If you have any “old school” non-LED xmas lights, string those up in the branches of any fruit [trees] you are trying to save from frost. Try to do 1 deep watering 24-48 hours prior to the official frost, if the root zones are not well-watered already. Turn the lights prior to sundown, as temperatures start falling.
I usually get a few degrees (F) of buffer when I use incandescent xmas light strings, the bigger the bulbs, the better. I imagine any tree too big to cover with an old quilt or big tarp is probably too much trouble, but of course, having the lights on and under a tarp will buy you 5-8 degrees if you can manage.
We got irregular chill hours here in central Texas and our yields have been highly variable. And that’s with healthy hives.
Sometimes, it is better to just let the trees rest after a bumper crop year. Throw some greensand down now, maybe some Superthrive (or DIY B-complex vitamins dissolved in water as a rootsoak), well-rotted compost in March, prune dead-diseased-“crossing” tree parts in March or early April, and hit the reset button on yield expectations. Check for borers, or other signs of fruit tree distress. If you see the telltale pinholes, start spraying that dormant oil (aka refined mineral oil) now and along a schedule of booster-sprays at the intervals recommended for your zone.
If you are tempted to reinoculate inside the driplines, this is reliably well-balanced and useful. I get good results with this and with their Citrus-Tone (and Bio-Tone), applying about 2 weeks before nominal “last frost date” (haha, all bets are off on any official timing):
We have had our share of bee hives going up and down, absconding, dying, getting infested by mites moths etc., becoming fully Africanized, dwindling, swelling in the past few years.
It’s so hard to tell what got your bees, esp. if you live in an area that has ag pesticide drift, careless or clueless neighbors who spray bad stuff haphazardly, contaminated water sources… all those could kill a hive. You know all this already, I’d guess. We are pretty routine with our hive checks after a few years of unpleasant and sudden losses. I realize you’ve been busy.
Dunno if you have heard anything about this, but Paul Stamets is seldom wrong. Here’s his fungi-based bee supplement in development:
Maybe there’s something out on the market now?
We try to leave a bunch of fresh oak and honey locust logs around, to sprout fungus, where possible.
We were to get a good crop of pecans this year. Squirrels are eating every. single. pecan. Our paths are paved with pecan husks and shells. They are eating them still green.
Good luck, doc, and please take good care of yourself.
