I could agree and believe the OP as soon as I read it. A search for honey bee damage brought me to this forum. Two years ago my neighbor decided to become a bee keeper, and appears to be as commercial as he can get away with. I had harvested my fig tree for 8 yearsm but last year, the figs were totally destroyed by his bees. Before they were at the stage that I would pick them, they would have bees feeding off of them. The state of Florida has recently turned bee keepers into royalty by overriding any local concordances, and letting them pretty much do as they please. I tried many things last year, as I did not want to kill them. Next I will complain to the department of agriculture who supposedly regulates them, but I have had enough, and this year the pesticide will come out. If anyone knows of any groups that one could join to complain in Florida, or who wants to start one, please post up.

wayne: sounds like a perfect place to start a commercial (and organic) growing venture, and to have the distinction of being the first organic grower in your area--for SOMEONE. And I say, "for someone", because it's a tough row to hoe, as the old folks say, and requires a ton of fortitude and (financial) self-sacrifice when you're dealing with people who are totally unaware what really constitutes healthy food. I wouldn't encourage a person to invest all their resources in such a venture in a rural area as you mention, since it's usually a slow, learning process. And another serious consideration in growing fruits and vegetables for sale is that you're ALWAYS dealing with a perishable product. When something's ripe and ready to eat, it either has to be sold or--very shortly thereafter--discarded, at a total loss of time and effort and money. But as the price of organic produce becomes more in line with conventionally grown produce, it's an easy-enough choice for any enlightened person whether they prefer to eat vegetables and fruit contaminated with herbicides and pesticides, or those grown natually and organically, and free from chemical input, free from Genetic Modification, free from being fertilized with composted, human manure, free from irradiation, etc., etc., etc. If it sounds like I'm trying to sell a concept--I'm not. It matters not to me how much poison a person wishes to have sprayed on their food before they eat it; to each his own. I tired years ago of trying to educate the chemical generation (of which we're all a part) about healthy food. But all of us are here at this site because we're at least enlightened enough to want to learn about healthy food. As I said, it's a slow, learning process, and plenty of people are too busy struggling to survive to have the time to become enlightened about healthy food. Sadder yet, is to go to a chain and/or big-box grocey store in rural areas and watch people fill their carts with liter and two-liter bottles of carbonated sugar water to take home and feed their children. Then they wonder why Johnny and Susie can't learn or have an attention deficit. Eating health food is all about information--or the lack of it. One of the greatest achievements of the current Administration--in my mind--is Michelle Obama's dedication to the cause of proper diet for children in our schools, including the procurement of locally-grown food. A whole, new market for locally-grown food has been opened as schools and hospitals and other institutions that receive government funding are encouraged to procure locally-grown fruits and vegegtables and meat and dairy products--certainly a concept long overdue. And for the rural area I mentioned where I sell produce, people are coming around. There will always be people in rural areas who have enough money--which buys time--to learn about healthy food; and that's a beginning, and by extension, an example for others to follow. For others, I tell them it's food like their grandfathers used to grow, without chemicals and other weird inputs. And the taste of pure, unadulterated, healthily-grown, organic fruit and vegetables seals the deal. (We do grow fruit in the vegetable garden: watermelons and cantaloupes and strawberries and blackberries and raspberries, for example.) I used to write a garden column in our county newspaper for many years, and each Spring--about this time of year--I would write that, "It's time to put seeds to soil, to begin our organic vegetable gardens, and to grow the healthiest, tastiest, most nutritious, vine-ripened fruits and vegetables that nature can produce. Kings don't eat any better." And of course, it couldn't be more true. No amount of money, power, or prestiege can provide one with better food than can be grown by each of us who take the time and effort to do it in our own home gardens. Therein lies the end-result, joy of gardening: to eat the freshest, most tasty and healthy food that can be produced, and we know it to be so, because we grew it ourselves--organically.

