Mosquitoes, Scissors and Apples
There now, the increase in gardeners saving rainwater has lead to an increase in the mosquito population. That is the increase in open water collection containers. As anyone who has done even basic Biology will know, mosquitoes lay their eggs in stagnant water, where they hatch into wriggling larvae which congregate at the surface of the water to breathe air. They then metamorphose into pupae, still at the water surface, and eventually hatch into the flying insects. Which is where we, and any other warm-blooded creatures, come in.
Female mosquitoes need blood to be able to produce eggs. Hence they'll seek out anyone/thing with warm blood. So what can be done about this? Hmmm. Well, apparently the mosquito problem is particularly emphasized in areas of allotments - mainly because most of the water containers are open to the air. Thus female mosquitoes wanting to lay eggs have access to all these ready-made 'pools' of stagnant water.
Some gardeners seek to get around this by floating a layer of oil on top of the water. Organic gardeners may use olive oil. Oil reduces the surface tension of the water, the mosquito larvae rely on surface tension to stay up and breathing, in oiled water they tend to drown. Other enterprising allotmenteers put goldfish into their water tanks in the hope that the goldfish will eat the mosquito larvae and pupae. Just think, if they used an edible form of top-feeding fish they could grow two crops at once and keep the mosquito population down!
Now the intelligent Reader will already be asking, "Why don't they just put covers on their water containers?" That's what we have, a plastic cover on the one butt, and a sheet of marine-grade plywood over the other. The plywood cover, being flat, means we can put pots and troughs of plants on top of it, thus increasing the floriferous and productive area available. I think part of the problem with covering allotment-style water containers is that quite a few of them are old baths, or troughs and covering them would require quite large pieces of marine-grade ply. That and it's really quick and easy to fill a watering can from a trough - you just dunk it under the surface. Of course, that wouldn't preclude you covering said trough, you'd just have to remember to re-cover it after use.
Whatever, the mosquito population is on the up. Now all we need is an allotmenteer to return from holiday in a malarial area, not continue his course of quinine, get bitten and lo - the UK could become a malarial area, again. What with climate change and the UK becoming warmer mosquitoes would survive better too. Never mind the possibility of someone bringing in Ebola, malaria is a much more dangerous disease. Look at how it is still ravaging countries of South America, Africa, India and the tropical Islands. It's one of the main causes of death. It's a primary infection which lowers a person's immune system sufficiently that they can get other diseases, eg: TB, AIDS, and then die of that.
No, Dear Reader, I am not trying to scare monger. Just go put a cover on your rainwater collection tank, please. Even 'healthy' mosquitoes are a bit of a pain - literally. Specially should the bite get infected. I know, I still have the scar from a bite I had back when I was six!
And writing of bites - the Edinburgh Festival has officially started. Should you be in Scotland you can go to Glasgow for the sport, today and tomorrow, then cross to Edinburgh for the culture - for the next three weeks. Having shown you the Queen photobombing last week, have a videobombing dinosaur! Hey, the 'saur is Australian, what did you expect?
Staying with sharpnesses, this time sharp edges and, possibly, points - Scissors. Scissors Made in Britain. Ernest Wright and Son Ltd may be the last factory in Britain still making scissors by hand. Last year it looked as if the factory would have to close. Then Shaun Bloodworth made a video about how the scissors were made. He posted it online, it went viral, and the rest, as they say, is history. Orders flooded in from all over for Wright and Son's scissors, which can last upwards of fifty years if looked after. Should you be interested, Dear Reader, I'm sure a short search will provide results, and, possibly, wonderful scissors. Just don't lose them, or try something silly like opening a paint can with them! Mind you, bearing in mind the built-in obsolescence of most things today, I wonder how long Wright and Son can carry on making long-lasting scissors before they saturate the market?
Well will you look at that! For the first time ever I got seven out of seven questions right in the Quiz of the week's news. Talk about educated guesses, usually I get four or three right!
After yesterday's news about Eastbourne pier, a brief look at other piers around the country and how they've faired. So far, from the map at least, there are still more piers in existence than have been destroyed, though I suppose, for many, it's only a matter of time.
And Finally - Poles are eating more apples, to annoy President Putin of Russia*! It's an internet campaign, but, as such things do, it's gaining momentum. Apparently on Wednesday Russia announced a ban on some fruit and vegetables imports - including apples, from Poland "for sanitary reasons". Polish food producers say that the ban is politically motivated, a response to EU sanctions, which Russia denies, of course. So the "eat apples" campaign began - see here, here and here (mostly in Polish). As around half of the Polish apple harvest used to be shipped to Russia, I can see that the Poles have a point. At least if each Pole eats an apple a day they will be supporting their apple producers somewhat.
There are other amusing things in the News today - eg: the Indian government hiring men to dress up as monkeys to scare away real monkeys from the parliament and government buildings, there are any number of tragedies too, but that's the News for you. Y'all have a good day now!
