Helping a Bee with Mites

I found a bee in my greenhouse this evening. This happens from time to time but I always ensure they get out. Tonight I helped out in a different way. This poor bee had a huge cluster of mites on its back. I was shocked and horrified. I quickly googled 'bees with mites' to make sure that was what I was seeing, and then...

...since I know mites are having a huge impact on our pollinator friends, I couldn't help but take sides, and then action! Without a second thought, I ran and got my tweezers and hoped that the bee would stay still enough to allow me to SQUISH all the mites on its back!!!! Amazingly, it hardly moved, probably because it was too cold, though I wish it was because it was just thankful to get some help with its parasites! I was surprised at how fast some of the mites were when they got moving (they were probably affected by the cold too). I had to be pretty quick and careful about what I was plucking and squishing; I didn't want to hurt the bee but I wanted to get as many mites as I could. I also wanted to minimize the duration of the bee's stress, whether it was in a cold torpor or not.

Here is the bee after my quick mite-squishing tweezer-session! Big difference, I think. I hope it helps. I try to let nature take its course as much as I can because I don't want to choose one life over another and I don't like to kill any of nature's amazing creatures, but given the current plight of bees and colony collapse disorder, I couldn't help myself. I just hope that when I go to let the bee out of the greenhouse tomorrow morning that it is still alive. Sorry for the less-than-crisp pics--my iPhone won't do macro. Also not stoked on the layout of pics vs text on this post but blogger was giving me too much grief to do it the way I wanted!

My first Tofino Meyer Lemon!

Last Tuesday, as the sky hailed, rained, and broke for sun, I excitedly harvested a Meyer Lemon from my greenhouse in Tofino. My 3 lemons have been harvestable for quite some time but I wanted to see how things would progress over winter. I am happy to report that in spite of some below 0 temps this winter, they faired well.


The occasion that inspired this harvest was a visit with Daniela who I have been trying to connect with for a chocolate elixir for about 5 years (and we finally did)! You wouldn't think that could happen in a small town but it does, all the time!


I have never picked a lemon off a tree before (never mind one in Tofino) but it was very fragrant. I figured this was a good sign of a tasty fresh tree-ripened fruit and I was not disappointed. Thankfully it hadn't gone mouldy sitting out in the greenhouse all winter nor had it frozen.

It was so delicious that when we cut some slices off to sample, we ended up eating the rind too!! The inside was quite orange, and tasted like a cross between a lemon and an orange. The rind was surprisingly soft and not bitter. It would never even have occurred to me to eat the rind if Daniela hadn't been there. Her mom used to get giant lemons sent from her homeland of Sicily for the family to eat as a special treat, including the rind, so I am grateful my descendent-of-Sicily-friend was there for my first lemon harvest!

Here is Daniela, enjoying some homemade lemongrass and Meyer Lemon tea*. Yes, that is a squished lemon rind as "garnish" on the mug lip but she ate that too! So delicious, so fun, so grateful for my lemon tree, my greenhouse and friends like Daniela! :)

*Lemongrass tops steeped in hot water with some Meyer Lemon juice.

Plots Available in Tofino's First Community Garden

The Tofino Community Food Initiative is pleased to announce its first organic community garden. Eight 4' x 6' (1.2m x 1.8m) plots are available at the community garden site in the Tofino Botanical Gardens (TBG). Plots are available for a one-year lease and come ready to plant with access to garden tools and water. (The annual lease fee of $75 also includes a one-year membership to the TBG.) Preference will be given to people without secure access to garden space. Gardeners must make a one-year commitment and sign a user agreement. If you are interested in a plot, please contact the TCFI at tofinolocalfood@yahoo.ca by March 11.

A meeting of all community garden plot owners will take place at the end of March or early April. A soil preparation workshop/work bee will take place April 15th so plot owners should be prepared to attend this.

Organic Gardening Course

This spring west coasters will again be able to become a Master Organic Gardener by taking a two-week course offered by Gaia College. Here are the details. Members of the TCFI have taken the course, so if you have questions, just post them here and we'll do our best to answer them in a timely fashion.