D. Klaer

Just to update this one. When I wrote that article it was commonly thought that the maximum forage range of the stingless bee species in my area was approximately 500m. I made the above images based on this information.

The scientists behind the linked article below have now (well its over a year old) found that these little bees will travel 720m :)

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aen.12206/abstract

Useful information for siting stingless bee hives!

Vetiver would definitely be the way I would go if the climate is suitable.

As Michael said above, propagation is simple and is as he described. I turned 30ish slips into 90m of hedge (at 10cm centres) in about a year.

Make your slip spacing 10cm, no more. I have used it a lot here and that works best for quickly establishing a hedge that will hold back sediment and slow down water. When I plant it I basically pull up year old plants, split them up and plant the slips. I cut the roots and tops off the slips to aid quick establishment. The cut off leaves are placed on the uphill side of the slips and so the hedge starts working immediately.

Here is a pic of my hedge after about a year


I have written about it here - https://practicalprimate.com/vetiver/
I need to revisit the article, it was one of my early ones.

Go for it :) If you enjoy it anyway then no harm. From what I see, being consistent is very important for people finding/reading your stuff.

I have set myself the goal of writing something every week (and an extra post where possible) for a year. It’s just for fun but I have noticed my stuff getting click throughs from the search engines more. Of course your basic seo is important too.

William Bronson wrote: Thanks for sharing your work here!
Have you had any problem with quail a6tacking each orher?
I would like to keep quail in reset beds,but I've read horror stories about inexplicable agression,eyes pecked out,etc.

Hi William
Thank you for your comments. No I haven't. I had also read about aggression but it has never been a problem here. I wonder if space, numbers or even the breeding line contributes to aggression issues? I wouldn't let it stop you Let me know how you go!

I wanted to share some videos at the site.
The first is of a busy stingless bee hive on a winters day. They were unusually busy and at first I suspected a takeover. Turns out it wasn't so now think that perhaps something happened to the queen and that hive and this was the mating swarm of the new queen. Unusual time of year for it!


The second is of a small tumeric harvest.

I have black mulberry and red shahtoot mulberry. I think that one is called Pakistani mulberry elsewhere, it is actually a type of white mulberry. Harvesting has always been by hand. As said above you do get more mulberry with the long Pakistani ones but the black mulberry is more productive, at least here.

One thing I have found though is this. Queensland fruit fly is very common here (well it is Queensland) and there is a bit of a myth that mulberry are not targeted. I think what is actually happening is that mulberry just ripen so quick that you never notice them if you get what I mean. When harvesting I always freez the berries straight away to avoid the issue of them hatching and making a mess. I found this through experience. The berries don't last anyway and once frozen they can be used when needed for drinks, jams, cooking etc.

My dog destroyed every new tree she could get at when she was a pup and she had a plenty of space, she would go out of her way haha. She even pulled half grown bananas out of the ground (38kg dog) I built tree guards (a loop of sturdy fence wire) that I put around all newly planted trees to protect them. Once she was a little older and they had been there a while she would get over it and they were semi safe. The key now days is making her think it has always been there haha. Wire guard for a week or so and they are golden. May work for you?

Anybody have any thoughts on chickens vs quail? I did a little comparison, feel free to add!

In a nutshell I find quail to be really very awesome. Quail are more economical/productive for both meat and eggs and have a much quicker turnover than chickens. This kind of flies in the face of what makes sense to some but my experience and the research I have read supports the idea. Chickens of course have other uses such as preparing ground, processing organic matter and making compost. In a permi system they can also be less work. Quail are pretty useless for these purposes, though if you have found a way please share it with me! I keep both, they both have their advantages and I need the composting power of chickens. Quail really shouldn't be overlooked, especially by those who live where space is at a premium. I would like to try ducks in the future though not for any practical reason, I just like them

The quail tractors I currently use. These have automatic water (drippers) and are easy enough to move around. They have some downsides though. They are breaking down quickly in our warm, humid weather and I really need to fix the feed delivery. Mk2 will probably be welded steel frame and will have an external feed tube along the opposite side to the water.

Lovely pictures Roger

They do indeed. Perrenial basil in full bloom is bringing them in here at the moment.

A fire tailed resin bee