Well, here’s something unexpected. I went to put some feeder pails out for the Kitty and Olga hives today. When I opened the lid to Olga, I found a drone stuck by the head to the propolis trap.
I could see him hanging when I lifted the lid. When I set it on the ground, he remained rigid in this head stand position. He’s been dead awhile, but he sort of looks like he’s in some weird yoga pose. I wonder how he managed that? Perhaps the workers did it because they are tired of the drones eating the honey and doing nothing but going on their daily flights to look for a queen to mate with and return day after day, unsuccessful virgins. It’s easy to tell if a drone is still a virgin–because it’s still alive. Once they mate with a queen, they die in process.
The Olga hive has been in propolis overload. When I went to switch the feeder pail, they had glued it to the boards with propolis. I admire their efforts, but it makes feeding them a bit of a challenge.
In other news, I found a fifth edible fungus in Mr. Neil’s yard today–a shaggy mane. I’ve read different explanations of how tasty it is, but I didn’t try it because I didn’t have time to prepare it and once you pick it, the fungus will quickly autodigest turning into a black liquid–bleh. It will do it a little slower if you don’t pick it, which is what give this mushroom its folk name, the inky cap. Plus, Mr. Neil isn’t in town and no one else around seems as interested in the wild edible shrooms.
Over here in the UK those are called shaggy ink cap. Now that we’ve had our first couple of light frosts, I’m going to go look for mushrooms!
Looks like this drone did that yoga position that is called a “pear tree” around here and got stuck…
my hubby said you are not supposed to consume shaggy manes/inky caps w/alcohol….you could get sick. as for myself, I tend to eat mushrooms you can buy at the store. Not brave enough to eat a wild one….
me and my father picked a mushroom at their summer home, we looked it up and it was edible, but we chickend out and just left it in a vase. then it just dried and still looks the same in the vase n its been there for over 6 years
Poor drone bee. I guess they’re choosing straws to see who will have room in the hive for the winter and he choose poorly. They seem to be battening down the hatches with the propolis to keep out any breezes and stay cozy, maybe a little too enthusiastically though.
The mushroom population is surprising, with so many different types all together there. Bit of an anomaly really.
Great picture of the drone on his head!
I get stinkhorn fungi in my yard all the time, and supposedly they are edible, too. I’m not brave enough to eat yard mushrooms!
More edible mushrooms to come! I just found a big old honkin’ hunk of Hen Of The Woods this morning. I’m drying some, freezing some and just cooking some for lunch!
Whoot! Whoot!
Shaggy mane is most excellent to eat. Pick them before the cap autodigests.
Slice them up and saute in butter really good.
The way an awful lot of women just light up when you tell them about the life of the drone… just makes you wonder.