Have you noticed there are an abundance of bees around this summer?
And the same goes for yellow jacket wasps.
It’s not your imagination.
I have lived or worked in Fountain Hills for more than 40 years now, and I’ve never seen anything like it. They have been particularly bad around our pool. As many as 20 bees have congregated at one point on a side of the pool wall just above the waterline.
And the wasps have been demonstrating their ability to walk on water too frequently.
The Arizona Republic had a story on bees on the front page of the Monday, June 22 edition. It said, “Bees usually flourish in two seasons in Arizona, between March and May and from August to October. But the rains yielded more flowers with a bounty of nectar and pollen.
“So, with plenty to eat and lots of time to make baby bees, there’s no summer vacation for this current brood.”
The result is two to three times as many honeybees as last year.
Now, here’s something I hadn’t heard before, one bee removal specialist quoted in the article, said, an estimated 80 percent of the honeybees in Arizona are Africanized, which tend to be more aggressive.
Our bee and wasp problem appears to have been solved. We picked up a product called Skili-lt at a local pool supply store. You pour it along the edge of the pool and brush it on trouble spots. It is an algaecide that also lowers the pool water’s surface tension. In doing so, the wasps can no longer walk on the surface of the water. With their wings soaked, they eventually sink and drown. We had 31 in our skimmer one day.
After a few days, they stopped hanging around our pool.
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The River of Time Museum is looking for items to auction off at the 12th Annual Italian Dinner fund-raiser set for Saturday, August 15.
Do you have an unused gift that you received from someone on your birthday or at Christmas, or maybe you have some decorative pieces that do not fit with your color scheme since you redecorated? You can call us up at the museum, and we’ll be glad to make arrangements to pick the item up if you can’t do it yourself.
The museum phone number is 837-2612.
Tickets will go on sale soon for the dinner. Phil Rodakis of Phil’s Filling Station restaurant is preparing and donating all of the food. It is traditionally the biggest annual fund-raiser for the museum.
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The Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center is sponsoring a free dance class on Saturday, July 28th.at Ballet Arizona. It is located at 2835 E. Washington Street in Phoenix. You will also learn new choreography from the “So You Think You Can Dance” choreographers. Debbie Braganza will teach the class. All the moves will be adapted for Parkinson’s patients. Please email: debbiebraganza@gmail.com if you are interested or have questions.
The event is part of the National Dance Day celebration originated by Nigel Lythgoe, a judge and originator of “So You Think You Can Dance.”
