Thanks! I've always like bees but this new hobby-I can see it already-is going to make me more of a bee guy than ever. Like I said, there are huge numbers of bumblebees present at that site. It's just the very early season I must ensure. Do the big guys plant any other early-flowering plants in and around their haskap to aid and assist the bumblebees in this early-season timeframe? That's something I've been considering. When I mostly see them, it's the late-summer asters, goldenrods. etc. I wonder what pollinates Canada anemone flowers. I should look that up. we've got a ton of that plant growing around there, and it, of course, is a very early bloomer. +oM ps....OK, just looked it up....Canada anemone is visited by Halictid and Andrenid bees, and by Syrphid flys, so presumably, these little guys are doing the pollination. Not at all sure what role they might play with haskap blooms.

Putting them back in the refrig should be fine. Their emergence can be delayed for up to a month past their natural cycle without serious problems. Even emerged bees can be held in the refrig for a few days without harm. Mason bees are exposed to fluculating weather in their natural habitat and have adapted to it. A bigger cause for concern is the availability of pollen and nectar sources. On any warm day after they have emerged, they will be out looking for food. If there is none in your area, they will fly off to find some. Once they find food in another area, they probably won't come back. It's a good idea to have something else in your area that blooms a little before your fruit trees. That way, even if they emerge early they will stay in the area. Mason bees seem to have a strong preference for fruit trees, so you don't need to worry about other flowers distracting the bees from the fruit trees once they start to bloom. Some of the native plant blossoms are not as sensitive to cold temperatures as the crop type fruit trees. Willows come to mind for my area, but each area is different. Have a look around to see what is blooming now in your area. If you can get some of these plants started in your area, it will make the timing of emergence a lot easier and decrease the danger of dispersal due to lack of food.

danab_z9_la (Dan) - I hope this information from a homemaker will make your research day for you. You will find USDA (United Stated Department of Agriculture) information at the link below on preparation of fruits (including figs) for dehydrating, and it may help answer your other questions - so read it carefully and take notes. Maybe you haven't studied this yet, but storage time of all food, including home-dehydrated foods, depends on several things: 1.) Heat 2.) Light 3.) Moisture 4.) Oxygen Shelf-life of storage foods are usually calculated at an "average temperature", often called "room temperature" which is usually 70-degrees F. To maximize the shelf-life the optimum storage temperature would be between 40-60-degrees F. for "room-temperature" storage. Zero-degrees F or colder for even longer storage time, and the food will also maintain more nutritional value at freezer temperatures. If you are going to freeze the food, you may want to use a method called DEHYDROFREEZING which is a combination of partially dehydrating the food and then freezing it. Fruit will normally have 80% of the moisture removed during dehydrating (you can weigh your food before drying, and then post-drying to determine how much moisture has been removed - Figs contain about 78% water before drying - you do the math...). When you use dehydrofreezing you dehydrate 70% of the moisture BUT the food MUST be stored in the freezer to avoid bacteria growth. Benefits of dehydrofreezing: the fruit will have good flavor and color and they reconstitute in about one-half the time it takes for traditionally dried foods. Information you can easily find in books at your local library on the subject, or on-line, will show most dried fruit can be stored in an air-tight container (NOT vacuum-sealed or with an oxygen absorber) for one year at 60-degrees F, or six months at 80-degrees F. Vegetables have about half the shelf-life of fruits because fruits contain sugar and sugar extends shelf-life. Extend that time to double normal storage time by vacuum-sealing (oxygen-free). Extend it even longer by vacuum-sealing AND storing in the freezer. Information from "How To Dry Foods" by Deanna DeLong (a book commonly found in libraries, or available through Inter-Library Loan - or purchase it through Amazon.com): Figs are excellent for drying. Storage time for best quality at 34-degrees F - 18-24-months or 5-8-years at 0-degrees F. Three pounds of fresh figs makes 1-pound dried. Fifty-five percent of the weight of dried figs is natural sugar. Check out the book for more information including: -varieties best for drying -which fruit to select -water content before drying -how to prepare figs -pretreatment (if any) -drying temperature -dryness test -how to use Oddly enough, I pulled all this information from my home library and information I teach in home-dehydrating classes I give. No big Government Research Grant funding this - just a nice person who took my personal time to enlighten someone doing (ah hem) "research". -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Drying Fruits