*It may not have that much effect on Putin or Russian foreign policy, particularly towards Poland, but at least people can do something to show their feelings without provoking a military-type response. This is well worth bearing in mind when you live near Russia! Just wondering but maybe the Palestinians could launch a similar type campaign against Israel. Israel could hardly justify bombing them for posting messages on Twitter. Could it? Or at least not without looking very, very, very Bad. Like worse than it does at present.
Female mosquitoes need blood to be able to produce eggs. Hence they'll seek out anyone/thing with warm blood. So what can be done about this? Hmmm. Well, apparently the mosquito problem is particularly emphasized in areas of allotments - mainly because most of the water containers are open to the air. Thus female mosquitoes wanting to lay eggs have access to all these ready-made 'pools' of stagnant water.
Some gardeners seek to get around this by floating a layer of oil on top of the water. Organic gardeners may use olive oil. Oil reduces the surface tension of the water, the mosquito larvae rely on surface tension to stay up and breathing, in oiled water they tend to drown. Other enterprising allotmenteers put goldfish into their water tanks in the hope that the goldfish will eat the mosquito larvae and pupae. Just think, if they used an edible form of top-feeding fish they could grow two crops at once and keep the mosquito population down!
Now the intelligent Reader will already be asking, "Why don't they just put covers on their water containers?" That's what we have, a plastic cover on the one butt, and a sheet of marine-grade plywood over the other. The plywood cover, being flat, means we can put pots and troughs of plants on top of it, thus increasing the floriferous and productive area available. I think part of the problem with covering allotment-style water containers is that quite a few of them are old baths, or troughs and covering them would require quite large pieces of marine-grade ply. That and it's really quick and easy to fill a watering can from a trough - you just dunk it under the surface. Of course, that wouldn't preclude you covering said trough, you'd just have to remember to re-cover it after use.
Whatever, the mosquito population is on the up. Now all we need is an allotmenteer to return from holiday in a malarial area, not continue his course of quinine, get bitten and lo - the UK could become a malarial area, again. What with climate change and the UK becoming warmer mosquitoes would survive better too. Never mind the possibility of someone bringing in Ebola, malaria is a much more dangerous disease. Look at how it is still ravaging countries of South America, Africa, India and the tropical Islands. It's one of the main causes of death. It's a primary infection which lowers a person's immune system sufficiently that they can get other diseases, eg: TB, AIDS, and then die of that.
No, Dear Reader, I am not trying to scare monger. Just go put a cover on your rainwater collection tank, please. Even 'healthy' mosquitoes are a bit of a pain - literally. Specially should the bite get infected. I know, I still have the scar from a bite I had back when I was six!
And writing of bites - the Edinburgh Festival has officially started. Should you be in Scotland you can go to Glasgow for the sport, today and tomorrow, then cross to Edinburgh for the culture - for the next three weeks. Having shown you the Queen photobombing last week, have a videobombing dinosaur! Hey, the 'saur is Australian, what did you expect?
Staying with sharpnesses, this time sharp edges and, possibly, points - Scissors. Scissors Made in Britain. Ernest Wright and Son Ltd may be the last factory in Britain still making scissors by hand. Last year it looked as if the factory would have to close. Then Shaun Bloodworth made a video about how the scissors were made. He posted it online, it went viral, and the rest, as they say, is history. Orders flooded in from all over for Wright and Son's scissors, which can last upwards of fifty years if looked after. Should you be interested, Dear Reader, I'm sure a short search will provide results, and, possibly, wonderful scissors. Just don't lose them, or try something silly like opening a paint can with them! Mind you, bearing in mind the built-in obsolescence of most things today, I wonder how long Wright and Son can carry on making long-lasting scissors before they saturate the market?
Well will you look at that! For the first time ever I got seven out of seven questions right in the Quiz of the week's news. Talk about educated guesses, usually I get four or three right!
After yesterday's news about Eastbourne pier, a brief look at other piers around the country and how they've faired. So far, from the map at least, there are still more piers in existence than have been destroyed, though I suppose, for many, it's only a matter of time.
And Finally - Poles are eating more apples, to annoy President Putin of Russia*! It's an internet campaign, but, as such things do, it's gaining momentum. Apparently on Wednesday Russia announced a ban on some fruit and vegetables imports - including apples, from Poland "for sanitary reasons". Polish food producers say that the ban is politically motivated, a response to EU sanctions, which Russia denies, of course. So the "eat apples" campaign began - see here, here and here (mostly in Polish). As around half of the Polish apple harvest used to be shipped to Russia, I can see that the Poles have a point. At least if each Pole eats an apple a day they will be supporting their apple producers somewhat.
There are other amusing things in the News today - eg: the Indian government hiring men to dress up as monkeys to scare away real monkeys from the parliament and government buildings, there are any number of tragedies too, but that's the News for you. Y'all have a good day now!
*It may not have that much effect on Putin or Russian foreign policy, particularly towards Poland, but at least people can do something to show their feelings without provoking a military-type response. This is well worth bearing in mind when you live near Russia! Just wondering but maybe the Palestinians could launch a similar type campaign against Israel. Israel could hardly justify bombing them for posting messages on Twitter. Could it? Or at least not without looking very, very, very Bad. Like worse than it does at present.