Monarch Caterpillar shedding it’s skin 2.26.13

The plants in the Butterfly House were getting short on leaves and it needed cleaning.

I removed all the pots….vacuumed the droppings off the bottom and washed the tray the plants sit in….put a Giant Milkweed in the tray and several of the smaller plants that still had leaves and caterpillars.

The caterpillars on the Giant Milkweed that is going back outside had about 15 caterpillars on it. They had to be moved to the new one. I don’t move them unless I see them crawling or eating. When they sit still for a long period of time…they are usually getting ready to shed their skin. They have their hind feet anchored and if moved at this time, they could die. (I found that out the hard way. ) If the skin of the hind feet isn’t anchored they are unable to get out of it and then they die.

This caterpillar was the only one that didn’t move, other than to rock back and forth…a sign it is going to shed.

I picked the leaf and set it on a table where I could watch it. I noticed the skin behind the head was a lighter yellow…the process had started.

In the video you can see it rocking side to side. It does that for awhile. I started filming at 8:06 and it was almost 11:00 before it was completely out. I edited it to keep it shorter.

Once you see it start to ripple it’s body, it is moving the skin to the rear. When I move the leaf, the skin is about half way back and you can see how the old skin is anchored to the leaf. It’s back feet come free about the same time as it is able to knock off the old face. When I turn the leaf again, you can see the pile of shed skin.

They do this about 5 times.  Many climb on a dead branch, the side of the pot or on the screen of the Butterfly House. Outside they could be anywhere. I think they try to be in a spot that doesn’t get a lot of traffic. They are very vulnerable during this time. It seems like they eat for a day…sit for a day…shed skin and eat again. During the summer it takes about 9 days for them to get big and pupate. Once they shed it seems like they double in size in no time at all.

Hope you enjoyed the video….again…no matter how many times I get to watch this…I am still amazed.

Monarch Caterpillar pupating 2.22.13

Before we went on our last boating trip on the St Johns River, I found 8 tiny hatchlings. I put them and half a dozen plants in the Butterfly House.

When we got back they were about an inch long.  It only took a few more days and they were this size. It doesn’t take long for them to eat all the leaves. There are 11 in this picture so there must have been a few eggs on the plants when I put them in.

A few days later …… 6 went to the top. By the next morning they were in “J”s. I think it takes about 24 hrs for them to get to the pupating stage. You can see 1 in Chrysalis and 5 more Js. The other 4 have just gone up and will need to make a web to suspend themselves from.

Look at this one….skin is so tight it looks like it’s wearing a rubber suit.

I only found 2 Queen caterpillars. This is one…it’s only about 3/4 inch long. The other is about half that. Similar colors…different pattern and extra feelers.

I have a video below on this caterpillar. Notice how the feelers still have a lot of curve and shape to them, but starting to show some “wilt” in the right one. That is a sign they are going to pupate. They will eventually hang down and start to get wrinkled.

I had my camera all set up and started videoing. Just as it got to this point my batteries went dead…I stuck them in the charger for a few minutes and got it up and running.  This is the last picture I took before switching back to video. Notice the feelers.

You can see the difference between the two in the next picture. Theirs still have a lot of shape and will be a few hours more.

I took this picture out of the video. It had just shed it’s skin and was still gyrating.

Same one a few hours later…..isn’t it beautiful?  What a difference. I never realized it before…but you can actually see lines like there will be  in the wings.

The 6  “J”s are now in Chrysalis form and 9 more caterpillars have gone to the top.  There are 3 more big enough to go up this afternoon or tomorrow morning. That only leaves about 20 of various size to keep on eating.

Enjoy the video. No mater how many times I get to watch them….it still amazes me.

Sunday 2.17.13

We’ve had an easy winter…so far….saw 38* on my thermometer on the rear deck this morning. It’s now reading 52*.

Wood stove has been going steady all night. Kept it at 65* inside. If it were inside instead of in the Florida/screen room, it would do a better job…but we don’t have many nights in the 30’s. With it in the screen room I can have a fire in the morning, even during the summer…and by 10am I can have all the doors open.

Wood rack is full for tonight. Fire going and sun shining into the screen room is making it nice and warm. I have the thru wall vent fan going, drawing heat inside.  Almost 72* in here now….but the sun will be going behind the trees shortly…and it will cool off in a hurry.

I love cooking on it. Made pot roast yesterday. Great for spaghetti sauce too, and any thing that needs to simmer awhile.

My Bottlebrush bushes are full of buds and a day of rain has started it blooming. This smaller one is in the back yard and the Painted Buntings love it for cover while taking turns at the feeders. I have 4 feeders here. 2 on the pole and 2 just to the right of the big tree. One is a platform on a cable for the squirrels. They can run out the cable and avoid the cats. The Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Titmice and Cardinals share it with them.  The other is a platform feeder on a PVC pole. We set that up for the Doves so they wont need to feed on the ground..also to avoid cats.

The Bottlebrush would be bushy all the way to the ground but I keep it cleared so the cats cant hide under it.

The two in the front yard may as well be called trees, they are that big. You can see all the buds on this one. My 2 smaller ones have buds but no blooms.

My Tangelo and Navel citrus trees are budding…..a freeze could kill all the buds on them and on the Bottlebrush.