ROYAL JELLY - HIVEFUL OF HEALING from Better Nutrition, December 1994 by James F. Scheer Royal jelly is a favorite supplement of Barbara Cartland, mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most prolific romance novelist of all time -- more than 500 published books. She is also known as England's "First Lady of Nutrition." Several years ago, when I interviewed her in her 55-room mansion, Camfield Place, in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, she made a point to mentioning that she uses every product from the hive, including bee propolis and, particularly, royal jelly. "Do you know that the queen bee, nurtured on royal jelly, is 40 to 60 percent larger than worker bees and lives 40 times longer -- for years, compared with seven or eight weeks -- and, each day, lays from 2,000 to 4,000 eggs, weighing two and one half times her own body weight?" Barbara asked me. "One of the last studies on royal jelly coming out of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., revealed that chickens fed royal jelly laid twice as many eggs as the others, and even the older hens on retirement started laying eggs again." "Many remarkable cures have been realized by people who take royal jelly regularly," she added "There are enough such clinical reports to convince me that we should all take royal jelly daily with our other supplements." Ms. Cartland's friends and relatives in Buckingham Palace (she is related to Princess Diana) are also believers in royal jelly. Palace sources say that most of the royal family takes royal jelly regularly, and that Princess Margaret, for example, who was dogged by chronic fatigue, went on this supplement and regained her optimism, zest and energy. Nutrition authorities all over the world are enthusiastic about the myriad health uses for royal jelly. James F. Balch, M.D., and Phyllis A. Balch in their book, Prescription for Nutritional Healing, write: "Royal jelly is known to aid in liver disease, pancreatitis, insomnia, stomach ulcers, kidney disease, bone fractures and skin disorders, and as a potentiator for the immune system." Dr. Alfred Vogel, author of the perennial bestseller, The Nature Doctor, is equally sold on royal jelly and its widespread contributions to health. "Royal jelly not only vitalizes and rejuvenates through its efforts on the endocrine glands, but also successfully combats whooping cough, especially in children," Vogel said. "It has been found that children with a weak constitution soon pick up and have better appetites when on royal jelly." He also said that, "Benefits can also be obtained in cases of bronchitis, mi-graine, stomach and gallbladder troubles, digestive disorders, bad nerves and the peculiar kind of fatigue resulting from weak functioning of the endocrine glands. These and many other health I problems can be improved considerably, if not cured, by taking royal jelly regularly." "Moreover," he added, "it is maintained that people with a predisposition to cancer will benefit from a regular intake of royal jelly...." Royal jelly has some amazing medicinal properties. Some years ago, Dr. Murray S. Blum, of Louisiana State University, and associates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, discovered that royal jelly contains an antibiotic almost one-quarter as active as penicillin, without the side effects. Further, the researchers discovered that royal jelly stops the growth of bacteria that cause skin infections, such as welts and boils, as well as intestinal infections. Royal jelly is both an antibiotic and bactericide, effective in treating virus-infected patients -- particularly with various types of flu and herpes virus. What is the specific ingredient in royal jelly that does this? English researchers have isolated the antimicro-bial substance and named it 10-hy-droxydec-2-enoic acid. Still other biochemists, working on the hypothesis of Dr. Roger Wyburn Mason, stating that rheumatoid arthritis is caused by harmful bacteria, have discovered that royal jelly is effective in relieving symptoms of arthritis. Given daily injections of 50 mg of pantothenic acid, the B vitamin, along with royal jelly, arthritics -- especially the vegetarians -- showed excellent improvement: less pain and far greater mobility. Why is royal jelly one of the most sought after supplements for the healthy and the not-so-healthy alike? Because it is an incredibly nutritious food. Biochemists find