Widow-makers, Org Charts, Burning "tin" cans and Prices

Widow-makers

The hanging stem of the black cherry (Prunus serotina) was taken care of. I used a pole pruner to cut the grape vines I could reach. I used the chainsaw to do a little more cutting. I used a tow-strap to yank it down (Thanks Sam!!!). 

1970s CEO Office Org Chart

It looks like it also served as an attendance chart. Perhaps the square covered a black background or the tab was flipped around. If the person did not up (or the position was not filled) it showed black.

That is very 2020s, i.e. Visual Management. And it did not require that he log onto a computer to see where things were going to be spicy that day.

Bees 

I drove to The Property that I am managing by way of a different route. I saw a sign where somebody claimed to be a Bee-keeper. I called the number on the sign.

He was not home. He was picking up his wife at a local airport.

He was not interested in putting a beehive in the orchard. He lost 15 colonies over the winter.

"No problem. It didn't cost me anything to ask." I said.

Then he asked me where I was.

I told him the property was about a mile west of his home-base. That got his attention. Beekeepers attend to their hives about once very two weeks. Having hives close enough to visit but far enough away that they are not competing with their home-hives is a good thing.

"Tell me a little bit more about your property" he encouraged me.

"Small orchard. Lots of goldenrod in the fall. A little bit of Autumn Olive. A Black Locust grove about 3/8 of a mile away..." and then he was very interested.

If I read the tea-leaves right, he will be dropping off a few "trap hives" and positioning them to (hopefully) capture some swarms to build his business back up. With bee packages running about $150, he doesn't have to collect very many swarms to make parking some of his empty hive-bodies on The Property worth his while.

What do I expect out of it? Good Karma. Beekeepers are super-connectors. They talk to everybody. If we work out a deal that is mostly to his advantage (say a quart of honey for every swarm he collects off The Property) then word will get around that I am a "good guy".

That may sound weird to an urban person. But a "good guy" is not targeted by rural yutes for harassment. They pick "Ass-holes" and "Pr!cks of misery" to be the targets of donuts on lawns, water balloons filled with herbicide, road-kill bouquets for the dog to roll in, security lights getting shot-out and other rural fun. Getting labeled as a "good guy" by one of the local gray-beards is partial shielding from the normal wild-oats sowing, shielding that cannot be purchased with money.

I planted the last tree for 2025 over at Southern Belle's

It was a grafted, Illinois Everbearing Mulberry that is an honest 10' tall (12' if you include roots). I can hear Erin chuckling..."Yeah, last tree. I heard that before". Erin is one of my plant-junkie friends.

I like moving mulberry trees. The roots are fleshy and easy to cut. The recover well from transplanting as long as they get a good drink of water afterward.

I also did the last grafts (Erin still chuckling in the background) on a pear seedling that was growing beside their driveway. I put three grafts of Concorde and two of an early pear (Harrow Delight or Harvest Queen) on it. I left a few branches of the seedling because I am curious. Maybe this tree has awesome pears. The only way to find out is to let it fruit and sample it.

Burning the lacquer off of "tin" cans

The hot-ticket for direct planting of nuts like pecans or acorns where squirrels are an issue is to protect the nut with a tin-can. The bottom of the can is cut with an "X" and the points of the "X" pushed outwards. Dig the hole. Position the nut. Add another inch or two of dirt. Push the tin-can over the dirt/nut. Cover with more dirt.

The squirrel, smelling the nut, will attempt to dig up the nut but will be stymied by the sharp points-and-edges and the small opening. The sprouting that arises from the nut will be funneled through the opening in the "bottom" (but now top) of the can.

The problem is that the plastic coating on the metal prevents the can from rusting. It can cause the can to last long enough to girdle the young tree.

The solution is to toss the can into a fire long enough to burn the coating off of the steel. To you, the picture might look like a bunch of burnt, tin-cans. To me it looks like the start of a forest of pecan trees.

Watching prices with interest

I laid in a six-month-supply of coffee yesterday. It cost $22, which is 10 "cheap" coffees at Starbucks (without the tip). A couple of years ago it cost $15 for the same amount of coffee.

I also shopped 5000BTU window air conditioners. I was surprised that the prices seemed almost reasonable. I assume that the big-box stores are selling out of existing, pre-tariff inventory and not pricing for full replacement-cost.

That suggests that either the management is incompetent or that they don't expect the high prices to be permanent.

There was a larger range of prices than usual. Walmart's least expensive unit was a Midea (made in China) at $159, Lowes $159, Amazon $145, Menards $128 *after rebate. Of course, it could be management reacting to the different range of exposure to tariffs on Chinese manufactured goods. Manufacturers with more exposure have more risk and are likely to adjust prices more quickly.