Bamboo and Bees

[Bamboomoon]

Now that you point it out Thuja, you must be right about the basketball being equated to the nest size rather than the size of the Queen. Otherwise we would see pretty large queens, flying very low to the ground, looking for a new nest every spring.

I am still curious about Bamboozal's daughter "talking in tongues". Would that mean she had a religious experience, or a momentary past life regression? On that note, I guess this thread has moved into the "Off Topic Discussions" Category. Thanks for your input.

[bamboozal]

I am still curious about Bamboozal's daughter "talking in tongues". Would that mean she had a religious experience, or a momentary past life regression? On that note, I guess this thread has moved into the "Off Topic Discussions" Category. Thanks for your input.

It was rather strange when she started speaking the gobbledegook. It sounded like coherent sentences being strung together (as best as coherent sentences in an unknown language will sound to me) but obvioulsy due to the stress of my daughter in pain at that time, I was more pre-occupied with trying to figure out what to do. It wasn't until the next day when I asked my wife if she knew what my daughter had said the previous night but my wife didn't have a clue either. (Between my in-laws, my wife and I, we speak 3 different languages to my daughter)

So at the end of that, we are no closer to figuring out just what happened that night. Spooky.

[DCBa]

There was just a segment on NPR about yellow jackets. The "expert's" method of destroying a hive was interesting. He said to use a pint of Everclear (95% grain alchohol) poured into the hive and then seal the entrance. Sounds like a waste of alchohol and not nearly as much fun as lighting gasoline.

[Bamboomoon]

Thanks Bamboozal. Your daughter is lucky to be exposed to more than one language. It used to be nobody spoke anything but English in the U.S., but in any large city here, we now hear Spanish, and Asian tongues as a common thing, and intermarriage increases the likelihood of bi-lingual families, which has been so common in Europe for centuries.

I keep thinking about this thread and re-reading it. Several people hypothesized that the bees might be feeding on aphids or aphid "honeydew" on Sasa and Yellow Groove. I was surprised by this theory because I thought Bamboo Mites were the only parasites on bamboo, imported (without intention) from other countries. In my case the Yellow Jackets are dogging (seem to be in love with) my Allgold species, even though they aren't interested in the Robert Young and Black bamboo on either side of the Allgold.

So do we have aphids on bamboo, as has been suggested? I do see what I think are bamboo mites on the Allgold, but could they be aphids instead? Or are these critters one and the same?

[John G.]

I do see what I think are bamboo mites on the Allgold, but could they be aphids instead? Or are these critters one and the same?

Mites are to small to make out to the naked eye all alone; however, since the ones that like bamboo are spider mites you can see the web on the under side of the leaf. Aphids are quite a bit larger and usually have wings (not all the time) although small you can see them clearly (there are many kinds of aphids). The aphids I have seen on mine not far from you are usually light green like the ones you see on new rose growth

One sure way to see if you have mites, besides seeing damage on the leaf blade is to take a white piece of paper and shake the bamboo over the paper and bend the paper and smear it together if you see small stripes that is usually bug guts .

Here is a picture of mite damage from the ABS.
http://www.americanbamboo.org/images/Ba ... amage.jpeg

Here is a picture I took from another web site for you to see what an aphid liooks like.
http://www.fotosearch.com/comp/IDX/IDX006/368997.jpg

[Bamboomoon]

Thanks John. Here's a webpage that says 45 species of mites have been found of 23 genera and 9 families ... on Moso ... in China":

http://oregonstate.edu/dept/nurspest/Ba ... oomite.htm

But I never heard of aphids on bamboo until this thread ...

[Markj]

Aphids on bamboo, there a blooming menace here, anything with Bambusoides in the name is favorite

[John G.]

Thanks John. Here's a webpage that says 45 species of mites have been found of 23 genera and 9 families ... on Moso ... in China":

http://oregonstate.edu/dept/nurspest/Ba ... oomite.htm

But I never heard of aphids on bamboo until this thread ...

Damn, that is quite a few. I was just going by what I have read that we have here.