This from "You Bet Your Garden" "Bees" Nesting in the Ground? Wasp OutÂÂthey might be Yellowjackets! Q. Mike: We have vegetables growing in an above ground garden made of logs. About six inches from one of the plants is the entrance to an underground bee's nest. Is there something I could just pour in there, like vinegar, that would get the bees without poisoning the soil? Thanks,          ---Gary Herrmann; Bala Cynwyd, PA I have a yellowjacket nest under a decorative boulder in my front garden. One nailed me above the kneecap last Saturday. It felt like a 4-penny nail was stuck in there. I am against killing any bugs just for convenience sake, but I need to get rid of these pests. They are too darn dangerous. Any suggestions for an organic way to drive them away? Keeping it green...          ---Rich Beaumont; Haycock Twp, Bucks County, PA Mike: We have wasp-like insects (about 2" long with striped abdomens) living in perfectly round holes in the ground in our front flowerbeds. They make these piles of dirt that look like sawdust when they dig out their holes. They havenÂt tried to sting us, but they are right around the front door, and I'd love to get rid of them. They have been visiting us every summer for 3-4 years now. I try to fill in the holes in the fall, but no luck so far. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you,          ---Cindy Lefkowitz; Havertown, PA  A. We get a lot of calls this time of year from anxious homeowners about "ground nesting bees". There are two insects with stingers you might notice emerging from holes in your lawn or flowerbed right now, but neither are bees. (The only bees that nest in the ground are gentle pollinators that are only active in the Spring.) If, like Cindy, the black and yellow insects you see are around two inches long, relax; those are the famous cicada-killing wasps and they have no interest in stinging you. The males donÂt have stingers, and the rarely-seen females often wonÂt even sting when provoked! And besides, their season of dragging giant cicadas into those holes for their young to feed upon is almost done. To prevent their harmless presence NEXT year, keep your ground covered with plants or mulch; they only make their solitary nests in bare soil. If those insects are under an inch long, however, do NOT relax. Those are yellowjackets, a type of highly aggressive wasp, not a bee. Although technically beneficial because they eat pest insects, yellowjackets are responsible for almost all of the so-called Âbee sting deaths in the United States. They like to sting people, each insect can sting repeatedly, they generally attack in large numbers, and they can bite ya too. They are especially dangerous this time of year. Their nests have gotten HUGE, and the workers are on a constant prowl for food.  To keep individual wasps out of your outdoor areas, donÂt leave pet food or human food outside, and keep trash sealed tight. Oh and take it from meÂalways give opened cans of soda a little shake before drinking. Talk about ouch! And if youÂve got a nest in a frequently-used area, it must be destroyed. InsecticidesÂnatural or organicÂarenÂt recommended this late in the season; the nests are so big and intricate that the sprays canÂt reach the inner layers. The best way IÂve found to destroy a nest is to smother it. Fill a wheelbarrow with a big load of ice (like from a motel ice machineÂits just the right size) and quickly dump it over the hole on a cool evening after the scouts have gone inside for the night. The cold will prevent their attacking you. Then cover the hole and the area around it with a heavy tarp weighted down with bricks, a piece of sheet metal, a big wooden board or other heavy object. Then cover that with soil or wood chips. Or cover the hole with a thick piece of clear plastic, seal the edges tight to the ground, and the nest will cook in the sun once the ice melts. Be sure and pick a cool night when these dangerous wasps will be unable to respond quicklyÂand Âbee carefulÂ! Traps are the most effective way to capture yellowjackets trying to muscle in on a picnic or other outdoor eventÂand they can also be used to cut the numbers in an underground nest. You can buy ready-made traps at any hardware store or make you own: Just remove the cap from a glass or plastic container, drive a single hole into it with a Phillips-head screwdriver, put a bit of bait in the container, and put the cap back on. To keep the pests away from your picnic, place the traps on the outskirts of your outdoor area. To reduce the numbers in a nest, place lots of traps near the nest in the cool of the eveningÂwhen the wasps wonÂt be active. Try two different kinds of baitÂput some spoiled ham or smelly pet food in half the traps and some apple juice or a piece of rotting peach in the rest. Some times the pests want sugar, sometimes meat. Either way, theyÂll fly in for the food, but they wonÂt