After surviving Friday the thirteenth, Zeke and I decided to go out to P2 to see if we could get more visits for Pollen in the Bank (Pollinators deposit and withdrawal pollen from the head like it’s a bank). We stayed out there for 2 hours and recorded six bee visits. Once we returned to the Roost, we decided to look at our horoscopes. Most of the qualities don’t match up,but as Kristen said, “the chart doesn’t lie”. Along with horoscope readings, we discussed our vocal ranges and figured out what part everybody would sing. (Of course) I’m the bass in the group. For dinner Zeke prepared onions, potatoes, bacon and mushrooms. The onions were so strong that before Zeke cut one open, the members of the Roost had tears in their eyes. After dinner, we decided to go into town and watch The Incredibles II. It turned out to be a great movie with just the right amount of social commentary. I’m looking forward to what tomorrow holds!

Today was a behind the scenes/catch-up day.  Team Echinacea stayed indoors most of the morning  because the weather was not very very favorable for field work.  In the morning, we each spoke to the whole group (with the exception of CoW Bee) to touch base on how our individual projects have been going and when we need to work on them.  Shortly after we talked, it started thundering so we all decided it would be best to stay inside for the duration of the storm.

Pictured: G3 with some scary looking clouds moving in above it

After the storm cleared up, some team members drove out to P2 with Jennifer and did plant phenology!

In the afternoon, Team Echinacea broke off into groups and worked on task force projects.

The flogs lately have been talking a lot about the game called Werewolf. Cherished by the Roost, Werewolf is a Who-Done-It game in which a werewolf murders victims; villagers must logically discern the identity of the werewolf. We have played this game so much of late that it has come to affect my everyday life. I have begun to wonder who to trust; those who seem innocent are enemies and the dubious turn out to be telling the truth. Fear and suspicion are my new reality. The werewolf could be anywhere.

This morning, we split into task forces and I was left at Staffenson prairie completely alone. The sky was ominously cloudless and the sun shone eerily. Coreopsis, leadplant and heliopsis gave the landscape a beauty like that of a siren, luring wanderers to their demise. As I began to go about checking flowering of Echinacea, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched. All of a sudden, a grotesque monster reared its many heads. At first I thought it was a hydra, but then I realized it was more similar to Frankenstein’s monster. It was as if some doctor had surgically stitched several leadplant flowers together forming a massive mega-flower which loomed forebodingly over the heads of its brethren.

Absurd Leadplant

After my heart slowed back down to a normal pace, I continued onward. My quest included locating flowering Echinacea in order to determine differences between burned and unburned sections of the prairie. I scoured the horizon for the elusive blue flags marking Echinacea which blended bewilderingly well into the sea of purple leadplant. Since I was busy peering everywhere but the direction I was walking, I accidentally ran straight into a gigantic frog. It was 50 meters tall and at least twice as long! This monster, thankfully, was quite friendly. It had no problem with me and, when I ran into it, merely said ‘oosh’ and hopped away.

“Oosh”

The next creature I encountered was not quite as amiable. Just as I was about to leave the prairie, a grotesque beast oozing with slime emerged from the depths of its lair. It hissed and placed itself squarely in my way.

I had never seen this creature in real life, but I had heard tales of its terror. The local lore says that if the creature shakes its tail at you, you will be cursed forever. Only one has survived an encounter with this beast: the esteemed adventurer Stuart Wagenius. Some say that Stuart killed the beast with one watermelon seed, spit with the might of Paul Bunyan and the force of Chuck Norris. I have witnessed this ability and think this could be true.

I, unfortunately only can spit a watermelon a measly couple centimeters. Instead, to get past the beast, I accepted the challenge to answer a riddle. It asked me:

If I wore pants, would I wear them like this—

or like this —?’

Fortunately, I guessed correctly (I can’t tell you the right answer otherwise I’ll be cursed) and I was allowed to pass.

After a morning of adventures, I was quite glad to be back in the company of the team for lunch. Several accusations of ‘werewolf’ and ‘minion’ were levied in jest, aligning nicely with the Werewolf theme of the day.

In the afternoon, most of the team journeyed out to plot 1 to check the status of flowering Echinacea. Most of us were convinced that some werewolves had probably moved around the flags and twist ties marking the position of the flowers in order to confuse us.

The end of the day was marked by more horror, but not of werewolf making.  When we got back to the Hjelm house, I noticed a lone Echinacea head rolling across the table, a reminder of the mass carnage from the previous week. In the name of science, we had guillotined many Echinacea heads and carried the heads home as trophies of our conquest. All of today I looked for monsters… but could it be that I was looking in the wrong place, that we ourselves are the monsters?

After traveling back to the Roost, enjoying a lovely meal from Andy, and having a discussion about Michael’s interesting article for literature club, we ended the night with, of course, a game of Werewolf.