that it contains vitamins A, B Complex, C, D and E � with particular emphasis on the B Complex, namely, B1, B2, B3, B6, Bl2, biotin, folic acid and, of course, is especially rich in pantothenic acid, which is reputed to bolster the strength of the adrenal glands and to help reduce stress levels. "All the water-soluble vitamins of the B group are found together in royal jelly," writes Dr. A. Saenz of the Pasteur Institute in Paris in a paper, "Biology, Biochemistry and the Ther-apeutic Effects of Royal Jelly." He writes, "Physicians and biologists realize the prime role of the B vitamins in cellular respiration and in the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins." Royal jelly also supplies many min-erals, calcium, copper, iron, phosphorus, potassium, silicon and sulfur, as well as the eight amino acids essential to human life...plus 10 more. Another exciting nutrient found in royal jelly by researchers at the New York Medical College in Valhalla is a complex compound that acts like a natural hormone and stimulates the sex glands of women and men. This discovery tends to underscore the findings of French biochemists who concluded that royal jelly helps to overcome sterility and sexual insufficiencies such as frigidity and impotency. Still another French study discloses that women going through menopause took royal jelly for an unspecified period and appeared, by various physical signs, to look younger. The most remarkable fact was that some were again able to conceive. Royal jelly has widespread use throughout the world, as it is easily tolerated by most people, even the ill. Some research indicates that royal jelly may help life extension by revitaliz-ing endocrine glands in the manner of live cell therapy and by revving up the immune system. The late Paul Niehans, M.D., fa-mous for rejuvenating several wellknown historical figures, such as Sir Winston Churchill, with live cell therapy, once said that royal jelly is truly a rejuvenator. For external health care, as mentioned in Morton and Jean Walker's book, Sexual Nutrition, when royal jelly is spread on the face and neck in creams, lotions or beauty masks, it usu-ally softens skin and causes shallow wrinkles to fade. Also, several clinical researchers have found royal jelly to be effective in managing eczema, neurodermatitis and impetigo, a skin disease characterized by pustules. Such disorders usually accompany an extremely alkaline pH; royal jelly works to restore an acid skin mantle. Argentinean researchers Drs. J.R. Lamberti and L.G. Cornejo discovered that royal jelly contains a gelatinous amino acid which is a basic ingredient in collagen, essential to skin firmness and youthfulness. Collagen is a fibrous protein and a key part of connective tissue, which is a supporter and strengthener for the skin. These doctors use royal jelly for pa-tients in two ways: by mouth and by injection in the veins. When used in-travenously, the youthful-looking skin tone, the strengthened immune reaction and renewed energy were espe-cially marked in pathological cases. French biologist Professor foyer de Belvefer has devoted much of his life to studying royal jelly and finds that it seems to rejuvenate the endocrine glands and boost immunity. It also appears to strengthen the weak patients, benefit bronchitis as well as digestive disorders, gallbladder problems and migraines. Many of the health benefits of royal jelly were revealed by papers presented recently at the Second International Biogenetic Congress in Baden-Baden, Germany. For example, one of its little-known benefits is its ability to help relieve emotional disorders such as anxiety, depression, shock and senility, as well as chronic insomnia. A finding that calls for further testing is that of Chaim Kalman of Israel, whose paper on this subject is entitled "Royal Jelly's Effects on Faded Eyesight." Here is an excerpt from that paper: "A man came to me asking for royal jelly, as fresh as possible. He asked me how much he should take. I told him a tenth of a gram a day for at least three weeks. A week later he came to me and shouted excitedly, "I can really see!" Kalman continued, "When I questioned him, he told me he was under the strict observation of an ophthalmologist, because he could not see clearly. The doctor had not found any inflammation or deterioration or any other detectable fault, but had told the patient: "Take royal jelly. I read in a medical journal that it can improve eye-sight." It certainly did in this instance I received this info when I started with Jafra Cosmetics, as we have several products with Royal Jelly in them Feel free to check them out at www.myjafra.com/MLINDSEY. I hope this does not offend anyone, as I have been a member of GW for years, and have never even mentioned it. None of the people mentioned are associated with Jafra in any way.... Thanks Ladies...