Bugs World

Hello,

I am not sure what conditions were right, but we now have a lot of bugs and flies around here. Could it be because we left a pile of our apple chunks that are left from cider in the back yard? We had thought that when we were finished making cider we would haul all of them out in the country. In other places we have had some bees come and almost completely consume those apple chunks. I am not sure what it means, but we have seen almost no bees. Instead there has been a flock of large flies. The apple pieces were still very much in place so today we worked on digging a hole and burying most of them. It was hard work as the ground in this spot is like clay and somewhat dry and unyielding. After building up some muscle we got the job mostly done. It is not all out of sight, but looks fine to the casual observer.

Today when I was in the grocery story I became aware that something was crawling on the back of my neck. I reached back but only succeeded in knocking it down inside my shirt. I reached in and tried again but still could not get it. Then I pulled my shirt out of my waist and tried to shake it out. I could not tell if I had removed it, so I moved on. Then I was talking to a woman I know and I could feel that thing crawling about five inches below my shoulder. I asked, "Would you get this bug off my back?"

She pulled out the neck of my shirt, looked in, and reached her hand down. After two attempts she managed to get it, gave it to me, and I stepped on it. It was one of those beetles that look like a ladybug. It probably would not hurt me, but its feet were a bit scratchy and uncomfortable. Someone asked how we make cider. We have a cider press. I wash the apples and cut them in half looking for worms. Even though these apples have not been sprayed I think I have found only two worms. Then I take them out to Leroy who first chops them in the machine and then presses them to squeeze out the juice. We do not know how many gallons we can get from a bushel, but I doubt that it is much over two. Commercially they no doubt get more since they have machines instead of just Leroy’s muscle power.

People often wonder how we got the press. We ordered it from a catalog. They just sent the hardware and my brother made it following the directions provided. People are very impressed with the job that he did. I suspect that it was a lot cheaper to get it this way than completely assembled.

Paula