be able to fly out. Last year, an inventive YBYG listener told us that they had used one of those backyard bug zappers to destroy a nest. The listener simply set the zapper right near the entrance to the nestÂagain, always do this on a cool eveningÂand then turned it on. The aggressive wasps kept flying out trying to sting the zapper and were eventually all electrocuted. FinallyÂa good use for those otherwise useless zappers! And just this year, weÂve heard from two different YBYG listeners-- Phil Getty from New Hope, PA and Jim Lauther of Pine Hill, New JerseyÂwho used shop vacs to capture the pests as they flew out of their underground nests. Both attached their longest extension poles to the end of their vacuum hoses, positioned the poles close to the openings, turned the machines on and let them run. Both reported great success. (This is much the same solution the pros use when the pests build a nest in the wall of a house.) If youÂd like to try it, position the hose of your shop vac right near the opening of the nest on a cool evening and then turn it on the next day. Be sure to leave the vac on for a LONG time; there could be five thousand yellowjackets in a nest this time of year. Be sure to plug the hose right away when youÂre done so they donÂt fly back out and take revenge. Then leave the vac sit in the sun for a few days to kill the occupants. [Note: I sent an advance copy of this answer to our three Âquestioners and JUST got this response back from one: "Read the article you sent about using a shop vac, and decided to give it a try. I stuck it on the opening, turned it on and ran away. Let it run for about an hour, then hit some wood near the nest with a hammer to make sure no more bees were in there, and none came out. Two days later, I opened up the shop vac and it was full of former bees. Very coolÂand no poisons near the garden. Thanks very much for the advice; Gary Herrmann." Thank YOU for the report, Gar!] Sensational First Aid for ANY Sting! Get a jar of AdolphÂs meat tenderizer and keep it nearby whenever youÂre outdoors. That way, if you DO get stung by one of these aggressive wasps, you can cure it instantly! Just wet the area, shake some of the AdolphÂs (or any papain/papaya-based meat tenderizer) onto the sting, cover it with a damp napkin or cloth and the same enzymes that break down tough cuts of meat will denature the protein-based venom. ItÂll be like you were never stung! Of course, if youÂre allergic to Âbee stingsÂ, donÂt go anywhere without your emergency injector this time of year. You Bet Your Garden  ©2004 Mike McGrath

One need not live in a tropical or sub-tropical area to be overwhelmed by plants! I hybridize Daylilies (Hemerocallis)and was not able to plant a single seed for three years as I was out of room to plant them out! I did try growing out several in pots, but Mother Nature took them all away from me last winter! Fickle lady, mother nature! I also am hybridizing the "Candy Lilies" and "Blackberry Lilies, which are actually members of the Iris Genus. I grow all types of Liliums and other perennials plus quite a few annuals that self sow and come back every year (mostly Snapdragons)and I save seed from good old Coleus and have several as potted plants as well as in ground plants of them. My outside garden begins to wake in late February/early March when the Snow Crocus and Grecian Windflowers make their appearance and continues until a hard frost knocks back the "Toad Lilies" and Mums. But then there is the indoor garden (that summers outside) and there are Tropical Hibiscus, several varieties of Lantana, various "house trees", numerous cacti and succulents, a few (12) Orchids, Clivia miniata and 15+ seedlings from mixed color hybrids and the Hippeastrums - 40+ named varieties a few mature seedlings from my first cross (a test and 70 or so new seedlings from last winter. Oh I must not forget the terrarium - a 55 gallon fish tank, that has 4 African Violets (2 minies, 2 standards and all are Variegated foliage) a Silver Spotted Philodendron and a small "Earth Star" bromeliad. While most of these "indoor" plants are grown under lights in the basement, all of my windows are also filled - and this time of year the hippies fill the space. Yeah, I know all about running out of space and there not ever being enough room to grow everything that I would like to! I even have space on a neighbors veggie garden for my overflow of Daylily seedlings and that still isn't enough! Most of my cacti and some of my succulent were rescued plants from Lowe's as were most of my Orchids (Phalaenopsis), I hate to see a plant thrown away because it didn't sell. Most of my Hosta were rescued from a dumpster as well as several shrubs and perennial plants! I can barely take care of what I have and I still want more! Here's a view of the basement light garden from winter 08/09: And this s just one side of one set of shelves!