for me, a lot bigger then I normally see around here.

Ed

Nice shots!
I feel better now. Tuesday I walked into a small storm by the area lake. Nothing nearly as large as what you saw...

Chris