Here is more info from from Iowa State. The link is below. "Bumble bees are big, fuzzy insects recognized by almost everyone by their robust shape and black and yellow coloration. The common species are 3/4 inch in length or more. Like honey bees, bumble bees live in a colony where the adults care for the young (larvae) produced by a single queen. Bumble bee nests are small compared to honey bees, as each nest contains only a few hundred individuals. Also, unlike honey bees, a bumble bee nest is annual and is used only one year and then abandoned. Bumble bees may re-appear in the same area from one year to the next but they do not reuse an old nest. Bumble bee colonies are usually underground in a deserted mouse or bird nest though they are occasionally found within wall cavities or even in the clothes drier vent. In the spring, each new queen selects a nest site and starts a new colony. She lines the cavity with dry grass or moss and then collects pollen and nectar to produce a stored food called "bee bread." Her first brood of offspring, (5 to 20), will all be workers (daughters) who take over the colony responsibilities of nest enlargement, food gathering and storage, and feeding and caring for the larvae. The queen continues to lay eggs throughout the summer. By late summer, new reproductive males and females (kings and queens) are produced. These mate on the wing and the fertilized females move to hibernation sites in the shelter of loose bark, hollow trees or other dry, protected places to lie dormant through the winter. The males and workers still in the colony die with frost or the first hard freeze. If the vicinity of a bumble bee nest can be avoided, then leave them alone and wait for them to die in the fall as the preferred "management" option. Live-trapping bumble bees for relocation is not practical and covering the nest entrance does not usually solve the problem." http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/bbumbleb.html Here is a link that might be useful: Bumble Bees

I have some minimal experience with chicken manure. Most of my experience is with rabbit manure which is quite different from chicken manure. It is said to have even more nitrogen than chicken manure. Rabbit manure is called a cold manure because it drops from the bunny's butt ready to be put in the garden, and I had an abundant supply until recently when the lady I got it from wanted to sell it. Now I have to find another source of manure for my watermelons. I did, and I put a lot of it around my watermelons, but now they are in the vining stage, and I wanted to side dress them with a high nitrogen substance. I found a chicken house where I could get some and laid it out on top of the bunny poop several inches from the melons, and they are growing nicely. I feel certain that chicken manure tea washed out to the young roots and contributed to the lush growth after the rain. I am not worried about pathogens because normal people do not eat watermelon roots. Normal people eat watermelons. On the other hand I put some fresh chicken manure in another place and thought I could put some clay in the hole near the place where the transplant roots would come out, but it was not enough. Those are not doing so good, and I will probably have to replace them with more transplant watermelons and some bunny poop that I forgot that I saved. I have one other chicken manure experience that I would like to share. Years ago when I did not know where I could get some manure, I grew tomatoes which were obviously needing some. My children were riding with me when I saw what I thought was manure in front of a chicken farm driveway on a rural paved road near my house. A truck had accidentally dropped a small load, and I looked around to see what I had on hand. Fortunately I found a whisk broom in my car with a Walmart bag, and I stopped the car to get out and sweep up the Godsend on that quiet country road. My young children thought I was crazy, but I went home and side dressed my tomatoes with a thin coat over what they were growing in, and it perked them up nicely. The moral of my stories is that from my few limited experiences I have found that very small amounts of fresh chicken manure can be used on vegetables if the roots do not grow directly into the stuff too quickly. A weakened highly diluted manure tea will probably not bother heavy feeders like tomatoes, watermelons or possibly cabbage (I have no chicken manure experience with cabbage, but I know they are heavy feeders).To be effective however the roots have to grow into something else like plain dirt, potting soil, compost, or other aged manure that is abundant.

hi there... dunno what part of CT you are in, but if u are in the tip connected to new york city and ever come to manhattan, the lower east side ecology center is awesome and cheap for worms. you can actually even get a subsidized bin for 10 bucks (bin+1lb worms) if you sign up for one of their workshops. or you can just preorder worms and pick up at the farmer's market in union square...i love these guys! i bring them my extra veggie scraps when the freezer overflows. they collect from ppl all over the city!

several years back friends had a halloween party every year that was top of the line. everyone came dressed to the hilt and the prizes were just excellent - not to mention the food and atmosphere. they went all out - moved furniture out of the house, turned it into a total thrill house. i miss those parties, but most of all i miss my friend. every year everybody tried to top their costume from the year before. a few times i won a certain category, but my best costume was a decomposing bride, which one me three prizes that year. i got an old wedding dress (it so ugly to begin with) from a thrift store and kind of made it worse with more ri[ps and tears and what not, stained it a little to make it faded and older looking. my make-up was amazing - total death face - my arms and hands all veiny and just gross. my hair was a tangled mess and teased in places with a few fake bugs thrown in and the veil, which was really just an odd piece of tulle with one of those kiddie tiaras, was in sad shape. i wore these funky shoes which were at one time white, but i muddied them, and then tied to the back of one of them, i dragged another one which made it look like my foot was dragging, and limped around throughtout the night. i carried a bride's purse stuffed with old cards - the envelopes that were yellowed and (fake) torn money. even my wrist corsage was pathetic. maryanne