8
in other words
may16
2019
Diggin’ in The Dirt: Spring Arrives, But Rain Doesn’t
By Chip Bubl
Oregon State University
Extension Service - Columbia County
Will we have fruit?
Cold weather may have affected
fruit set. Two factors are in play. First,
if at your location, blossoms faced sub-
freezing temperatures, they may be dam-
aged. With apples we can lose a lot of
bloom and still have a crop if late or early
blooms set fruit. With cherries, we want
all the fruit we can get, so each blossom
lost is significant. That said, blooms in
many locations were slow to open which
might help.
Second, honeybees have been
sluggish. There are lots of reports of
dead hives. Varroa mites and running
short of food in the very cold February
through April period are probably, alone
or in combination, to blame. Mason bees
emerged and are active. This is a hard
year to read.
Spring arrives, but rain doesn’t
We finally got some great gar-
dening weather. Cold warmed to cool
and then warmed to quite pleasant. But
concern is building about the amount of
moisture in our soils. Rainfall from the
beginning of our “water year” (which
starts October 1) through this week is
about 9 inches below normal! We are 5
inches below normal since the start of
2019. This is Scappoose data and Ver-
nonia might be different. But the impli-
cations for gardeners are clear. We must
start watering woody plants, especially
ones that were planted either this year or
last. They may not have enough of a root
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system to cope with meager soil mois-
ture. Deep watering will help. Garlic,
which rarely needs May water, should be
watered. Same with blueberries, straw-
berries, and possibly black and Marion
berries. Earlier water will be needed for
fruit trees, especially those on “dwarf-
ing” rootstocks. Commercial farmers of
these crops and others are now in full ir-
rigation mode.
Columbia County has been
heavily logged over the past three to four
years. A lot of young Douglas fir and
other seedlings were planted this spring.
Their survival now is in question. The
earlier they were planted, the better.
The larger picture is grim.
Stream flow could fall
precipitously,
putting
salmon and other aquatic
species at risk. Insects
that need pollen and/
or succulent tissues to
consume may not find
enough to eat. Birds and
bats that eat insects may
struggle.
On a larger scale,
there could be a greater
risk from forest or field
fires. Learn what you can
do to protect your house
and property.
It is possible that rain will come
later but history indicates that is very un-
likely.
Large ant hills
I get a number of calls each year
about large ant mounds created by the
western thatching ant. The mounds are
created from plant debris consisting in
our area mainly of grass stems, fir nee-
dles, and small twigs. In my experience,
most of the mounds are constructed on
the edge of a forest/hedgerow and pas-
ture. Sometimes, they can be found
deep in a forest but that is less com-
mon. The western thatching ant (For-
mica obscuripes) is responsible for all
the work. The mounds start small, as all
great construction must, but can rise to
significant stature. We had one mound
on the edge of our forest that was about
five feet tall and at least four feet across.
That particular colony was at least 15
years old. But three years ago, it was
abandoned. Each colony may contain as
many as one million ants, though colo-
nies are usually half that or less.
The queens (yes, they often
have more than one) are kept deeply
hidden in the structure. As the weather
warms, the large caste worker ants go
into high gear, collecting juicy bits from
any stray caterpillar or dead mouse in
the vicinity. The middle caste ants are
aphid ranchers, tending “their” aphids
as they suck the sugars from plants like
Canada thistle and a variety of trees
and shrubs. In turn, the ants protect the
aphids from lady beetles and wasps that
want to eat them. It appears that an ant
has its own work site and will return to
a given aphid-covered thistle stem every
day. The ants eat very small amounts of
fresh plant material. The smallest ants
tend the brood and queen.
Unlike carpenter ants, there
are no mass nuptial flights. The winged
males and females tend to emerge sin-
gly and mate, often not flying at all.
The female only accepts one male, un-
like most ant queens. Then it gets more
interesting. Often, the fertilized queen
will return to the nest and join the other
queens in producing brood. Sometimes,
she will gather a group of workers of all
three castes and form a new nest nearby.
Where ranges overlap, the queen can en-
ter the nest of a F. rufa or other related
species, bite the head off the queen and
convince the workers by her chemical
communication skills to tend her brood.
Ultimately, the nest converts to F. ob-
scuripes.
The black bodied, red headed
ants will bite when provoked. Their
Vernonia’s Voice is published twice each
month on the 1 st and 3 rd Thursday.
Look for our next issue on June 6.
strong mandibles deliver a formic acid-
laced jolt that can be quite painful. But
that response generally happens only
when you mess with the nest. Otherwise,
these clever ants are considered the gar-
bage detail of the forest. They consume
pests, recycle small carcasses, and cap-
ture termite queens in August. There are
hints, though no definitive research, that
thatching ants compete with carpenter
ants for the same food sources and may
reduce the carpenter ant colonies where
they overlap with theirs. Thatching
ants do not invade your house and chew
wood like carpenter ants.
They are beneficial and unless
they make the mistake of putting their
nest in a very inappropriate
place (like in the middle of
your garden) they should be
left alone. With the western
tent caterpillar outbreak
gathering steam in parts of
Columbia County, thatch-
ing ants will be feasting on
the caterpillars and help-
ing to contain their spread.
In Europe, you are specifi-
cally asked not to kill the
colonies since they are so
important to forest health.
Free newsletter (what a
deal!)
The Oregon State University
Extension office in Columbia County
publishes a monthly newsletter on gar-
dening and farming topics (called Coun-
try Living) written/edited by yours truly.
All you need to do is ask for it and it
will be mailed or emailed to you. Call
(503) 397-3462 to be put on the list. Al-
ternatively, you can find it on the web at
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/colum-
bia/ and click on newsletters.
Take excess produce to the food bank,
senior centers, or community meals
programs. Cash donations to buy food
are also greatly appreciated.
The Extension Service offers its pro-
grams and materials equally to all
people.
Contact information for the Extension
office
Oregon State University
Extension Service – Columbia County
505 N. Columbia River Highway
(across from the Legacy clinic)
St. Helens, OR 97051
(503) 397-3462
Email: chip.bubl@oregonstate.edu
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