Hi flog,

I would like to summarize the day from the perspective of my apartment’s egg consumption (we cooked up about 20 eggs today).

This morning me and Mia went out to Hegg lake to finish collecting data from Friday’s experiment on male fitness, and prepare for next week’s male fitness experiment (named: The big event 2: electric bugaloo). While we were there, Mia found a bird’s nest in the grass full of tiny chicks. They were very cute, so we chose to leave them alone rather than eat them. Once we finished, we went back to the roost, where I ate eggs for lunch (3 eggs down).

The bird’s nest at P2.

Mia found a spider hanging out on an Echinacea flower. It’s probably not a very good pollinator.

After lunch we played card games and Brigid made a beautiful chocolate cake (six more eggs down).

We decided it was too nice of a day to stay inside, so in the afternoon we went to Lake Carlos state park, to swim and play games, such as volleyball, and Kan jam (a Frisbee throwing game). We found out that Kristen played volleyball in high school, and Will’s overhand serve is hard to defend; also I can sometimes throw a Frisbee. We did not eat any eggs, while at the lake.

In the evening we returned to the roost. I made a stir fry with vegetables, chicken and 2 scrambled eggs.

I do not know what happened to the remaining 9 eggs (I’m sure they were put to good use); regardless I enjoyed a relaxing Saturday, with a perfect mix of Echinacea, team bonding, Frisbee, and eggs. Surely a good team eats eggs together (dietary restrictions allowing).

Hi Flog

This morning we split up to do task forces. I worked with some people to finish phenology (what was flowering and when) in plot one. Afterward, we planned to start more work out at Hegg Lake but no sooner had we arrived, then we were driven back to the farm by thunder, lightning, and rain.

On our way back we picked up Michael who had prudently protected himself from the storm by crouching in a ditch in “lightning position.” For those who may not know; lightning position is a special crouch that makes you completely immune to any danger associated with lightning or any other electrical Armageddon. To attain the lightning position, take a deep breath, tap your heels together three times, cover your ears and crouch down with your knees facing outwards and your butt not touching your heels. Next, remain in this position for the duration of the storm, which if it lasts for more than a few minutes, will give you a killer lower body workout.

The theory behind Lightning position is that, because you are low to the ground you won’t be struck by lightning directly; and if lightning strikes near you the electricity will travel through the ground and delicately remove your pants; without stopping your heart.  However, if you were in a normal crouch a nearby lightning strike could travel through the ground and then straight up your body; stopping your heart, without bothering about your pants at all.

After safely returning to the farm, we had a productive morning learning how to identify small solitary bees. Around 11 AM Amy Waananen’s advisors visited, and promptly identified all the bees in the house, down to species from across the room.

Andy, prepared for both rain and mosquitos

After lunch, the sun broke through the clouds and we were able to go out to an experimental plot at Hegg Lake. This plot was planted by the Echinacea project in 2006 and has provided the project with valuable research opportunities ever since, especially since it started flowering in recent years. Because it is an experimental plot researcher cut off all the flowering heads at the end of the season. This summer Dr. Jennifer Ison is conducting a study on how different types of native bees contribute to the male fitness (seeds sired) of Echinacea. This study requires only about 400 flowering plants, however, the plot did especially well this year and had over 800 flowering plants. Since conducting the study on all 800 plants (over 1800 flower heads; one plant had 15 heads) is not feasible, we were forced to cut the heads off of 300 randomly chosen plants sooner rather than later.

Video Jul 03, 4 24 21 PM

After we cut as many heads as we could for the day, we returned to the farm and planned to finish cutting flowers tomorrow.

While uploading data, Riley asked a provocative question:

If you have an Agapostemon in your hand, what is in your eye?

Upon request, I decided to tweak the lyrics to the popular song “Boys” by Charli XCX so that it is about bees. Here it is: (I encourage you to listen to the original song, both for comparison, and enjoyment).

I was busy thinking about beesX3

I was busy dreaming ‘bout beesX3

Head is spinning looking at beesX3

I need that Agapostemon to visit me on a Friday

And I need those small black bees to wake me up on a Monday

That Augochlorella can come over on Tuesday day

I want Andrena, I want ‘em all

But if they don’t visit I’m all alone yeah, I’m looking out at views of the prairie

Those rolling grasslands, and ponds.

Didn’t take a picture

I’m sorry that I missed that Stipa search (also called porcupine grass), I wish I had a better excuse like I had to fix a visor (a handheld electronic data collector) problem;

But I was busy thinking ‘bout beesX3

Head is spinning watching them beesX3

Don’t be mad, don’t be mad at me,

Darling, I can’t stop it

Even if I wanted

Don’t be mad, don’t be mad at me

Missed that Stipa searching I was miles away

Don’t be mad not like I had a choice

I was busy thinking ‘bout beesX3

I was busy dreaming ‘bout bees bees bee’ees

Head is spinning looking for bees.