I’ll be out early in the morning hosing all the trees and plants down. If there is a frost and you can rinse them off before the sun hits them, sometimes you can save them.

I’ve several caterpillars in my Butterfly House.

There are at least 18 Monarchs that are about an inch long, and 7 tiny hatchlings. If I’ve counted that many you can add several more. It’s hard to see them all, even the big ones.

It will be another 5 or 6 days before any of them will head to the top to pupate and then another 11 or 12 days in the Chrysalis before they emerge as butterflies. It’s a fun process to watch. During warm weather, caterpillar and chrysalis stages are only about 9 days each. Cold weather takes longer.

Even though it’s cold, I’ve seen several Giant Swallowtails and a Tiger Swallowtail feeding on the Bottlebrush, and lots of Honey Bees. Wish some of them would move into my empty hives. Keep your fingers crossed…..March is swarming season.

Honey Bees 1.31.13

I have a Langstroth hive, a Top Bar Hive and a 5 frame swarm catcher…….all empty.

I had a trap-out swarm in the Langstroth, last year, but it was over run with big red ants. That really cut down on the bee population. I bought them a Queen but it still didn’t survive.

I purchased a 3# pkg of bees for the Top Bar Hive. They seemed to be doing well. It has an observation window and I could see them building comb. But, looking back, I realized that they had stopped adding comb and I had noticed them carrying dead bee larva out. Being new at this I didn’t realize that the wax moths may have already been in the comb that I could not see.  We went away for 10 days and when I came back the bees were gone and the comb and hive were full of wax moth larva.

I burned all the comb and larva. Probably should have put it out and let the birds have a feast, but didn’t want to create a problem for other beekeepers in the area.

I would like to try again this year. I have all 3 set up, hoping to attract a swarm. I check them regularly to be sure nothing has moved in (other than bees) and put Lemon Grass Oil in them to attract bees.

I’ve put a screened inner cover on the  Langs’ and screen on the Top Bar.  A friend with a few hives had screened inner covers on his hives and found wax moths on them. It kept them out of his hives. So I’m trying that this year.

It is the end of January, here in Florida, and there are  a few flowers blooming…but not many. My Bottle Brush bushes are just starting to put out blooms and they draw bees. I would love to get a swarm of feral Honey Bees.

Here are some photos of the bees that come…..this is the top of a mason jar.

I put some honey on a tape measure …..but I don’t know how big a small cell bee is….

If anyone can tell  from these pictures, please let me know.

The jar has 3 holes in the lid and sits on  1”x 1” sticks so the bees can get under it.  There may be a dozen bees on it at a time with others coming and going…….. until I put some on the top and let it drizzle down….then within a few minutes it is swarming with bees. As soon as the excess is gone the number of bees dwindle.

What are my chances of attracting a swarm by having a feeding station?

My friends, George and Debbie, have 2 hives and that is where I buy my honey. They are only a couple of miles away, so I could just be putting it right  back into their hives.

Does the dark bee in the picture below look like the same kind of  bee as the others?

March is the swarming season here, so I am a bit early, but the weather has been warm all winter, with only 1 hard frost in my area, that I know of. I noticed some of the palms in the tree farms surrounding us, have started to put out blooms. I am hoping the warm winter will help the bees to survive and increase their numbers……and that some will want a nice place to live……preferably in one of my hives.

Painted Buntings, Cardinals, Titmice, female or juvenile Indigo Bunting at feeders

Today was a busy day at the feeders. The temperature was in the mid 40’s and everyone was hungry.

I had the woodstove going and the sliding door open enough for the camera.

The little brown bird on the L is either a juvenile Indigo Bunting or a female. Look closely at the throat on the green bunting. Looks like it might be a juvenile male. It is starting to show some color.

This little guy is so pretty I just couldn’t stop taking pictures.

In this video they continually fly in and out. At the end there are 5 males buntings on the 2 feeders.

The cute little grey bird with the topknot and big eyes is a Titmouse.

I love the section with the Painted Bunting sitting in the Bottle Brush bush. You can really see how beautiful their colors are. It’s a dark overcast day and they don’t show off as brilliantly as they really are.

Visitors to our backyard

One of the most beautiful birds to grace our backyard is the Painted Bunting.

The Red Bellied Woodpecker is always full of energy. It goes from the feeder the Bunting is on to the platform feeder and then to the trees. I love watching it on the platform feeder….sometimes on it and sometimes under it.

This squirrel normally tries to raid the feeders.  Since the Sweet Gum tree has started to put out buds and tiny leaves, it has been feeding there.

It’s fun to watch it hanging upside down to get at a morsel that caught it’s eye.

Look closely at the picture….looks like there are some fuzzy little seeds. When they are grown and fall on the ground they are full of spikes like a mace. Not fun to step on.

Sights and sounds from the yard.

Red Bellied Woodpecker

One of the things I like best about winter in Florida?  The cool nights make it possible to enjoy a woodstove.

I started a fire about 6 am…..around 0715 the birds really started to come to the feeders.

The next thing I like about winter in Florida?  I had all my windows and doors open by 10 am.

I believe this is a female Red Bellied Woodpecker.

Isn’t she beautiful?

Looks like she may have a striped sunflower seed.

Not sure what she has in this one. Notice how she uses her tail to stay balanced.

She came with the Titmice, but there were only a few birds.