State of the Game

Rubbernuke

Rubbernuke
Erei said:
Hornet will attack your fruit yes. They are a freaking plague for plums. We put traps for them, you can home make them, but you need to be careful not to kill bees to. You put olive oil in it (I think ?), the bees don't like it, but hornet are OK with it. I don't remember, you gotta check google :D
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One way to thin the herd is to put honey traps out for hornet queens- early on they are doing a lot of work and get hungry.

Its important to note though that European Hornets are useful, its the Asian Hornets (smaller, with a black abdomen and gold ring) which are bee killers. Quite often I'll let the former go. Since the latter are now endemic in France hopefully they'll find a niche away from bee killing- I've seen them slice up carrion and they do pollinate as well.
 

Erei

Erei
Rubbernuke said:
One way to thin the herd is to put honey traps out for hornet queens- early on they are doing a lot of work and get hungry.

Its important to note though that European Hornets are useful, its the Asian Hornets (smaller, with a black abdomen and gold ring) which are bee killers. Quite often I'll let the former go. Since the latter are now endemic in France hopefully they'll find a niche away from bee killing- I've seen them slice up carrion and they do pollinate as well.
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We didn't have asian hornets last years, only regular, but they were too many in number. Like ridiculously too many.

Lots of people kill birds, and cats are a plague for them to. Which mean less predator, so more hornets.

What is important is NOT to kill hornet if you have the asian ones. European Hornet will fight them for territory and stuff, and they help culling those. Since they are an invading species, it's better that way.
 

Rubbernuke

Rubbernuke
Erei said:
We didn't have asian hornets last years, only regular, but they were too many in number. Like ridiculously too many.

Lots of people kill birds, and cats are a plague for them to. Which mean less predator, so more hornets.

What is important is NOT to kill hornet if you have the asian ones. European Hornet will fight them for territory and stuff, and they help culling those. Since they are an invading species, it's better that way.
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They are both quite docile too, as long as you don't attack them. They do get drunk though, and once I had to go next door and the whole garden was covered in fermenting plums- and all covered in very tipsy hornets.
 

Oztig

Oztig
Rubbernuke said:
They are both quite docile too, as long as you don't attack them. They do get drunk though, and once I had to go next door and the whole garden was covered in fermenting plums- and all covered in very tipsy hornets.
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Just what I need - lots of drunk hornets, rubbing it in, coz I can't drink at the minute, bloody typical!

I may have to go up to them,and offer them a nice fresh cold alternative with mint and cucumber int it - see how that goes.
 

Erei

Erei
Rubbernuke said:
They are both quite docile too, as long as you don't attack them. They do get drunk though, and once I had to go next door and the whole garden was covered in fermenting plums- and all covered in very tipsy hornets.
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Well, remember it could be worse. To get drunk, elephants in India will break into farms to drink rice wine directly from the tanks.
Imagine what happen when you have a drunken herd of elephant in your farm.
 

Erei

Erei
Oztig said:
I'm still trying to find one of Peter cooke talking about swarms of killer bees - he was obsessed with them, but EL Wisty was the best I could find.
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Jmanis

Jmanis
Lysette said:
in the middle of nowhere maybe - half a million is like nothing nowadays if you want to live in a location worth living at. 8 bedroom mansion, well, eventually you can get that for under 4 million already, but more likely are double that. It depends as well what you consider to be a mansion. There is a boutique hotel in Hobart with 10 guest rooms, all with bathroom as well, 2 lounges, 1 breakfast room, 2 bedrooms for staff, garage space for 12 cars - that is like 1.6 million US$ - really nice looking victorian style boutique hotel.
282239209.jpg

it just has a pretty stubborn owner, who doesn't want to sell to those, not using it as a B&B boutique hotel - it would be quite nice as an office and event location with accommodations for guests - but the owner will just sell to a couple, who want to keep it running as a B&B - too bad, it's nice and cheap.
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Here's what $1m AUD gets you in Australia right now... no joke...
 

PiLhEaD

PiLhEaD
Rubbernuke said:
The birds get confused with the yellow raspberries I have, but sadly these plants are weedy and not as prolific as some of my other plants.

I just hope the wild blackberries can be collected before birds eat them and I get a whole new wave of spiky plant vermin too.
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Near me there are so many wild blackberry bushes that it really doesn't matter how many berries are harvested by what/whom, or for how long, there are always more.

Home-made blackberry jam is flipping lovely too, and lasts for ages!
 

Erei

Erei
PiLhEaD said:
Near me there are so many wild blackberry bushes that it really doesn't matter how many berries are harvested by what/whom, or for how long, there are always more.

Home-made blackberry jam is flipping lovely too, and lasts for ages!
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When I was a kid, we had a blackberry hill not too far from home. It was an amazing place, and not only for the near limitless quantities of blackberry, but also because it was very open at the top, and far from any civilization. We would go there and watch the night sky, with a constellation map thingie and it was amazing. Too bad the ED skybox is not even close to what I saw then :D

Anyway, be aware that blackberries are a fox favourite, and due to a relative lack of hygiene, they tend to have the toilet where the kitchen is. And they can carry very bad disease for us. So, clean the blackberry with a good wash before eating, there is a bacteria thing which is so nasty it can survive some heating.

Otherwise it's all good, I love blackberries :D
 

Rubbernuke

Rubbernuke
PiLhEaD said:
Near me there are so many wild blackberry bushes that it really doesn't matter how many berries are harvested by what/whom, or for how long, there are always more.

Home-made blackberry jam is flipping lovely too, and lasts for ages!
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The problem comes when the birds feast and then poop out demon seeds all over.

Left alone brambles are almost unkillable- I've dug up double fist sized bulbs with roots trees envy.
 

PiLhEaD

PiLhEaD
Erei said:
When I was a kid, we had a blackberry hill not too far from home. It was an amazing place, and not only for the near limitless quantities of blackberry, but also because it was very open at the top, and far from any civilization. We would go there and watch the night sky, with a constellation map thingie and it was amazing. Too bad the ED skybox is not even close to what I saw then :D

Anyway, be aware that blackberries are a fox favourite, and due to a relative lack of hygiene, they tend to have the toilet where the kitchen is. And they can carry very bad disease for us. So, clean the blackberry with a good wash before eating, there is a bacteria thing which is so nasty it can survive some heating.

Otherwise it's all good, I love blackberries :D
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My rule of thumb is to never pick from below waist level, for lots of reasons. Dog's pee being one of them, and saving my back being the other. And as you say - a good wash once home.

Also, wear long trousers and (perhaps oddly) short sleeves. Oh, and don't be phobic about spiders.
 

Erei

Erei
Oops sorry, I thought you were talking about blueberry. And by that I mean I took one from another.
Blackberry are better outside a garden, and in France they are everywhere anyway.

On a sidenote, English is so confusing when you call every berry "berry" with a color. Except for Strawberry, which doesn't look like straw to begin with. Because reasons I guess.
 
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