Cooperative Living June 2015 - 6

MAILBAG
NEW HOME, SAME CO-OP
COVERAGE!
We enjoyed receiving your monthly
Cooperative Living magazine while living
on Lake Gaston in Bracey, Va.
(Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative)
from 2007 - 2014. Last year we
moved to Stanardsville, Va., near
Charlottesville, and what a delight it
was to discover we now are receiving
your magazine through our local
Rappahannock Electric Cooperative!
I feel we are " family " after moving
the distance, and am confident we are
in good hands with electric cooperative
electric linemen wherever we are!
A suggestion from us sleuth hunters
for an inclusion in your wonderful
magazine: a monthly search for a
hidden object, similar to the KIDS'
KORNER contest.
Donn and Sandy Reynolds
Stanardsville, Va.
ANOTHER WAY TO REMOVE TICKS
In reference to some of the recent
MAILBAG letters about ways to remove
ticks, here's another.
I use dish soap to remove ticks. I
use a cotton swab to apply soap. Wait
about five minutes, pull easy with
WHATZIT?
Each issue, we will
pub lish a photo of a familiar
but unidentified object.
You are invited to make
your best guess and send it
in writing with your name,
address, and phone number
to WHATZIT?, c/o Cooperat -
ive Living, P.O. Box 2340,
Glen Allen, VA 230582340;
or guess online at
www.co-opliving.com
under " Contests. " Dead -
line for entries is June 19
All correct entries will be
put into a drawing and a
winner announced in the
August 2015 issue. The
winner will re ceive a
check for $25. 
4
tweezers. I've been using this
method for years.
I use repellent to prevent
chigger bites, but they
still manage to get me,
anyway. Anyone got
any suggestions on
how to avoid chigger
bites?
Oscar Ames
Ruther Glen, Va.
THANKS FOR THE MAGAZINE
I always enjoy reading Cooperative
Living and generally sit down to read
it as soon as it arrives - the other
mail and magazines can wait.
The May issue just came and it's
filled with excellent articles about
things we need to know about and
places to visit: the great article on
honeybees reminds me I should attend
the regular meeting of beekeepers in
Victoria to find out more; we'll check
out the Farm Bus in Richmond and
talk to the owners, who are CSAminded
people, as we are; and Perky's
Restaurant is now on our list of places
to try. Other articles help confirm we're
on the right track converting our HVAC
to a modern heat pump, using the right
WRITE US!
NOTE
EMAIL
ADDRESS
We want to hear from you - comments, opinions, suggestions.
Your letter must be signed and legible. We reserve the right
to edit for grammar, style and length, with a 250-word
maximum for acceptance. Write: MAILBAG, P.O. Box
2340, Glen Allen, VA 23058-2340; or email
mailbag@co-opliving.com. Please include your name
and city/town of residence, with MAILBAG as the subject.
filters, installing the right size and type
of backup generator, and more.
Thanks for publishing and distributing
such a helpful and attractive
magazine.
David Chatfield
Blackstone, Va.
HONEYBEES ARE GREAT, BUT
HERE'S TO THE BLUE ORCHARD BEE!
In her May Cooperative Living cover
 DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS?
The March/April
2015 WHATZIT?
(r) was a horse's
muzzle. Reader
Beth Blye (l) of
Stephens City was our $25 winner.
Congratu lations, Beth!
story, Audrey Hingley does a masterful
job describing the plight of the honeybee
in today's agricultural " industry. "
Honey serves as a premier demonstration
of a usable byproduct, that
being of pollination. This article correctly
states that the honeybee was
first introduced to North America in
1622. Crops were pollinated quite
effectively before that date by another
bee that was native to Virginia, the
orchard mason bee. This bee does not
produce honey ― as a result it also
does not linger at flowers to collect
the large amounts of pollen necessary
for honey production. It moves much
more quickly from flower to flower.
" The blue orchard bee season is
early spring. Once they emerge they
promptly mate, search for empty holes
that are the right size and shape, and
go to work stocking their nests. The
favorite food for their brood is fruit
tree pollen plus some of their nectar.
Females collect this food, bring it to
their nests, and knead it into a ball,
mixing it with nectar and their own
saliva. Once they have a food store
that is big enough, they lay an egg on
top of this mass and seal-off the chamber
or cell. Afterward, they build a little
mud wall and start gathering food
for the subsequent cell. " (From the
USDA pamphlet on the blue orchard
Mason Bee (Osmia lignaria).
Cooperative Living/June 2015
http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living June 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cooperative Living June 2015
