You can imagine my surprise recently, sitting at about 6,500 feet up on the side of Mt. Saint Helens, to turn my head towards a clump of flowers next to me and see a lovely bee buzzing around its blooms. Impressive I thought, to come all this way up, as there weren’t many options for it up there. Then a few moments later, a hummingbird did some flybys past my head and I couldn’t fathom why a hummingbird would be so far up, though I was wearing a deep pink t-shirt. But all that seemed reasonable compared to seeing three different pollinators (a wasp which landed on my finger, some kind of bumblebee, and another bee) at the very top of the mountain, 8,360 ft up with only pumice and rock in sight. The bumblebee appeared to float on the drafts the way a bird might do, except that its wings were beating feverishly and it hovered in place for several minutes, almost like it was enjoying it (I know, a bit anthropomorphic). I did some research when I was back at sea level, and learned bees can fly quite well up to 13,000 feet and even higher on occasions. Still, it was quite a treat to see and only further exemplified their remarkable qualities.
In July, PUB hosted Chris Corich as its speaker and he presented a fantastic talk on log hives. He explained his process for making them, different techniques he uses, how he monitors for mites and provides food. It was accompanied by outstanding photography and resources for finding more information. Be sure to check out the video of his talk, if you missed it.
PUB will continue to meet virtually on Zoom through November 2021, and we will host our annual honey tasting in person at the Friends of Multnomah community center on Stark St. December 1, 2021. We think that Zoom has been a successful and popular alternative to in-person meetings as our recording analytics show that we are getting more than 100 views after posting the link online, as well as emailing to each member. In 2022 we are looking for new board members/officers and have put the call out for those interested in president, vice president and treasurer. We continue to closely monitor our hives as we head into fall, and in the Portland area we’re well into dearth, but we have a plan for both feeding and mite management. Enjoy the last of summer!