After 15 years of benign neglect, I'm resorting to chemical warfare. I stopped at Jones Fish and picked up Seclear (a copper based algaecide) and Aquatron (a beneficial bacteria that destroys phosphorous).
I mixed up a batch of Seclear and gave the scum it's first treatment. I have to wait a week before hitting it with the other product.
While I was there I picked up 5 pounds of fathead minnows and a couple of grass carp. I figure that any remaining bass or bluegill deserve a treat.
Some of the "before" scum.
I had to float the bags of fish to equalize them. The tarp was to prevent them from being cooked by the sun while floating. In the course of this activity, I was reminded of a yellow jacket nest about one foot from the dock. So I called a guy that my neighbor Ron told me about and he said he'd be there in one hour.
Hard to see much but at the point of that knife is a hole in the ground where many yellowjackets were going in and out.
I also had my normal accumulation of wasp nests all over the place.
Pond house, hunting stands, etc.
As promised, Greg showed up in an hour. He has an interesting business collecting "social wasps" for free and then selling them to labs for medical purposes. Here's his website.
Scioto Venom
He uses a dustbuster at the entrance to collect bees as they come and go. He says yellowjackets are the worst and he suits up carefully for them. Here he's starting to dig the underground nest out. And a video of him in action.
Yellowjacket Nest Excavation
He dug the nest up and bagged it. He takes it to his bee yard and transplants it to a bee box to keep producing more bees that he collects later. Here's a video of the collector in action.
Yellowjacket Collection
Then he gasses them with CO2 and freezes them. The venom is used in allergy therapy and also in some treatments for muscular disorders (muscular dystrophy etc).
He's much more casual with the wasps. He just wore a glove and knocked the nests into a jar. He wasn't interested in mud daubers. Only "social wasps". He knew the genus of everything he was collecting. Anyway, I sure prefer this method for cleaning out my hunting stands.
It's not the optimal time for it (too hot) but I did some spraying for weeds in the clover plots. I also have two plots disked up for planting but I'm waiting for some lime to be spread.
This is the barn field that has sunflowers, soybeans, summer peas and lab lab. It did pretty well but has a lot of weeds too.
The deer absolutely stripped the sunflowers closest to the hunting stand.
I went up in that stand looking for wasps and I found this 1" diameter terd on the window sill. Who climbs 20' in the air, climbs 4' up to a window sill and takes a poop on a 2x4? A raccoon? Or could it be a hawk or a vulture?
Lots of rain earlier in the week.
I didn't take this photo - got it from a local friend. There is a large Amish community nearby (in Adams County). Fun shot though - horse looks happy.
The pumpkin patch is quite healthy right now. The weeds are putting it into overdrive but, for the time being, the pumpkins are happy.
I did find some big prints inside the tape. I think that they are from a dog (more later on that subject).
I'm having a zucchini bumper crop. My friends have had enough. Joan is turning out zucchini bread like a bakery.
There aren't that many plants. And I staggered planting. But I think they are all producing now.
A few of the super big pumpkin plants seem to be fruiting.
Other stuff too.
Main field sunflower strip approaching peak.
I mostly plant them to please my wife.
Videos while driving by:
Sunflowers 1
Sunflowers 2
Many butterflies - several varieties.
The pond one day after treatment. Big improvement.
Some touring shots with Laura and Alex.
Fawns
Twins?
Hard to see but that's the bobcat in lower right. You can always click on a photo to enlarge it.
Bobcat or coyote meal?
Coon vs doe.
Possum vs coon.
Free ranging dog. Seen often, sometimes with friends.
Some very nice bucks.
Bye-Bye!
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